In my previous blog post we established that sensory play is essential to a child’s learning and brain development, but what if you don’t have a water or sand table? Playful sensory activities need not be difficult or involve a lot of fancy toys or resources. Shallow inexpensive plastic storage totes make perfect sensory bins. You can put the bin on the kitchen floor or outside when the weather is nice. So now that you have the bins, what do

Kristen, 4 years old, was with her Mom in a department store to buy diapers for her younger brother. A doll caught her attention, as they were about to pay. Kristen pulled her mom back to the aisle where she saw it.  Her Mom said, “You’ve got lots of them at home, let’s go.”  But Kristen refused to go and insisted on buying it. Her mom on the other hand was firm about not buying the doll.  Kristen, feeling frustrated yelled, “I don’t want to go!” then turned around and started to

“Learning starts in infancy, long before formal education begins, and continues throughout life.  Early learning begets later learning and early success breeds later success, just as early failure breeds later failure.” (Heckman, James, 2014) The late Dr. Fraser Mustard gave voice to “three enduring messages that have permeated the popular culture: The years before 5 last a lifetime; It takes a village to raise a child and Pay now or pay later”(2011, Early Years Study 3).  Drs. Mustard, Heckman and many others in recent years, have given voice

Calm, Alert & Ready to Learn – How to help our children self – regulate Who hasn’t at some time or another been mortified when their child has a complete melt down in a public place?  Personally, I can recall a time when one of our daughters (who shall remain nameless) would tantrum every time I picked her up from the sitter and made a quick stop at the grocery store, or pharmacy, on my way home.  It was embarrassing, people would

If your child attended  BELA or you follow our school you have probably heard us talk about buckets, bucket filling and the dreaded bucket dipping!!But what do we really mean when we talk about teaching our students to be bucket fillers? And why is it a focus at BELA? Our program is based on 4 “Building Blocks”. One of these is Character Development. We focus on the development of a strong sense of identity, self esteem and sense of belonging. These

Parents of young children may know what gross motor skills are, because of the awareness of milestones children achieve as they grow. Other times, people may not be exactly sure what we mean when we mention the importance of gross motor/ large motor skills. I like to tell people that gross motor gets you to where you need to go and fine motor helps you do what you need to do, once you get there. For instance, if your child

The BELA team has evolved immensely and learned a great deal over the last 5 years! One of the most important lessons we’ve learned is that we can never tire of continuing to promote and educate our fellow community members about the importance of early childhood education! This year, I have had the unique experience of becoming a BELA parent, in addition to being a part time staff member, and let me tell you I can now undoubtedly see the

“ I did it! I did it! Look how I drawed myself!”  “That’s awesome! I see your eyes, and nose and mouth, and look at the shirt you’re wearing.  Way to go!  I’m proud of you for working so hard!”    Is there anything better than sharing the excitement of a child who has discovered success as a learner?  Most Early Childhood researchers and educators agree, “Play is the work of children.”  Research in the field of early learning in Canada, is frequently

Let’s Pretend! I don’t know about you, but some of my favorite memories from my childhood, are of pretending with my brothers, and my cousins! Little did we know, as we explored and searched for adventure, we were honing a wide variety of skills and knowledge, which would serve us well in our adult worlds later on in life. For us, pretend play encompassed so many ideas and scenarios.  In a matter of about 10 creative minutes, we could design