Preschool news and information for L.A. Parents.
Preschool
Birch Aquarium Offering Scholarships to Schools
Thanks to the generosity of donors, Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is offering 600 free virtual programs to local schools in need this year. In response to the K-12 loss of learning created by recent school closures, Birch Aquarium’s Education Team adapted their Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-aligned Discovery […]
Reopened School Offers Tips for Keeping Students Safe From COVID-19
One of the most delightful things about pre-COVID life was driving or walking past our local schools. We could see kids rushing to make it through the front doors on time or hear the younger ones squealing with joy on playgrounds. Many of our school buildings still sit idly and quietly by. But last month, […]
Remote Learning Resources: 5 Educational Apps for Kids
With the global pandemic in 2020, children are video conferencing into classrooms and parents are expected to be more hands-on in their child’s education. I don’t know about you guys, but my dad was a car mechanic and my mother a customer support agent, so asking them for help with my algebra homework was a […]
How to Prepare Your Preschooler for Coding
The use of coding is all around us – from online payments to photo-editing apps and food-ordering services. And there’s the field robotics, the backbone of manufacturing and our healthcare system. This era of COVID-19 has only illuminated our reliance on technology. Whether we’re fully on board or not, technology is the wave of the […]
Why Your Child Needs Sensory Play
Young children are hardwired to explore the world through their senses. This means that they create an understanding of what is around them largely through touch, smell, taste, sight and hearing. This is also why your sweet child can’t resist splashing in puddles, digging in sand and finger-painting up to the elbows. As messy as […]
Quality Child Care is a Pandemic Essential
A low point for me during the pandemic – OK, admittedly, one of a few – was when I had to miss a late afternoon Zoom meeting, at the last minute, because of a more pressing concern. At least, it was a much louder one: my kids’ complaining that, “Mom, we’re staaaarving.” And so rather […]
Back-to-School Mental Wellness Help From Moms Who Care
If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. Secure your own oxygen mask first so that you can help your child. Your kids don’t want a perfect mom, they want a happy one. There are plenty of quotes urging mothers to take care of themselves. But do we listen? Sharon Feldstein, Patsy Noah, Meredith Wolff and […]
More Tips for Remote Learning Success
For many students, back-to-school this year means heading back to the living room or bedroom where they will be learning remotely. That creates a host of challenges for parents, teachers and students, who have to grapple with how to make remote learning as engaging as classroom learning. And that is a tall order, says Rebecca Hedrick, […]
How are L.A. Parents Coping with this Pandemic Back-to-School Year?
The other day, I was looking for a long-lost bowl in the kitchen when my eyes fell on my son’s lunchbox. It stopped me in my tracks with a deep welling-up of yearning and sadness. I fled the kitchen and closed myself in the bathroom so that my son would not be able to hear […]
What Families Can do About the COVID Slide
Responsible parents don’t let summer go to waste. That, for a long time, has been the thinking among parenting experts. And so, instead of the carefree summers of our own childhoods, we parents squeeze little more than a “free” day or two in between sports practices, well-curated family vacations, “meaningful” camps designed to advance our […]
Planting Early Learning at Home with Child360
The emotional, social and educational development of young children has always been at the core of Child360’s mission. Now that more young children are at home, the early-education nonprofit has launched a digital series to help parents innovate learning with their children. Home Grown with Child360 incorporates tips and activities from Child360’s child development experts […]
Check out Joy Cho’s New Children’s Books
After bringing us home décor, furniture collections and even personalized planners, Joy Cho, mother of two and founder of Oh Joy!, has entered the world of children’s books. Available for purchase now, Cho’s vibrant board book “Be Curious!” takes readers on an adventure with a curious cat that uses its sensory nervous system to further […]
Choosing the Right Preschool: One Family’s Search
In my pre-child fantasies, I effortlessly prepare my son for his educational journey. While handling the usual challenges (sleep routines, potty training, vegetable eating), I plaster the walls with brightly colored letters, organize age-appropriate toys according to developmental stages and sing enthusiastic jingles to help him count, rhyme and spell. In real life, however, when […]
Lynette Hoy: Developing Toys that Develop Young Minds
