Mindfulness and Purpose in Early Childhood Education

WHAT IS CROWDSOURCING? It's the process of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by getting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community, rather than from traditional employees or suppliers. (Wikipedia)   Keeping ideas fresh is important for ECEs, and staying on top of collective ideas in the field is easier now with online access to pages, blogs, groups, and feeds.  It's almost too easy, bordering on overwhelming, with a virtual sea of information out there.   If you would like to get connected to the community hub but feel lost on where to start,  bookmark some of these Linked In pages and groups (if you don’t have a linked in account, now is a good time to get one) as starting points to begin:   Linked IN Pages and Groups: Early Childhood Education Forum for Professionals and Parents Research in Early Childhood Education The Childcare Network Early Childhood Education Networks Early ...

1.     MAKE A LIST of all the children with the parent's name beside child.   We usually get to know the children’s names very quickly so it’s easier to associate the parent with the child.   Keep the list handy; on your sign in/out attendance so you can refer to it during drop-off and pick-up times when you can use the parents' names in greeting the most. 2.     SMILE at parents when they arrive, even if you are engaged in another activity, make eye contact and smile.   Always acknowledge each child when they arrive and greet both the drop off person and child.   You can draw the child and the parent into the program by telling them what they'll be doing during the day, for example, "Good morning, Jamal. Come and see our water table.   We're going to be racing boats today." 3.     SET ASIDE TIME, EVERY DAY to speak to a parent about something positive that has happened with their child.   ...

What is Crowdsourcing?     It's the process of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by getting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community, rather than from traditional employees or suppliers. (from Wikipedia)   Keeping ideas fresh is important for ECEs, and staying on top of collective ideas in the field is easier now with online access to pages, blogs, groups, and feeds.   It's almost too easy with a a virtual sea of information out there. If you want to get connected but feel too overwhelmed to start,   bookmark some of these online sources as starting points:   from programming to the latest news in the field, these pages are great if you've ever wanted to: Join a Facebook group   Follow a Twitter feed Follow a Pinterest page Listento a veteran voice in child care (Martha Friendly)

As an ECE you have great ideas, creative ones that you love to share with the children in your group.  They, of course, adore them and enjoy them on a regular basis. Now, show the greater community what you can do! Social media is a great way to put your creative self out there, and especially if you are an introvert—no problem getting in there and having a great time with the children, but self-promotion to your peers? Not so much. 4 WAYS TO CREATE YOUR OWN ECE PLATFORM where you can let inner creativity shine online. FIRST TAKE PHOTOS:   A battalion of them that showcase your activities in action.  Then add a few descriptive lines so people have a rounded idea of what you're doing. THEN CREATE PAGES:   Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. Put up your favourite art activities, crafts, or circle time stories for people to see.  You're making a collection of your best programming ideas. NEXT CONNECT:   Connect your pages with like-minded...