Early Childhood Teacher Study Online

10 Things ECE Teachers are Studying Today

What are early childhood teachers studying today? Curriculum for ECE teachers is constantly evolving to keep up with the latest topical trends and innovations. Young children live in a world where computers, tablets, smartphones, music players and gaming devices are readily available, including in their classrooms. Anyone studying to become an ECE Teacher needs to keep up with these trends in technology. The best way to do that is to get your ECE training online and we highly recommend getting your professional development training at ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI.)

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ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI,) the industry leader for online professional development, offers courses that cover the latest in everything from technology and STEAM to bullying, attention disorders and more. Every early childhood teacher and their staff can benefit from the online ECE training at CCEI. Here at Kids Creative Chaos, we've taken several courses and enjoyed each one of them, including CCEI122: Active Learning in Early Childhood course! Check out our review, here. We’ve also reviewed CCEI's online professional development for early childhood teachers in these past articles: Professional Development for Preschool Teachers and ECE Continuing ED Online. No matter how long you've been teaching, you'll discover something new and have an “a-ha” moment during CCEI’s course training.

Personally, I’ve taken many courses online and offline receiving certificates and credits toward my ECE (Early Childhood Education Certification) and CCEI is the best! ChildCare Education Institute offers certificate programs and coursework that meets the requirement for national credentials including the CDA. CCEI also has online certification programs for Director and Early Childhood Credentials. CCEI, a Council for Professional Recognition CDA Gold Standard™ comprehensive training provider, is nationally accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) and is accredited as an Authorized Provider by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET.)

Below, is a list of the most popular things ECE teachers are studying. What are you most interested in studying? After you’ve taken a look at the list, let us know your thoughts in the comments below the post.

10 Things ECE Teachers Should Study

Here’s a list of TOP 10 trending topics that ECE teachers are studying today (that teachers wouldn’t have studied 10 years ago), according to CCEI:

• Children on Devices: CCEI’s CHD103: The Child’s Digital Universe: Technology and Digital Media in Early Childhood online course shares the latest research and recommendations regarding children's use of technology and digital media and ways in which digital devices are reshaping childhood and early childhood education.

• STEM and Robotics: Children are growing up in an increasingly digital world, and technology, coding and robotics in schools are getting a lot of attention. CCEI’s courses  CUR113- STEAM: Enhancing STEM Education with the Arts and CUR123: Robotics in Early Childhood Education: Hands-On and Playful Approaches helps teachers explain robotics to children.

• Trauma Informed Care: ECE providers work with diverse groups of students from all walks of life. Statistics show that 26% of children living in America will experience some sort of trauma in their life prior to the age of four. CCEI offers SOC108: Establishing Trauma Informed Practices in Early Learning Environments which focuses on ways to incorporate trauma informed practices into the environment and interactions with children. 

• Mindfulness: Mindfulness practices can prevent instances of undesired behavior, increase focus and engagement and promote a feeling of ownership and empowerment for children. As an additional benefit, classroom communities tend to be more empathetic and kind. CCEI offers SOC106: The Value of Mindfulness in Early Childhood which explores calming and reflective approaches when working with young children.

• Spirituality: CCEI’s CHD109: Supporting Spiritual Development in Early Learning Environments is based upon the work of Deborah Schein, author of the book titled Inspiring Wonder, Awe and Empathy – Spiritual Development in Young Children. The course explores what spiritual development is and why it is important to overall development. Participants will also learn how to create moments within their learning environments that promote spiritual development in young children.

• Caring for Allergies: Child food allergies are on the rise in the United States and continue to be a public health concern. CCEI’s CCEI119: Food Allergies in the Early Care Setting online course provides an overview of food allergies and basic safety principles to employ in the early care setting. Upon completion of this course, teachers will be able to provide a safe environment for children and staff who suffer from food allergies, identify the eight major food allergens, list the theories associated with the rise in food allergies and identify the importance of food labeling and packaging.

• Dual-Language Learning: In some areas, non-native English speakers may make up the majority of a classroom. It is important for all early childhood educators to be prepared to meet the challenges of guiding a child toward English fluency while maintaining fluency in (and respect for) their home languages and cultures. CCEI offers CHD102: Dual Language Learning in the Early Childhood Environment to provide early childhood professionals with strategies and tools for helping young children develop language and literacy skills in English.

• Attention Disorders: CCEI offers courses like SPN102: Attention Deficit Disorders to help child care providers understand the symptoms, subtypes and common treatment strategies associated with attention disorders.

