I was planning on staying for one year when I first arrived to the US as an au-pair. Well, it’s now been 11 years and I never returned to Colombia. I met my husband during that first year as an au-pair, got married and we now have 3 children. Being an immigrant hasn’t been easy, it was a struggle for me to learn English.

Read More

In our recent post about what to expect when starting daycare or preschool, we said that starting daycare is a lot like flying. The first takeoff in particular can be stressful before the whole crew (you, your child and your child care provider) reaches a “cruising altitude” comfort zone. While switching daycares may not be as big of a change as starting the very first time, it’s not easy either!

Just as layovers are difficult for even the most seasoned travelers, switching daycares or preschools will have its own turbulence pockets for both parents and children. Here are a few tips to ensure a smooth crew change.

Read More

Germans are an interesting bunch when it comes to caring for children both young and (nominally) old. Kindergarten is a German invention from 1779 and Männergarten – places for men to while away time with beer, sports, and video games while their wives or girlfriends go shopping – is one of the most “interesting” (or “strange”, depending on your views!) consumer innovations of the 2000’s.

Read More

Every child grows up with a dream of what they will become when they enter the working world. From Kindergarten, we learn about adult life through Career Days, Take your Child to Work Days, and of course, our families and neighbors. For me, it wasn’t the parents in my classroom telling us about their careers, but the teachers who I looked up to the most.

Read More

You know the old dilemma about whether it is safer to drive or fly?

The logical answer depends on statistics and facts. As a driver, you don’t have a radar system, ground control, or a co-pilot. Maybe a GPS and a backseat-driver who “just tries to help.”

Read More

The “Reggio Emilia Approach” is a preschool teaching philosophy developed by Loris Malaguzzi after the Second World War in the Italian city of… you guessed it… Reggio Emilia! By way of reference, Maria Montessori began developing her method in Rome around the turn of the 20^th century. What’s with all the Italian teaching philosophies, you say? Maybe it’s the child-friendly culture. Italians just seem to love kids!

Anyway:

Read More

Kids tend to figure out pretty quickly who they can ask for what. If mom says no, ask dad. If dad says no, ask mom. If mom and dad both say no, then ask the grandparents, who will usually say yes under the table! However, figuring out the permission system behind the alphabet soup of child care accreditations, tends to be more complicated.

Who gives what? NAEYC? NAFCC? NECPA? OMG… TL;DR!

Read More

One of the most beautiful relationships in life is that of a child and his or her grandparent. Unfortunately, many children these days miss out on this special relationship due a diverse range of factors, including distance, and early loss of their grandparents. For nearly 25 years, Merritt Academy in Fairfax, Virginia has provided students with a unique opportunity to develop a special relationship with a “grandfriend” through our Seniors and Students Together Intergenerational Program.

Read More

Daycare and preschool, especially universal preschool, is one of those “hot button” issues where there will always be some debate. Does it work? Is it good for children? Who pays? Part of the problem with issues like early childhood education is that we will probably never have enough hard data points to satisfy everyone. Also, studies to measure the impact of early education on children’s adult lives take a really, really long time!

Read More

I recently organized a child care seminar for parents and parents-to-be. The goal was to have an open discussion so that parents could bring all of their child care related questions, worries, hopes, and fears to the table. During the seminar, I realized the differences between child care centers and family child care (also referred to as home-based daycare) were unclear for a lot of families. I was also asked which environment was the best, child care center vs home daycare. My answer was simple: no option is intrinsically better than the other.

Read More