Michelle Medintz spent at least $5,000 in 2022 alone, largely on books. She created a 'cozy corner' in her classroom with shelves filled with books, cushions on the floor, and stuffed animals. 'That doesn't make me a better teacher than my colleagues,' Medintz said.
Outdoor sensory play is a fun and educational way for babies and toddlers to explore the world. Activities like digging in soil or feeling different textures promote hand-eye coordination and early science learning.
The morning of 9 May 2022 had started like any other for Katie Wheeler, by dropping off her nine-month-old daughter Genevieve at nursery and telling her: I love you sweetie. Despite thinking she would be in a protected environment, Genevieve, known as Gigi to her loved ones, would be found unresponsive hours later. Nursery worker Kate Roughley had swaddled Gigi so tightly that she had been unable to move.
There were once so many children at Frisha Moore's Elk Grove preschool that families filled up the waitlist. Now, one of her playgrounds and two classrooms sit empty because one key group of kids has stopped coming. Dozens of families in recent years have opted not to enroll their 4-year-olds at Moore Learning Preschool & Child Care Center, she said. Instead, they're putting their children in transitional kindergarten, California's new public pre-kindergarten grade.
This idea was based on the parallel between the pluck and elan that are characteristic of both the early-college students I worked with and that of America's hardest-working founding father. Five years after I wrote the book, I had the opportunity to revisit the field for a revised edition, making it appropriate to ask, after Thomas Jefferson's song in the second act of Hamilton, "What'd I Miss": How has early college/dual enrollment changed over the past half decade?
The Trump administration's sweeping crackdown on immigrants has taken a particularly high toll on the child care industry - both for families and providers. In California, almost 40% of the workforce is foreign-born and more than a million parents - immigrant and otherwise - rely on child care providers so they can go to work.
The effort to get a snapshot of kindergarten readiness is part of the National Survey of Children's Health, which collected information from thousands of parents and guardians about their child in five areas - early learning, motor skills, social-emotional development, self-regulation and health. The goal was to answer an overall question: Is your child ready for school? Readiness in California is on par with the nation's average, which also puts kindergarten readiness at two-thirds of 3- to 5-year-olds.
It's late. I want to go to bed, but instead I'm picking up popsicle sticks and wrappers. I was always taught to leave the place better than I found it. I'm not expecting anyone to fold laundry or scrub floors. But I do expect the mess made during the evening to be taken care of, especially when my kids have been asleep for over two hours.
I am a new mom to a very sweet 3-month-old boy. I am lucky to work somewhere with a very generous (for the U.S.) parental leave policy, and am preparing to go back to work when my baby will be 4 months old. I'm looking into childcare options, and feel torn. In our area, daycare is very expensive (everything is expensive), and hiring a nanny will be more affordable. This is very surprising to me, but that's how the numbers seem to be working out.
Care for children from 6 weeks to age 2 is complex, workforce intensive, and costly to deliver. If universal child care is going to become a reality, it must be built with, not merely for, the providers who already carry the system. To ensure it is sustainable, equitable, and grounded in operational reality, we must include family child care providers, community based nonprofit organizations, and long standing neighborhood institutions that have served working families for decades.
