They’re Small…Not Lesser
“Come on, we’ve already talked about this.” “Hurry up.” “You’re fine.” “Use your words.” Which, to be fair, is interesting advice coming from adults who sometimes need an iced coffee, a silent drive home, and at least two hours before…
Are we supporting regulation… or interrupting it?
When I first started this blog, I wrote a whole series on emotional intelligence, and I found myself returning to self-regulation again and again—how it develops, how we support it, and why it feels so important in the early years.…
The Strength I Didn’t Understand Yet
In this series I’ve been reflecting on what actually makes a classroom successful — not in theory, but in the everyday reality of working with children and the adults around them. In the last post, I wrote about strong teams.…
Strong Teams Build Strong Classrooms
In this series, I’ve been reflecting on what actually makes a classroom feel strong — not in theory, but in the messy, everyday reality of working with children and the adults around them. In the last post I wrote about…
Vision Before Systems
Before I go any further, I should probably explain what I mean by “systems” and “vision,” because I used to think they were almost the same thing. When I say systems, I mean the structure we are trying to implement…
My Successful Classroom (Most of the Time)
What Do We Even Mean by “Successful”? A successful classroom does not happen overnight. If it did, someone would have written a very expensive book about it already and we’d all be following The 3-Step Calm Classroom Method™ while drinking…
Who is this really challenging?
In room meetings, I often hear the words — usually between discussions about interests and upcoming events — “We need to talk about a challenging behaviour.” And almost every time, my first thought is: What challenging behaviour? Not because nothing…
My Career Reflection
I didn’t enter early childhood education (ECE) with a five-year plan, a ladder to climb, or a list of titles I wanted to collect. I entered it because I was curious and I cared — about children, about learning, and…
Emotional Intelligence: Social Skills
In my previous post, I discussed the importance of empathy in the early years and how nurturing it through a variety of activities supports children’s ongoing development of emotional intelligence. In this post, we will turn our attention to fostering…
Emotional Intelligence: Motivation
In my last post, I explored self-regulation and the important role it plays in the development of children’s emotional intelligence. This time, we’re diving into another key piece of the puzzle: motivation.
