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Go Georgia!

Dr. Donna Hinkle
Offering hands-on help to picky parents in North Carolina who are looking for high-quality child care and preschool - I visit programs with or for you!  


The Georgia pre-kindergarten program has decreased the number of children who repeat a grade in school, the number of children placed in special education, and the number of children dropping out of school.  That's success for everybody - happier children, adults, and taxpayers! Grade retention and special education costs exceed pre-kindergarten costs, not to mention the government welfare costs associated with dropping out of high school. 

Georgians use their state lottery funds to pay for pre-kindergarten classrooms in schools, child care centers, and Head Start centers.  

Go Georgia!  
Posted by PickyParents Blog at 5/5/2012 10:14 AM | Add Comment

Young Children Learn How to Tolerate Boredom

Dr. Donna Hinkle 

www.PickyParents.net               

I visited a 5-star (the highest rated North Carolina license) child care center in Forsyth County to conduct a professional evaluation.  

In a 4-year-olds classroom, a teacher sat in a chair and showed posters of insects to a group of children seated at tables but then she turned the posters around so that she could read them, but the children couldn’t see them.  Most children were bored and not listening, because the activity wasn’t meaningful or active for them.  Reading an interesting passage and then asking preschool-age children to answer questions about it may be ok to encourage listening and remembering, but it should be limited to 5-10 minutes.   

The children continued to sit at the tables while the teacher prepared for lunch.  She instructed the children to move their chairs back from the table so she could spray and clean the tables. Then she led them in random activities – singing the alphabet song and counting in Spanish - while they waited for lunch to arrive from the kitchen.       

When kitchen staff brought the lunches in, the teacher placed a prepared plate in front of each child while they waited with their hands in their lap for everyone to be served.  

The children weren't having fun and weren't learning much except how to tolerate boredom, which requires them to stop thinking so that they can sit still and be quiet and wait until an adult tells them what to do next.  They were not learning anything about insects or about how to clean and set the table and how to put their own food on their plates.  They weren't learning science, reading, or self-sufficiency skills.  

You want more for your child!  Dr. Donna Hinkle visits and professionally evaluates child care and preschool programs with and for parents.  Contact me at 336-251-9300.  

Posted by PickyParents Blog at 5/3/2012 1:20 PM | Add Comment

Babies and Teachers on the Floor

Donna Hinkle, Ed.D. 
visiting and evaluating child care and preschool with and for parents

There were no infants on the floor when I entered the classroom at a child care center in Forsyth County.  Instead, infants were lined up facing the teacher who was sitting on the floor.  Two babies were in swings, three were in reclining infant seats, and one was in a play chair.  There was a mat on the floor for the infants to lie and crawl on but the infant seats were on top of it.  

Since the teacher was right there to supervise the infants, they should be on the floor with her, kicking, reaching, lifting up, balancing, crawling, pulling up, building body strength and coordination.  They can't develop their gross motor skills while restricted in infant chairs.  

It's a 5-star licensed center.  

  

Posted by PickyParents Blog at 5/1/2012 9:10 AM | Add Comment

Is Child Care Stressful for Children?

Donna Hinkle, Ed.D. 


A study of 191 preschoolers in 12 child care centers found that preschoolers in classrooms with more children - closer to 20 -tended to experience more stress throughout the day than preschoolers in classrooms with fewer children - closer to 10. 

Scientists checked the preschoolers' levels of cortisol, the primary stress hormone in humans.  Children in smaller groups tended to show cortisol decreases from morning to afternoon, which is typical for humans, while children in larger groups tended to show greater increases in cortisol.  This unusual increase can have negative health consequences.  

Children who had more conflicted relationships with their teachers also had higher levels of cortisol.  

The study also points out that secure relationships with parents protect children from rises in cortisol in stressful situations.  

















Posted by PickyParents Blog at 4/30/2012 6:18 PM | Add Comment

Outdoor Learning

Donna Hinkle, Ed.D. 



The mother didn't have the time and energy to look at more child care centers.  She had visited some, selected one, and enrolled her daughter, but it was not working out as she had expected.  
She identified a center in Winston-Salem located close to her home, and I called the director to ask if I could visit on the mother's behalf.  The director was very welcome and open and told me to visit any time.  

When I visited the next morning, the 3-year-olds were actively playing on the composite structure that encourages climbing, balancing, pulling up, sliding down - working all the large muscle groups that help young children grow in strength and coordination.  One teacher was interacting with the children as they climbed and slid.   

Another teacher was throwing a ball onto the roof of the building and children were catching it when it came down.  They were having a great time playing together, delighting themselves with watching and anticipating, and then catching or chasing the ball.  And they were developing their hand-eye coordination and their sense of where and how to position themselves to catch the ball!  

The center had a 3-star North Carolina license. 

 
Posted by PickyParents Blog at 4/28/2012 5:30 PM | Add Comment

No TV for Youngest in Child Care

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under 2 watch no TV, at least while in a child care program. Learning happens mostly through interaction with adults, and television is not an early learning opportunity.
Posted by PickyParents Blog at 4/24/2012 12:55 PM | Add Comment

TV Use In Child Care Centers

More than two-thirds of daycare centers included in a U.S. study have TVs available for children to watch, and nearly 60 percent of the centers ignored the American Academy of Pediatrics' guidelines for television exposure in young kids.


The study, published last year, suggests that many children at daycares may be missing out on the kind of hands-on learning that only human interaction can bring.

The study also found that centers least likely to use TV with children were national chains, were nationally accredited, and charged higher tuition.  
Posted by PickyParents Blog at 4/23/2012 12:46 PM | Add Comment

Quality in a 3-Star NC Piedmont Child Care Center

by Donna Hinkle, Ed.D. 


I didn't really expect to see high-quality programming in a center with a 3-star North Carolina operating license.  But the toddler room looked great, with two teachers and a busy group of children actively engaged in learning activities in well-provisioned learning areas.  

One teacher offered children an art activity at the table and at the art easels with spray bottles full of different colors of water, while the other teacher attended to children throughout the room, extending their play and learning by offering additional wooden blocks to two boys at a table, and helping a girl move a couple of chairs to the housekeeping corner to enhance their dramatic play.  The room was full of appropriate, purposeful and joyful child noise and movement.  

The teachers interacted very positively with the children.  One of them stopped what she was doing to pick up and hold a boy who was crying for his daddy.  She reminded him of the daily schedule and routine and the time that Daddy returns -- after play, lunch and naps, while they’re eating snacks. She asked him what he wanted to do - play or sit alone comfortably?  He chose to sit on the couch for a while. 

Wonderful room observation!  
Posted by PickyParents Blog at 4/20/2012 9:38 AM | Add Comment

Quality at 3-Star Child Care Center

Donna Hinkle, Ed.D. 

I wasn't expecting much when I visited a 3-star child care center in the North Carolina Piedmont Triad area, but I was wrong.  For one thing, the activities are very appropriate and well-documented, with lots of children’s work and photos of them at work displayed throughout the building, along with explanations to parents and visitors of what the children did and why.  These great displays tell the center’s story about what they do every day.  

 

Posted by PickyParents Blog at 4/15/2012 3:08 PM | Add Comment

Charlotte with Most Accredited Centers

by Donna Hinkle, Ed.D. 

The highest indicator of quality for a child care or preschool center is national accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Charlotte has more accredited centers than any place else in North Carolina, and even there, there are only 11 full-day accredited centers open to the public!

To find an accredited center, go to www.naeyc.org/accreditation.  
Posted by PickyParents Blog at 4/11/2012 6:33 PM | Add Comment
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