Teachers from every corner of the country rely on Lakeshore to furnish their rooms, stock their supplies and provide endless learning opportunities for their students. And each fall, Lakeshore introduces new products as part of its Gifts for Growing Minds collection, which is designed to help parents inspire learning at home. At the helm of […]
California Content Standards in New App
Eager to understand the California State Standards your kids are supposed to learn this year? There’s an app for that. The California Department of Education has launched a mobile app where you can find the standards with a touch of your fingertips. The app offers quick, targeted access to standards related to the arts, computer […]
Put your Child on a Path to Success by Building Healthy Attachment
What is healthy attachment and how is it linked to my child’s success in life? Healthy attachment, also referred to as secure attachment, is the emotional connection formed by communication exchanges, even wordless ones, between a parent and child. That connection will have a big impact on the wellbeing of your child. A secure attachment bond teaches your […]
6 Tips for Private School Applications
When it comes to choosing a private school for your child, the stakes can seem incredibly high. The hope is that if you choose the right preschool, she’ll get into the right grade school, followed by excellent middle and high schools and, ultimately, a top-tier college. While the school your child attends isn’t necessarily a […]
Learning to Let Go: The Millennial Dad’s Tips on Preschool
It was a typical hot July afternoon, so I decided to take my son Hank to the ocean. We met a friend of mine and his 3-year-old boy at Glen Alla Park in Marina Del Rey, which has a great maritime-themed playground. My friend, an intense academic but also a suitably sensitive millennial, spoke severely […]
7 Preschool Problems and Tips on How to Solve Them
Preschool can be daunting for parents. Your child seems to enter new phases every day. It’s an exciting time, but when behaviors crop up, it can be difficult to know what’s age-appropriate and what needs more attention. Maybe your kid is a bit of a bully, a biter or has a hard time at drop-off. […]
The Arts Matter – But What’s Best for Your Child?
We may not always practice what we preach, but in general our culture agrees that the arts are important, and that kids should be exposed to them at an early age. In fact, the California Education Code requires arts education in public schools, but with tight school budgets and other education priorities, it can be […]
Blue-Ribbon Panel Outlines Ways to Keep Students Safe
After the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., the cell phones and emails of LAUSD parents were buzzing with messages from the second largest school district in the country – messages that attempted to assure us that our children were safe and that the district was doing everything it could […]
Kid Lit’s Secret Sauce
Think about the picture books that were your favorites as a kid. Some that probably made the list – such as “Corduroy” by Don Freeman, “The Story of Ferdinand” by Munro Leaf and “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak – are still popular today. The continued success of these books is not just […]
Stopping School Shootings
Let’s begin our look at this scary topic with two solid – possibly calming – facts: School shootings are a rare occurrence in the U.S., and there has not been a mass shooting at an L.A.-area school in recorded memory. Mass school shootings – beginning with Columbine in 1999 through Sandy Hook in 2012, up […]
Navigating Los Angeles Public Schools and Beyond
Deciding where to send your child to school can be a daunting task. Parents need to think carefully about what is most important to them when it comes to their child’s education. Now, parents have a convenient way to access detailed information on public schools across the state. In March 2017, the California Department of […]
Preschools in Los Angeles: 9 Things Your Child Should Learn
Last fall, as I watched my son run down the walkway toward his new kindergarten classroom, I noticed that he appeared tinier than usual. I looked at the other children, products of preschools in Los Angeles, flowing past him and realized that he was, in fact, considerably smaller than most of them. As his R2-D2 […]
Our Breakfast-to-Bedtime Back to School Guide
Remember last year’s back to school photo? The kids wore big, happy grins and fresh haircuts. Inside their shiny new backpacks awaited orderly pencil cases and a homemade-with-love lunch filled with summer veggies and nothing processed. Cut to the second week: Running to the car five minutes late, the day’s completed homework forgotten on the […]
How to Spot a Developmentally Appropriate Preschool
It’s spring and if you have a young child, there’s a good chance that preschool is on your mind. If you want to find the right place for fall 2017, I recommend that you start your search now. Good schools fill up quickly! There are plenty of things to consider when choosing a preschool. Clearly, […]
Inclusive L.A.: The Preschool Launching Pad
