FREE Shape Guessing Handout

Patterns and shapes are great things to learn in early education. With this two page free downloadable resource, it takes away the work you have to do to provide a fun and educational game for children.

Here’s how it works. Print off the page and have children guess which shape goes into the space with the black line. After the first sheet, talk to the kids and explain why each is a pattern. Once they have the first sheet down, move onto the second page that is more difficult.

For more resources, take a look at the Apple Numbers handout on this page as well.

Feel free and download the resource here:

Shapes handout

FREE Apple Number Math Education Resource

Learning numbers is a fundamental part of education as a child and how children learn numbers can impact their relationship with math as they grow up. Help children start that relationship on a positive note by showing them the Apple Numbers math game sheets.

Here’s how it works. Print out both the Apple Numbers PDF and the Apple Numbers Answers PDF. Laminate them and have kids count how many apples are on the sheets. For big numbers, have them break up the apples into small groups and then add the groups together. Afterwards, show them the answer number to get the association to build.

Help kids learn their numbers and begin their relationship with math in a fun and positive way. Click the links below to download the sheets.

Apple Numbers

Apple Numbers Answers

 

 

A Visionary Leader

A visionary leader works in tandem with their employees to achieve the goal and vision of the organization. A visionary leader has the desire to see change come to the organization through new and ingenious ideas. Kotter (1996) describes the need for leaders to have vision and the ability to motivate and inspire others to follow their lead.

Hoyle (2007), outlines how complex leaders function and the need for them to reveal their weakness to their team. Displaying emotions is essential for leaders to connect, because teammates need to be able to relate with their leaders. Leadership does not come natural for everyone, and neither does showing compassion and empathy especially in the work place. However, these are necessary tools for success.

Organizations need a clear vision and strong leadership to succeed (Kotter, 1996). A strong visionary leader should look at the larger picture of the company to best accomplish the goals of the organization. Without a strong vision, employees often become disinterested and complacent (Kotter, 1996).

Leaders evaluate ideas based on the knowledge that they gain from all sides of the issues. They should not be eager to incorporate a quick fix into their scenario. They should recognize that the issues that created the problems are part of the equation and should know that a quick fix will not eradicate the problem. Visionary leaders are open to change and explore new methods of operations. They empower employees to have the desire to create new and innovative strategies. The key words for learning organizations are flexibility and open-mindedness.

Leaders have the desire to see change come to the organization through new and ingenious ideas. A strong learning organization should encourage the communication of ideas to flow in both directions between management and employees. These parties can work together and display their mutual respect for the goals and visions of the organization through collaboration. A visionary leader incorporates new ideas, wherever they may come from, and institute them in different ways within the organization. Therefore, management and employees are consistently learning and re-inventing themselves and the company to meet the ever-changing work environment.

References

Hoyle, J. R. (2007). Leadership and futuring. Making visions happen. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press

Bullies

According to dictionary.com, a bully is “a blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who habitually badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people”. Bullies come in all shapes and sizes, as well as any age range. Bullies frequently harass, abuse, and intimidate those they see as inferior, less able, or just for no reason at all.

Bullies are not only hurting and impacting their victims, they are also causing problems for themselves. Bullies tend to have low self-esteem, emotional problems, or developmental issues. One way that parents can prevent their children from becoming bullies is to communicate with them about positive interaction, maintain a positive relationship with them, and know their friends.

Early childhood education professionals should recognize that hurting people tend to hurt others. Children that have unaddressed emotional and developmental issues in the early years can become bullies out of frustration. Reaching children through early intervention programs can provide the needed resources to prevent the child from becoming a bully. If an early childhood teacher observes behavior of a child that represents bullying, knowing the possible reasons behind their actions will help the teacher to address the problem and possibly prevent the child from continuing to bully in the future.

Early Childhood Socialization

The socialization process prepares children to function in an appropriate and acceptable manner within their society. Socialization is a process through which parents, teachers, and others in a child’s life provide them with the necessary guidance to promote their social behavior. This guidance is provided in verbal and non-verbal actions to situations including both positive and negative interactions. The most common form of socialization is face-to-face, however socialization does come in many forms.

Socialization starts when a child is born. They are first introduced to socialization within their family and then formally introduced when they attend a child care center. Child care centers play an essential part in the socialization process, exposing children to the necessary skills to socialize with each other, and adults outside of their family. This enlarges their social world to incorporate individuals from different backgrounds as well as providing them with opportunities to learn the difference between appropriate and inappropriate interactions. This also exposes children to strangers and they learn how to cooperate as part of a group in and out of the classroom setting. Therefore, child care centers provide a variety of opportunities for children to socialize.

Appropriate socialization allows children the opportunity to become productive members of society. On the contrary, inappropriate socialization will deprive children of the necessary skills needed to be productive. Social skills are related to knowing right from wrong and how to interact with others. This being said, children who acquire, and practice proper social skills, recognizing the benefits of right over wrong, will be successful in most social situations.

Children need to be taught social skills to know how to function as adults in society. Early childhood educators state that young children should be provided with social experiences daily. These skills allow children to learn how to display appropriate behavior. Teachers should recognize when children are not provided with appropriate socialization skills, they are limiting the children’s ability to function. I’m sure that we all know someone who does not have social skills. Teachers play an important part in allowing children to develop appropriate social skills. They should provide children with opportunities to learn how to get along with other children and adults within the classroom.

Socialization is not just interacting with peers, it also involves learning about different cultures and values. That is why child care centers should have various opportunities to incorporate diversity into their curriculum. 

There are many children that are not attending child care centers for several reasons one being that the parents are homeschooling. These children will receive socialization opportunities through their interactions with family members, friends, and group activities. When it comes to socialization all educators including home school parents must ensure that children are provided with opportunities to develop their socialization skills.