• Diversity and Inclusion: CCEI’s CCEI640: Creating a Multicultural Environment online training course helps teachers define the goals of multiculturalism, plan and implement an anti-biased classroom, incorporate multiculturalism into learning centers and other classroom activities and promote cooperative social skills in diverse classrooms.

• Bullying in the Classroom: Although bullying has been around for years, today’s teachers are more proactive about reducing bullying. CCEI’s GUI100: Bullying in the Preschool Environment online course helps teachers bring empathy and compassion to the classroom as a way of reducing bullying behaviors.

As you can see, CCEI’s course offerings are full of valuable information that keeps up with the latest trends in early childhood teacher study online. Whether you run a daycare from your home, homeschool preschool, or teach in a public early childhood classroom, CCEI has courses for you.

CCEI has over 35+ certificate programs offered in both English and Spanish! They’ve graduated over 15,000 early childhood professionals from its CDA and other certificate programs -- with over 5 million online coursework completed. Its web-based coursework is available 24/7/365. You can see a full list of certificate programs on their website here, but below are just a few of them:

● CDA (Child Development Associate)

● FCCPC (Florida Child Care Professional Credential)

● Director’s Certificate

● NAC (NECPA National Administrator Credential® Certificate)

Becoming a preschool teacher or caregiver is a rewarding experience, but it takes patience and perseverance. Not everyone is cut out for such an important career choice. When this is your calling in life, you want to be the best teacher possible for your students. Keeping up on educational trends is key to providing your preschool class a positive experience that will pave the way for their future educational endeavors. It's important to find a balance between fun activities and the solid building blocks of education. We always try to make learning fun.

If you're in need of continuing education for your early childhood program or for a new career in early childhood education, start here with our review of ChildCare Education Institute. CCEI offers many amazing continuing education courses for professional development in early childhood education. Their extensive course list is full of lessons that are relevant and current for today’s ever changing ECE programming. 

I encourage everyone involved with childcare and early childhood education, whether you work in a brick and mortar environment or a virtual environment, to sign up for a course or two. And for new CCEI users, you can take a trial course a NO COST!  To stay current, be sure to follow the recommendations on the top 10 things ECE Teachers are studying today. I love that they offer so many course options and each course is informative and easily applicable to your lesson plans and teaching technique. Check out CCEI today!

For more preschool and early childhood activities, follow us on Pinterest.

To read more about our experiences with CCEI's online professional development for early childhood teachers read these articles: Professional Development for Preschool Teachers and ECE Continuing ED Online.

Becoming a preschool teacher or caregiver is a rewarding experience, but it takes patience and perseverance. Not everyone is cut out for such an important career choice. When this is your calling in life, you want to be the best teacher possible for your students. Keeping up on educational trends is key to providing your preschool class a positive experience that will pave the way for their future educational endeavors. It's important to find a balance between fun activities and the solid building blocks of education. We always try to make learning fun.

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Preparing Teens for Life after High School

How Your Teen Can Prepare for Post-High School

Your teen has spent the majority of their childhood getting an education. Deciding what they're going to do post-high school is often a challenge. However, to ensure that the senior year is less daunting than they expect and that they're ready for whatever the world throws at them, here are some of basic ways to prepare teens for things to come.

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Look at College Options

Around 67% of high school graduates enrolled in college in 2017, and so it's extremely likely that your teen is looking at college as a viable future option. While this is an important stepping stone toward their careers, it's vital that they spend time considering the right college options. 

Boost Grades

To do this, you should consider looking at Cornell University GPA requirements on CampusReel, among others, as this will help your teen find a college where their application is likely to be accepted. You should also take them to open days and apply for brochures that can help your teen find out what each college can offer them.

Take AP or Honors Classes

If your teen wants to stretch themselves academically and be in a good position for the level and type of learning that college offers, consider enrolling them in AP and Honors classes. Not only will these types of classes assimilate the types of projects that they'll commit to at college, but they can also help boost their qualifications and grades so that they can apply for higher ranking colleges and job positions in the future.

Visit Their School’s Career Team

One of the benefits of establishing your teen’s plan for the future while they're still at high school is they will have access to their school’s career team, who can help them plot their goals and long-term dreams. Not only can the team discuss a number of careers with your teen, but they'll also be able to give high school students advice for their college applications and help them find future work experience within the job sector holds their interest. Our local college career center offers things like: building trades, welding, nursing, childcare, broadcasting, and graphic design.

Study online to get a certificate in Early Childhood Education.

