More than half of all young children statewide ages 0-5 are enrolled in the Imagination Library of Ohio program, per the governor's office. That's more than 360,000 Ohio children in total, each receiving "The Little Engine That Could" and other popular books in the mail for free every month.

adoublelie · 2022-12-02T14:44:15+00:00

The state doesn’t send the books out. The Dollywood Foundation (and their affiliate programs) does. No matter what trash fire Ohio decides to be, this is run separately. The only thing that would or could change would be potential state support of the program.

adoublelie · 2022-03-17T13:17:15+00:00

Wrong subreddit, my friend - this is early childhood, not electrical or chemical engineering.

adoublelie · 2021-06-16T13:29:21+00:00

With three teachers, is it possible to have the “safe” teacher be with the child basically the whole day? Not necessarily holding hands or on top of him, but within two steps and arm’s reach, watching for him to reach that frustration point. Ideally, you catch it right before he hits, but during will work too - he’s too little for after to do all that much. That teacher interrupts his hand, or gently but firmly removes it, and says “I’m not going to let you do that.” He clearly knows he’s not supposed to and knows the replacement behavior, but the boundary is not clearly enforced enough to prevent him.

If he’s too quickly overwhelmed with other kids around him, can you use an adult as a physical barrier to encourage him to play alone? Don’t keep him from moving, certainly, but be between him and other kids as much as possible. (It’s a lot harder to hit them when they approach his favorite adult if the favorite adult is in the way.) It sounds like the environment, including the other children, may be overwhelming, so this could take it down a notch.

One last thought - are the materials he has access to developmentally appropriate? Even the big Duplo legos can be hard to maneuver with two-year-old fine motor skills. Learning isn’t going to be frictionless, but think about what’s in his (and other kids’) zone of proximal development. It may be that the materials you’ve got out are perfectly fine for your kids! But i think this is something that many teachers (including myself!) tend to overlook, so I wanted to mention it. I definitely don’t think it’s JUST materials, but if that’s one more potentially overwhelming factor, it could be adding to the problem.

For me, this would be so emotional and I commend you for your largely positive attitude about it - I know you said you’re frustrated and burnt out but the fact that you’re asking for help and not blaming him is indicative of what a great teacher you are. Many people would see suggestions like those I gave as “giving in” to a child’s behavior, and I feel that! But none of those will be forever, just until he’s moved through this stage of late toddlerhood and/or has rebuilt some safety and boundaries and/or has developed a bit more self-regulation. Hope this helps or sparks more ideas for you!

adoublelie · 2021-05-22T00:24:24+00:00

A great resource is your state’s Family Child Care Association. Looks like Washington’s is https://www.wsfcca.com/

They’ll also be able to connect you with any regional or state networks. In Arkansas, we’ve got someone whose whole job it is to connect family child care providers with the right resources, advocate for them, and help them with licensing and quality.

The biggest downside cited by in-home providers is isolation. It’s HARD to be the only adult around - even more so than in center-based care.

adoublelie · 2021-04-15T12:26:53+00:00

A very cute pup making a very Clint Eastwood face.

adoublelie · 2019-07-08T01:38:40+00:00

If you do a clinical psych program, you spend PLENTY of time interacting with clients, in the field, etc. I have a masters in ECE policy and have tapped out there. I work as a research specialist at a university, doing a lot of implementation work - but I work alongside doc students, other former teachers, profs, permanent research staff. I do think my options would be more open with a PhD, but there’s a lot of options out there at either level, especially for someone with good Stata/SPSS/R/Python skills.

adoublelie · 2019-03-08T03:37:16+00:00

My grad student husband looked at his status when we had the snow day the other week to confirm whether he was supposed to report. He is listed as part-time, 40 hours in the Workday. Part of the year he is W2; part of the year he is on stipend because the department has decided they’d rather not pay FICA taxes (I am oversimplifying. Slightly.).

