Institute Coaches provide strengths-based coaching to Head Start grantees in New York City. Our work is guided by the NYS Coaching Competencies. This post was written by Institute Coach Lorraine Falchi, about her work with Ms. Spencer and Ms. Kisha, two collaborative educators at University Settlement Early Head Start. If you would like to learn…
A Celebration of Susan Feingold: A Purposeful Life
Susan Feingold, founding Executive Director of the Bloomingdale Family Program, and her community—a world of relationships in partnership with families—are a model for local and international visitors. These are a few memories of Susan, recalled by friends, early childhood educators, who will never forget her. The community she helped to create welcomes, serves, and connects…
Supporting the Process: Collaborating with Families of Children with Disabilities
Educators play a critical role in supporting families of young children with disabilities to help them engage in the special education process and the collaborative support for their children’s learning. As a coach, I support educators to learn from and with their families, to share information, and to engage in joint decision-making about children’s learning….
Connecting with Families for a Slice of Early Math Fun
“I want to include math in remote learning.” Checking in with Ms. Spencer, I heard her concern for her toddlers and a new goal. As an early childhood coach, I have seen Ms. Spencer and her partner teacher, Ms. Lakisha, give 110% as they collaborate with families to support children’s learning at University Settlement’s Children’s…
Making Puppets Leads to Storytelling
Preschool children and their families gather with their teachers and sing “Good Morning,” a song that they know from morning meetings. The morning sun and their devices light their faces. Because they cannot be together in person, the teachers ask each child “how are you feeling?” by video conference call. These daily interactions with their…
Who’s Playing— With Puppets?
In the time of a global pandemic, early childhood educators are discovering how to be and play together while we are apart. Some of us are playing in the digital sandboxes of remote learning. Yet for many, teaching and learning at a distance feels contradictory to the foundation of early childhood education. We all have…