Get a Part-Time Job

Is your teen lacking in real-world experience? If you're concerned about how your teen will cope with their sudden entry into the real world, you should consider encouraging them to take on a part-time job. Not only will this force them to improve their time management skills by having to balance this job with their studies, but it will also allow them to boost many of the necessary skills for adulthood, such as independence and communication. It also allows them to experience working for and learning to follow the rules of other adults. So, it can change their attitude toward following your intstructions too.

Study for Exams

However, the most important thing your teen should do before they leave high school is study for exams, which gets them in a good position for their future, whether they want to go to college or go straight into the world of work. To help teenagers achieve their full potential, there are many resources online that can help teens study and excel at their end of high school tests. CLEP tests are great tests for college.

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Cliff Notes for Studying

Jake's Journey in Art - Homeschool Lesson - 4 Watercolor Seascape (Wet on Wet)

Jake's Journey in Art: Watercolor Wet on Wet techniques for Homeschoolers

Kids Creative Chaos building Self-Esteem one art lesson at a time.

If you're following in order read this first- Still Life

Lesson:  Choose one of the seascapes and one watercolor technique you've learned.

It was time for our next art lesson. Jake moaned and complained as usual, until I reminded him this week's lessons involved painting. "Yay! I like to paint. I never got to paint in art class."  Say what you say?  Catch up here. Art is about the journey, not the end result.

Jake's seascape is on the left, Mayhem is on the right. She's added some embellishments.

Did you notice his attention to detail?  This is not a child who should despise art. Thankfully, we are making amazing progress.

Now, what Jake really meant to say was- I love it when I'm allowed to make a mess. He chose the sailboat scene and the wet on wet technique. Which is exactly as it sounds, paint water over your entire paper, dip your brush in water and the color, and let it bleed blend. Don't move it until it is dry.

We also did the salt painting technique and sprinkled salt on the wet sand area. When it dries it looks like real sand.

We first traced over the image to get a feel for it and then we lightly drew it in pencil on our watercolor paper. When painting with watercolors it is important to use the right paper. Copy paper will deteriorate with too much water. The fibers in the watercolor paper are designed to soak up the excess. Still, we laid out three layers of newspaper and had a roll of paper towels ready and waiting. Inevitably, someone always spills the water.

Our art table, okay, it is our dining room table. We never use it for that!

I am pleased to announce this assignment was our turn around lesson. In fact, his feelings about art have changed so much in a recent lesson on mask making he said, "Mommy, it is really awesome that I have a teacher who knows so much about art. You can teach me so many cool things!" (Insert tears here.)

I am quite skilled in the art of mask making. My highschool, art teacher, Mrs. Conway did a lesson on mask's with handmade paper. I made 3 or 4 different projects, entered them into an art contest and won some sort of an award. 

Oh my, I wish I could tell you what it was but a lot of time has passed since then.  After, I took a tiny scholarship to college and studied theatre design, art, and architecture. I've used the skills I learned in those classes to make many a mask for many a child in an after-school program, made some great mardi-gras costumes, and designed many theatrical props and sets. We'll post mask making 101 next week.

Hooray! Someone finally took notice.  My college journey was not a waste after all :-)

Okay, the real point is that Jake took notice. Chuckle-chuckle and all it took was some fancy paper curling around a pencil and a cool, paper snake. Mom's have mad skills, don't they. I'm gearing up to ask Jake to draw a new picture of how he feels about Mommy's art class-eh. Maybe I'll just take a photo of his expression.

Things are looking up!

Tunnel Book Lesson Two

Art Expression Lesson One

Lesson Three - Still Life

Limit Smartphone Use App: Are You Addicted?

Put Down Your Phone! It Can Save Your Child’s Self- Esteem

Do your kids have mobile phones? We recently purchased a smartphone to use as a house phone. Though, my kids have tablets and free access to computers, I worry about the cell phone, the texting, the access to the world in the palm of your hand. Smartphones have become addictive. I wondered, is their an app for that? Of course, there's an app for everything! Should we limit smartphone use? In this post, Hilary Smith, shares some insight on the overuse of technology combined with our kids, but it might not be the child who has the problem. That's right, Mom (or Dad), you might need an app to limit smartphone use. Enjoy!

It is Better to Try and Fail Than Never to Try at all: Lora's Law #10

Quote: It is Better to Try and Fail Than Never to Try at All

It seems all you do is try, try, try, and never get anywhere. You have to keep trying to succeed. If you are too afraid to try, you will always feel like a failure. There is no try- only do! You can do it, we say that every day. We keep trying to be a success, but maybe we already are, because we aren't afraid to try. Stay positive, and share this quote to keep motivated. It is better to try and fail than never to try at all. Enjoy!