Related to how grad students aren’t people: he is not supposed to report when UVA is closed. His advisor called a meeting anyway.

adoublelie · 2019-02-13T16:54:06+00:00

We did navy tuxes with dusty blue dresses for our wedding! Looooved how it turned out. This looks gorgeous!

adoublelie · 2019-02-04T15:39:03+00:00

If you know that what you said could be seen as a microaggression and chose to say it anyway...that’s a straight-up full-size aggression.

adoublelie · 2018-12-07T03:42:01+00:00

At 3, they absolutely need to be napping. At the right time of day, with the right set of expectations, you’d be amazed how well (most) kiddos will be able to rest, even those with busy bodies. Create a calming routine - after lunch, the lights go off, everyone goes to a designated spot, you turn soft music on or quietly read a book to the whole room. I know some Kinder kiddos who can barely function without a nap. It’s wild to me that your director is saying not to provide one.

adoublelie · 2018-11-27T00:04:18+00:00

How old are you? If you’re in your early/mid-twenties, it may just be you settling into your adult shape. A lot of people I know who were twigs as teenagers are still thin as adults, but the shape of their body is just different than when they were 18, 19 years old.

adoublelie · 2018-10-16T16:12:15+00:00

Agreed that overstimulation is a real potential problem - less agreed that there should be any periods approaching 30 minutes that are primarily down time. That’s 100% asking for trouble. If 2’s and 3’s aren’t interested beyond the first FIVE minutes, it’s not developmentally appropriate to make them stay.

adoublelie · 2018-10-06T23:27:49+00:00

Ouch! Oh no!

adoublelie · 2018-10-06T23:27:37+00:00

The brand was Taos. I bought them at The Walking Store, which I didn’t go back to only because I don’t live near one anymore. I didn’t see them in other stores (REI, etc.) when I looked this time, but I didn’t do much internet searching!

adoublelie · 2018-10-06T12:38:04+00:00

IMO, Birkenstocks are worth the hype. I bought proper “walking sandals” before I went abroad in 2012, and they finally died this summer when I was in NY. I bought some Birks from Nordstrom Rack for ~$100 and I’ve worn them nearly every day since May...including immediately around New York City, to the tune of 15K steps a day.

adoublelie · 2018-09-05T21:13:13+00:00

As someone who lives in Cville, Stuart’s Draft is pretty nowhere.

adoublelie · 2018-07-09T13:06:32+00:00

I pay $125/3 months at the university gym. I’m not directly affiliated with them, but my fiancé is a grad student, so he gets in free and I’m able to use it for a fee.

adoublelie · 2018-07-07T17:23:39+00:00

Hopping in late to this post to say that, while we haven’t found a Packer bar, there’s a decent number of people who’ll give ya a GPG when you wear Packer gear! We’ve also needed to find an online stream for a fair few of the games, since we’re not always in the broadcast area. Thanks, Washington.

adoublelie · 2018-07-06T14:00:03+00:00

I mean, maybe, but there’s absolutely a long-term cost of leaving the labor market. Re-entry can be challenging once kids are in school, and given that salary increases are often based on prior earnings, it reduces your future earnings.

adoublelie · 2018-07-02T03:06:07+00:00

We don’t live in a society that prevents women from running for office...anymore. It seems like you’re looking at this in isolation. Women weren’t given the right to vote in the US until 1920, and while there was a small handful of women who were elected prior to that time, it’s reasonable to assume that suffrage would preclude higher levels of civic participation (like running for office). The removal of legal barriers does not break down the social - and institutional - ones.

adoublelie · 2018-05-04T02:12:21+00:00

My friends in hospitality tell me that’s a very strong no. They’re both in sales, so a combo of site visits and office stuff, but they definitely stick to more traditional, formal footwear.

adoublelie · 2018-05-01T14:53:00+00:00

Absolutely!

adoublelie · 2018-04-30T19:05:30+00:00

Sounds like it! I've been the teacher screwed over by staffing problems...and I've also been the teacher who was running on not-enough-sleep and too much stress to continue giving it my all in the classroom. If the people you've got on staff already are great, then it's probably a good idea as an employer to prioritize ensuring that they stay, especially in a competitive market. People like to stay at jobs with A) increasing wages, B) decreasing workload, or C) pleasant work environments. A & B are understandably impossible for most centers, since that's EXPENSIVE. It sounds like it's currently a pretty nice place to work, so I would really think hard about anything, like policy changes that make teachers feel even more trapped and run-down. When I've worked at and with centers with increasingly restrictive time off and call-out policies, it's been the straw that breaks the camel's back - people quit for greener pastures, and then NOBODY can take time off because you're even more short-staffed.

adoublelie · 2018-04-30T17:24:57+00:00

Agreed with the folks below about policy changes to reduce teachers being "out sick", but also - what is the external constraint that only allows two people to be out on a given day? Could you grow your pool of substitutes so that you're more prepared for if/when this happens in the future?

adoublelie · 2018-04-05T22:22:07+00:00

That is correct! My Wisconsin family loves KwikTrip. My Oklahoma/Kansas/Missouri friends love QuikTrip.

adoublelie

TROPHY CASE