Category Archives: Quality Early Education and Care

A Look Back…

Posted on January 23, 2023 by Marcia Hebert

Are you creating magic for the young children in your early childhood program? I hope so! Read on … Continue reading →

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Beyond the Book—Zero-to-Three Model (A Parent’s Perspective)

Posted on November 12, 2022 by Marcia Hebert

Making the shift to Zero to Three in our Child Care Center (where the youngest children and their teachers remain together until the child reaches preschool age) brought more benefits to our infant/toddler program than we could have anticipated. Here is one parent’s perspective. Continue reading →

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Beyond the Book—Inspiration for the New School Year

Posted on September 1, 2022 by Marcia Hebert

Each year, we closed our child care center, to parents and children, the two days before Labor Day weekend. We worked, and worked hard to get everything ready for the upcoming first day of the new school year. And each year, as director of the program,
I spoke to my very large team. This post shares my remarks from 2001 – and will give you an idea or two for your own program. Continue reading →

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Beyond the Book—Organizing the Moving Parts of a Child Care Center

Posted on July 18, 2022 by Marcia Hebert

“Whose job is it?” was a question I asked myself often as Director of a very large Child Care Center. There were many, many moving parts in the course of a day and I was determined to juggle them with skill. This post highlights one of the processes we put in place. These are the “how we did it” details not found in “Beginning to End: The Life Cycle of a Child Care Center” (Yes, this is information Beyond the Book). Continue reading →

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Beyond the Book—The Mentor Teacher Program

Posted on May 31, 2022 by Marcia Hebert

As Director of the John Hancock Child Care Center, I knew that the key to a quality early childhood program was to find, hire and retain the finest teachers! I also knew that we had to provide unique, individual opportunities for their professional growth. And so, our Mentor Teacher Program was born! How we did this is the subject of this blog post. Continue reading →

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Beyond the Book—Making Successful Transitions

Posted on March 23, 2022 by Marcia Hebert

I have learned that people experience change in very different ways – some embrace it; some dread it; some resist it; and some cannot handle change at all – and retreat. As director, I witnessed each. This caused me to think very carefully about how to present changes in my programs – and make them as gradual as I could. So, when it came to children moving up to the next age group each September, we created a thoughtful and gradual transition for both the children and their parents… Continue reading →

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Beyond the Book—Taking Time to Reflect

Posted on January 14, 2022 by Marcia Hebert

January is often the month for putting into practice something new and helpful. Have you considered journaling and reflecting about your work days? Here is a way to begin … Continue reading →

Posted in Early Childhood, Early Childhood Leadership, Early Childhood Teachers, Managing Early Childhood Programs, Performance Management Skills, Quality Early Education and Care, Training for Early Childhood Directors, Training for Early Childhood Professionals | Leave a comment

Beyond the Book—Setting the Stage for the Children

Posted on November 21, 2021 by Marcia Hebert

When we design our early childhood classrooms, we essentially become the director of a Broadway production. We have an empty stage—filled with possibility. We build the set (walls, flooring, doors, windows). We paint the backdrop scenery. We add the furniture … Continue reading →

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Beyond the Book—The Teacher-Parent Partnership

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Marcia Hebert

Building a community between children, parents, and teachers is the #1 goal of an early childhood program. So, how do we cultivate a climate where parents feel welcome and relevant in our child care centers? Continue reading →

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Beyond the Book—The Partnership

Posted on August 29, 2021 by Marcia Hebert

The partnership between parent and teacher cannot be underestimated. When it is built on mutual trust and respect, everything else falls into place – everything! Read on … Continue reading →

Posted in Early Childhood, Early Childhood Curriculum, Early Childhood Leadership, Early Childhood Teachers, For Early Childhood Directors, Managing Early Childhood Programs, Performance Management Skills, Quality Early Education and Care, Training for Early Childhood Directors, Training for Early Childhood Professionals | Leave a comment