Does Gaming Increase Kids Intelligence?

How Gaming Helps Your Kids Boost Intelligence

Intelligence is the capacity for learning and reasoning, the ability to understand and process things or to deal with new or difficult situations. It's one ability which everyone can't seem to get enough of, even the so-called intelligent ones want to be more intelligent. It is believed that humans are born with intelligence but there are other factors after birth which can positively influence and develop the level of a person's intelligence. So, how can gaming help boost your kid's intelligence? Do video games really improve certain brain functions?

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Intelligence is equally a function of nature, as well as, nurture. While nature is hereditary and almost nothing can be done about it, nurture has to do with the upbringing a person gets, and this can go a long way in intellectual development. One of the things which if included into a child upbringing can increase his or her intelligence, is playing games. Yes, you read right. Playing games. Contrary to the widely held misconception that most games numb the mind, video games can add to a person in many ways; this includes:

• Gaming Boosts Concentration and Attention.

Playing games involve a lot of focus on the part of the players, unlike activities such as watching TV, listening to music, reading, etc. which can be done absentmindedly, gaming requires you to fully focus on the game and relegate every other thing to the background, and this is why some believe in the addictive power of games. However, gaming increases the usual selective visual attention of the player. This refers to the brain’s ability to focus on relevant visual information while suppressing less relevant information. If children can learn to block out frivolous distractions and focus from an early age, gaming can increase the efficiency of their brain. Thus, if your kid is one with short attention span, playing games is one way through which he/she can improve.

• Gaming boosts coordination and problem-solving skills.

A person who can focus is better coordinated and makes better decisions. Most games on Friv involve a lot of analysis of unique and complicated situations and usually, these situations require the player be coordinated. There are special moves in games which involve pressing specific keys in a sequence and all of these improve coordination because the player knows that missing a step will affect the outcome of the game. Coordination is also an important skill for problem-solving and the more coordinated a person is, the better a problem solver the person becomes.

• Gaming Enhances Brain Function and IQ.

Gaming also enhances the cognitive ability and intelligence quotient of a person. So kids can enhances these abilities trough gaming. For this to happen, one has to be selective about the type of games being played. Playing strategic games has been proven to have a considerable impact on developing a child's IQ. Memory games, as well, when played consistently, help to sharpen the memory and make it more receptive to new information. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the Charite University of Medicine, in one study conducted to determine the influence of games on the brain, took measurements of participants' brain volume before and after playing Super Mario 64. The study showed a significant increase in grey matter of those playing the game compared to the group that did not. Imagine how many times your kid has played Super Mario!

• Gaming improves brain speed.

In playing games, the gamer is given lots of information to process per second and this helps to improve the speed at which the child processes information even when not playing games. Brain speed has to do with the pace at which a person perceives, analyzes, organizes and acts on a piece of information. Many video games, especially action games and games involving time management, require a quick reaction from the player and the ability to react quickly and still make the right decision is important for measuring intelligence. Your child is boosting reaction time each time the play a game.

• Gaming improves the ability to solve mathematical and verbal problems via logical games.

By involving your kid in logical games and puzzles, his or her ability to solve mathematical and verbal problems are improved. Games allow for creative and out of the box thinking, as well as, improving memory and attention span. All of these are important skills necessary for understanding and solving mathematical problems.

• Gaming improves planning, multitasking, prioritization.

The outcome of a game depends on how effective the player's plan is. The chances of failure and tension drive the players to make highly efficient decisions in strategy games and this can be transferred into reality and used to make decision making for daily life tasks. According to research, the areas of the brain that control spatial navigation, strategic planning and working memory are greatly improved through gaming. When playing games, the player's attention is divided as he or she is focused on the joystick, the screen, as well as, on the commands necessary to execute a gaming action. With this ability for multiple focus, a gamer can learn to multitask in real life activities without any task suffering from inadequate attention.

• Gaming helps to make flexible, faster and more accurate decisions.

With its method of reward in the form of "Next-level" punishment in form of "Game-over." Gaming encourages the player to make the best decisions possible and find his or her way out of complex problems. The player is more adept at making multiple decisions and switching between tasks without errors. This flexibility allows a kid to be faster in making decisions as he or she can make multiple decisions at once.

Finally, if you encourage your kids to play games, their daily activities should be totally dependent on a proper time management plan. You can get worthwhile games for your wards on Friv. Just remember, everything in moderation! Do you agree that gaming can boost intelligence? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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