Choosing a preschool is a process so fraught with confusion and pressure that some have quipped it is as difficult as choosing a college. While that might be an overstatement, for parents of children with disabilities, choosing a preschool can be an especially challenging and frustrating experience. Preschool is usually the first time parents send […]
Danica McKellar: On Making Math Fun During Your Child’s Wonder Years
Known for her role as Winnie Cooper on the popular coming-of-age TV series, “The Wonder Years,” and for her bestselling math books aimed at tweens and teens, Danica McKellar is now on a mission to make math fun for even the youngest kids. Her whimsical picture book, “Goodnight Numbers,” which debuted last month and landed […]
Digital vs. Analog: At-Home Learning Activities for Kids
Technology gives parents more ways than ever to provide a rich and engaging home learning environment for their kids. But how much is too much? Is it better to go “old-school” with plenty of books, journals to fill, and hands-on activities? Or is it best to be future-focused and provide the latest tablet computer and […]
Choosing a School: It’s In the Details
Most schools offer a good education. Look beyond that to find a fit for your child. The days of sending kids to an assigned neighborhood school, no questions asked, are gone. Today, Southern California families are fortunate to have many great schools to choose from, giving us the opportunity to find just the right school […]
Striking a Preschool Balance: Play-Based vs. Academic Programs
Search out the best play-based and academic elements to find the right fit for your child. When my daughter, Mirae, was 3, she came home from preschool one day raving about baby rabbits. A rabbit had given birth and burrowed her offspring in the dirt just under the swing set at Mirae’s preschool, Pierce College […]
Positive Parenting: Experts Answer Your Questions For Early Childhood
We hear it all the time, and yet we can’t hear it often enough: Children’s early years matter. Your child’s first interactions with you and with others, the environment you create for your family, and your child’s earliest educational experiences influence how your child’s brain is built, and set the tone for her or his […]
Take Time, Talk: Eight Ways to Support Your Child’s Language Development
Like a snowball growing as it rolls downhill, young children’s vocabulary expands faster and faster as they hear more words. However, a constant stream of words from the radio or even an educational children’s video won’t create this cumulative advantage in language processing. Instead, social interaction (the back-and-forth, turn-taking nature of conversation) and talking with […]
Handling School Admissions Interviews Like a Boss
While private schools vary in curriculum, education philosophy and how many students they accept each term, they all share the same goal when interviewing prospective students. They use the interview to make sure the student is going to fit in well at the school, enjoy themselves and be able to thrive in the academic environment. […]
What You’ll Learn At School Open House
While searching for private schools for their son Kevin (now in college), Tony and Kristy Adler of Bel Air eagerly attended several open houses at L.A. schools with him. They quickly learned the do’s and don’ts of open-house protocol. “We were doomed at one school from the beginning when I grabbed our son’s name badge. […]
How to Choose a Child-Centered Preschool
Extensive research shows that attending preschool helps children develop social and emotional skills, improves their reading and language development, and gives them the opportunity to make decisions and ask questions in a safe environment. Regardless of their socio-economic status, race or location, children who have attended preschool are more likely to graduate high school and […]
STEM Learning In L.A.
People can’t seem to talk about education any more without using four letters: S-T-E-M. STEM sounds much more exciting than when we used to call it simply “science,” “math” or “computer class.” And STEM topics are now being touted not just as school subjects for aspiring techies, but as life skills vital for all kids. […]
5 Tips To Get You More Involved In Your Child’s School
When the school year began and you buttoned up your precious ones against the fall chill, kissed their cheeks and sent them off with the latest back-to-school goodies, did you make a silent vow that, this year, you would get more involved in your child’s school? More than likely, you’re next thought was, “What time […]
Finding a Private School With the Right Vibe
When I was pregnant with my first child, I was one of those mothers. You know the type, reading all the pregnancy books, taking the birth-education classes, sharing pregnancy symptoms with the other mommies-to-be during prenatal yoga class. Once my son was born, I continued on that path. I breastfed. I made his baby food. […]
What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Preschooler
I still kick myself for taking a rock away from my 2-year-old. “You can’t carry a rock around other kids,” I explained, prying the flat, round object out of his hand. It was shellacked bright blue with a big “R” painted on it, a trinket we had once found on the ground. “Rigby rock” wasn’t […]