Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE)

Hi All! Miss Bobbie here. I have had the pleasure and privilege of authoring our Early Learning Blog for the past 6 years. When I took over writing the blog in September 2017, I will admit I was nervous. I had never written a blog and wasn’t sure I would be any good at it. I never realized how much I would enjoy connecting with families in this way. And more importantly, I had no idea I would gain so much from authoring our Early Learning Blog.

As a parent or caregiver, what do you wish you had more of? The answers I often hear from parents in my classes are patience, energy, and calmness. Most parents recognize that when they are lacking these important resources, they are more likely to be crabby, yell at their kids, and generally feel more frustrated by all the things, big or small, that parenting sends their way. They know this and yet they are left wondering why they can’t be more patient or calm when their child is having a meltdown for the third time and it’s not even lunchtime. The reality is that these resources are not finite. We have a limited about of energy to do things each day and when our energy is depleted, we must find ways to build it back up again.

“Me do it!” This phrase or some variation of it is often heard by parents of young children many times throughout their day. Toddlers and preschoolers love doing things for themselves. They are working hard on building their independence even though this can mean more time, mess, and work for their parents. Despite this, it is important for parents to support their child’s growing independence because children build their identity, self-confidence, and ability to handle frustration and persevere when we allow them to do things for themselves.

The last day of school is almost here, and summer break is just around the corner. In my ECFE classes each spring, I ask families to help create a Summer Family Fun List. This list contains the collective knowledge of families in our community of parks to check out, places to visit, special events, and things to do at home for the summer. Families in my classes always enjoy creating this and using it throughout the summer to help keep their families entertained. So without further ado, here are some of the recommendations families shared for our Summer Family Fun List this year.