Charlie’s Cues: Explore What’s New!

August 24, 2021

Let’s talk a little about what’s new! New are the children who will arrive at your center this fall. New is their energy and desire to learn. New will be the games, songs, and stories, and new will be the love that each child awakens in the heart of a teacher. New are the emotions that the beginning of a school year brings for children and parents, as well as for teachers and other members of the school staff. And all of us at FunShine Express know and understand that. Every year, we prepare, meet as a staff, and educate ourselves to offer all of our customers fresh and new material to use during the school year! I invite you to continue reading to see “What’s New” in your Fireflies and Buttercups kits for 2021.

10 Tips to Help Children Settle into New Routines

August 17, 2021

Routines-1273289778 The start of another year in childcare or preschool can bring about nervousness in young children, even if they are returning to the same setting or continuing care with the same teacher. If your setting does not close for the summer, children’s enrollment may have varied because of family vacations or a parent’s adjusted work schedule. Some children may be unsure about who will be returning to preschool or childcare with them in the fall. This post outlines 10 tips to support new and returning children in settling into a new routine. Use these tips to help everyone feel welcome and ease transitions!

The Ins and Outs of Baby Sign Language

August 2, 2021

Working with infants can involve a lot of guess work! Babies cry, make sounds and facial expressions, and use body movements to express their needs and wants, but still, it’s not always clear how to assist them. Babies typically start talking between 9 and 14 months. Until then their mental vocabularies are forming and are much more advanced than we realize. Though babies cannot speak, they understand quite a bit. While talking to children regularly and narrating their play will support language acquisition, you can help them express their needs, wants, and emotions by introducing baby sign language.

Charlie’s Cues: Using Your Learning Center/Early Learning Materials

July 26, 2021

What would you think if I told you that a single teaching tool could help you teach math, fine motor, social-emotional, cognitive, and language concepts to young children—a tool that could be used in both directed or independent play? Each month we offer just that in our Fireflies and Buttercups kits!

Learning Through Infant Care Routines: Naps

July 20, 2021

Infants have daily needs that need to be met for them to learn, develop positive attachment to primary caregivers, and know they will be loved and taken care of. Most of these needs revolve around basic care routines. The FunShine Express Buttercups Babies kits were designed to incorporate activity ideas into these care routines to create meaningful interactions each day.

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