Five Reasons to Earn Your CDA
SPONSORED BLOG Whether you’re just starting out in the early childhood field, or you’ve been teaching for years, chances are you’ve heard the term CDA at least a few times. The Child Development Associate® (CDA)...
Excitement. Jitters. Uncertainty.
The new school year comes with a multitude of emotions and challenges — but thankfully there are things you can do ahead of time to prepare and ensure it’s the best one yet.
At ChildCare Education Institute, (CCEI), we’ve spent the past 20+ years helping early educators like you get the training they need to be the best possible teacher inside and outside of the classroom.
That’s why we’re sharing our tips to help you get ready to welcome students into your classroom for the 2023-2024 year.
Last year’s student artwork has likely come down, but your bulletin boards might need to be spruced up. It’s also may be time to recycle all the old paperwork and lesson plans taking space in your files and throw out the broken crayons and dried-out paint sitting in your art stand.
Now’s also a great time to think about your classroom layout – perhaps you want to move your reading nook to a different part of the classroom or reorganize the manipulatives center.
Finally, while you’re moving furniture, it’s also best to give your room a nice deep cleaning and sanitizing before the kiddos (and their germs) arrive.
While you’re fixing up your classroom, channel your inner Container Store enthusiast. Make sure you have systems to keep everything in its place, including a filing system to help you stay organized and plenty of storage for classroom supplies, toys and more. Our motto, when in doubt, it’s always better to have too many containers than not enough. Be thoughtful about the materials you put out on the first day and create a system to rotate new materials from the supply closet on a regular basis.
Before the school year gets into full swing, review your existing lesson plans to see if anything in the curriculum has changed since last year. After all, best practices and recommendations for teachers are constantly changing, so you want to ensure your lessons are always incorporating the most developmentally appropriate early learning experiences for your little ones. Now is also a great time to incorporate any changes or key learnings you took away from certain lesson plans the previous year to help make the material even more effective. Finally, since the beginning of the year tends to be especially hectic, you can get ahead by creating your lesson plans for the first couple of weeks.
As an early childhood teacher, you know how important it is to be flexible and adapt to what’s happening in your classroom at a moment’s notice. That said, go ahead and plan out your first day, taking into account the breadth of emotions your kids (and their parents) will likely experience between drop-off and pick-up. Think about what transitions you want to implement with your students and what you can do to make them feel welcomed and supported right away.
Create your list of classroom rules on large posters (incorporating visuals where you can) and hang them throughout the room. You can then cover all the rules on the first day so your students know exactly what you expect of them.
With everything else happening, don’t lose sight of your own learning. Make the 2023-24 school year one to remember by starting your CDA journey with ChildCare Education Institute . And, while you’re at it, start knocking out college prerequisites with our friends at StraighterLine so you can get one step closer to a degree.
SPONSORED BLOG Whether you’re just starting out in the early childhood field, or you’ve been teaching for years, chances are you’ve heard the term CDA at least a few times. The Child Development Associate® (CDA)...
SPONSORED BLOG Excitement. Jitters. Uncertainty. The new school year comes with a multitude of emotions and challenges — but thankfully there are things you can do ahead of time to prepare and ensure it’s the...
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Andrew Davis serves as Chief Operating Officer at the Council. In this role, Andrew oversees the Programs Division, which includes the following operational functions: credentialing, growth and business development, marketing and communications, public policy and advocacy, research, innovation, and customer relations.
Andrew has over 20 years of experience in the early care and education field. Most recently, Andrew served as Senior Vice President of Partnership and Engagement with Acelero Learning and Shine Early Learning, where he led the expansion of state and community-based partnerships to produce more equitable systems of service delivery, improved programmatic quality, and greater outcomes for communities, children and families. Prior to that, he served as Director of Early Learning at Follett School Solutions.
Andrew earned his MBA from the University of Baltimore and Towson University and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland – University College.
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Jan has more than 30 years in accounting and finance experience, including public accounting, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. She has held management-level positions with BDO Seidman, Kiplinger Washington Editors, Pew Center for Global Climate Change, Communities In Schools, B’nai B’rith Youth Organization and American Humane. Since 2003, Jan has worked exclusively in the non-profit sector where she has been a passionate advocate in improving business operations in order to further the mission of her employers.
Jan holds a CPA from the State of Virginia and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lycoming College. She resides in Alexandria VA with her husband and dog.
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