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A recent article in the New York Times entitled Taking Playtime Seriously and a 2018 American Academy of Pediatrics study remind us of the importance of play. Both the article and study emphasize playful learning as critically important for the developing child. Other countries like China and Finland are shifting away from over-testing, academic rankings and high-achievement to […]

Sixty years ago, The Perry Preschool Project aimed to study the lifetime impacts of high quality early education experiences.  The participants in the study were socioecomically and developmentally disadvantaged African American children.  The 123 participants were ages 3-4 and all had below average IQ scores. They were enrolled in a two-year high quality early learning program […]

  “…and so, I have to give you an official two weeks notice.” There it was; the culmination of a rocky few weeks at school for my daughter, Madison. I’d been pulled aside three separate times in the last two weeks by the school director. And now she was given two weeks to change her […]

Mindfulness is maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of your thoughts, feelings and bodies. Research tells us that yoga practice in early childhood and elementary classrooms teaches children self-awareness, breathing techniques, how to deal with stress and mindfulness. The most recent research conducted in elementary schools found that students who were part of a 12-week practice 4x […]

What if all children in Western Tidewater had the educational experiences they need to become successful in school and in life?  That is the question the UVA CASTL team is working hard each day to find the answer to. In our state, millions of dollars from private and public funds have been invested in early […]

  Everyday early educators work with children who exhibit behaviors that are difficult to deal with. Our early childhood programs and teachers are struggling to meet the needs of children who have disabilities, mental health issues, challenging behavior and social-emotional skills that are still being developed. Did you know that?: Children in Pre-k are expelled […]

When you play or watch baseball, you are seeing STREAM (science, technology, reading, engineering, arts and math) in action! Both of my boys are baseball fans (one loves the Yankees and the other is a Red Sox fan). When I asked my younger son if he wanted to play baseball, he replied, “ Do you […]

The turnover rate among early education program staff in the U.S. is 30%.  High turnover rates can impact program quality and affect children. Studies show that frequent turnover among early educators prevents children from developing secure attachments with their teachers and can negatively impact children’s social and emotional skills as well as their language development. It […]

[su_row][su_column size=”1/3″ center=”no” class=””][/su_column] [su_column size=”1/3″ center=”no” class=””][/su_column] [su_column size=”1/3″ center=”no” class=””][/su_column][/su_row] Many of you were with us when we launched WE3: Women Elevating Early Education last spring.  The First Lady of Virginia, Pamela Northam was with us at The New E3 School to kick off the initiative. Governor Northam’s Year in Review will be […]

The increased ability to gather and use data is one of the most important developments the education world has seen.  To best serve our children, states must be able to answer important questions about the long- and short-terms outcomes of the programs and services they provide. Early childhood education data, combined with data from home visiting […]

Do You Live In A Child Care Desert? A child care desert is a census tract with more than 50 children under the age of five where there are no child care providers or so few options that there are more than three times as many children as there are licensed child care slots.  The […]

Our gingerbread house building and decorating event was a huge hit with the neighborhood and New E3 School children and families. It was fun to see the excitement that filled The New E3 School last weekend. Adults and children equally enjoyed the holiday activity stations & decorating the gingerbread school modeled after The New E3 […]

We have many family traditions, but a few of my boy’s favorites are seeing what the elf left in the Advent calendar (not so much anymore), building a Lego Christmas village, building & decorating gingerbread houses and making (and mostly eating) homemade cinnamon rolls on Christmas Day. Every year since my two boys were young […]

The Obici Healthcare Foundation kicked off “Assignment: Impact! Creating a Foundation for Success” on Wednesday, October 31st armed with data from: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Social Determinants of Health 2018 Community Health Needs Assessment commissioned by the foundation The 2017 JLARC Report, entitled Improving Virginia’s Early Childhood Programs Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program […]

While support for early education and preschool has grown in recent years, research shows mixed evidence of whether preschool leads to long-term student outcomes. Some studies have shown lasting benefits of preschool, while others suggest that by 3rd grade, the advantages children who attended preschool had over children who did not, have disappeared.  This “fade-out” […]