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Why You Should Try Cross-Curricular Teaching

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How does cross curricular teaching work in an early childhood classroom? Students from Columbia College Chicago produced this video at a YMCA preschool exploring how teaching across subjects works for early learners, and why it's important for building school readiness. 

When children learn out in the world, they use all their senses, so why not put all five senses to work in the classroom too? Cross-curricular teaching creates a connection between all subjects through a common theme, giving kids an opportunity to learn multiple subjects without even realizing it.

For example, in a cross-curricular lesson plan, there might be a letter of the week -- let's say, "I" for "insect." Children would count the body parts, legs, and antennae of different insects to learn math skills. For vocabulary, they would learn the names of the body parts. Then for art, they would get creative making their own bugs.

Cross-curricular teaching ties all the subjects together, and makes it easier to learn through repetition. It's one more method for you to try out with your little learners, at home or in the classroom.

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What Is Tinkering?

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Put on your safety goggles! Rachel visits the Chicago Children's Museum's Tinkering Lab and Kim Koin, "Head Tinkerer," to learn about why experimentation and learning by doing is so important for children zero to five. 

So, what is tinkering, anyway? Tinkering is a way of trying things out without a preconceived notion of if what you're going to do, a great form of exploration. Through tinkering, kids can learn that failure is a great option. Even when you don't succeed in what you set out to do, you learn from your "failures" and will be able to make something even better in the future.

Tinkering can be a little bit intimidating to the first time adult supervisor. So here are a few tips for tinkering at home or in your classroom:

  • Wait, watch, follow: Give you children a chance to figure it out for themselves. 
  • Keep it simple.
  • All you need to start is a piece of wood, a hammer, and nails. Little imaginations will take over from there!
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6 Things You Should Never Say to a Preschool Teacher

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Rachel shares six things you should never say to a preschool teacher - watch for a fun look at the life of an early childhood educator.

“Does your babysitter create curriculum? Does your babysitter take anecdotal notes about your child’s play and then develop full themes based on it?”
— Rachel Giannini

Do preschool teachers need a degree? Aren’t they just a glorified babysitter? Isn’t it nice having the summer off? These are just a few questions preschool teachers get all the time.

Preschool teachers shape the country’s future. They can take care of 19 kids at once. They may or may not have their own kids, and probably juggle another job. You might have a lot of great questions you've always wanted to ask a preschool teacher -- and you should! --  but here are 6 questions to avoid:

  • Do you need a degree to do this?
  • You're basically a babysitter, right?
  • If you love kids so much, why don't you have any of your own?
  • It must be really nice to have the summer off...
  • If you really cared about kids, you wouldn't care about the salary. 
  • Doesn't it get tiring watching kids all day?

Early childhood educators, keep the conversation going. What questions do you get about teaching that really grind your gears? Tell us in the comments section below.

Preschool Philosophies - Montessori

There are so many different measures of quality, types of classrooms, and preschool philosophies out there that parents and teachers alike have to navigate when it comes to early childhood education. So, we started a video series on preschool philosophies. First up, Rachel visits a Montessori preschool to learn more about its history, Montessori's unique classroom tools, and why it might not be as strict as you think.

No Small Matter is live on YouTube!

While we dive into the edit for the feature-length film No Small Matter, we’re testing something exciting and new:

Today, we launched a No Small Matter video blog on YouTube to start spreading the word about the critical importance of a child’s early years to development and lifelong success — hosted by a rockstar teacher featured in the film, Rachel Giannini.

Check out her introduction to the video series, and the film, and the don’t forget to subscribe for more from the No Small Matter team:

Thanks and as Rachel says — always explore!