The number of families from Ukraine who are fleeing the war is growing by the hour. Among them, a large group are young children. Soon they will be attending ECEC centres across Europe where the organisation of work may differ
ECEC in Ukraine
Emotional abuse of children
Early morning. Nursery cloakroom. The nervous mom quickly and tensely unbuttons Jack’s jacket. The boy stands motionless, as if absent, tugged by his mother’s impatient moves. Nothing seems to be happening, but the teacher is worried about it… How to
“I have never tried that before, so I think I should definitely be able to do that!”
This quote belongs to Pippi Longstocking, a fictional main character in a series of children’s books by the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. It is a very optimistic and bold quote, but what can we learn from it? Self-efficacy Pippi Longstocking’s
Get inspired by the reading policy at Miss Loubna’s preschool
Do you like to dive into your personal library and bring out the book jewels in your preschool classroom? By storytelling, reading aloud in the classroom, and providing pupils with a stimulating book corner, you are already enhancing their reading
Understanding disability: The reason behind the words
When we talk or write about children with disabilities, we should think carefully about the words we use, as we explained in a previous blog post (The power of words). These words should be grounded in a good understanding of
The power of words…
Imagine two situations where children are playing: Situation 1 | The five-year-olds play joyfully outside. Joe is autistic and Tom is disabled. They show great difficulties in the game, because Joe isolates himself and Tom cannot move his wheelchair through
Five benefits of reading to infants
This blog was contributed by Ruth Heuvelman (CED-group, the Netherlands). Reading is very good for language development, and especially for infants. According to research, you cannot start early enough[1]. You can even start to read to babies aged around 3
How to integrate STEM and language in a diverse preschool class?
This blog post was contributed by teacher trainers Marlies Algoet, Thijs Eeckhout & Helena Taelman (ODISEE) Flemish preschool classrooms contain a relatively high number of multilingual preschoolers from families with a low socioeconomic status. These children may benefit from high-quality
Arts-based practices reduce poverty-related stress in children
This blog message was contributed by Astrid Cornelis (Thomas More). Can poverty get under your skin? It certainly can. Preschool teachers, however, can help to diminish high stress levels in young children of low socioeconomic status. Arts-based activities – including
When children are born at end of the year: Stay in preschool or register in primary school?
This blog post was contributed by Cecília Aguiar (ISCTE-IUL). Every year, in some countries, a number of parents of children who were born in the last months of the year, need to make an important decision: to register in primary