Welcome to  "Dear Coach." This section is dedicated to answering questions and providing helpful tips for our providers to ensure they continue to deliver high quality education to our preschoolers!

Dear Coach,

What do I do if I suspect child abuse involving a particular child?

- Claudia, Santa Fe Springs

Dear Claudia,

As frustrating and unfortunate as this question is, it's a harsh reality we face. As a mandated reporter you are responsible for completing the child abuse suspected report. Once the report is complete you should direct it to the appropriate agency ( Child Protective Services) in your area. You may receive a follow-up call from an agency representative at which time you may be required to provide additional information. The information that you complete on the report and discuss with the representative is kept confidential. You have successfully completed the process and should feel proud for keeping children out of harm’s way.

- Coach

Dear Coach,

I want to make sure I am planning lots of creative art activities for the children in my class, but I’m a little bit confused. Can you help me figure out the difference between creative art projects and arts & crafts?

- Brenda, Rosemead

Dear Brenda,

When providing creative art activities for preschool children, remember that emphasis should be on the importance of the “process” and not necessarily the “product.” However, the key to identifying creative art is if the final result of the children’s projects are all different from each other (creative art) or do they all look relatively the same (arts and crafts)?

Creative art projects help children express themselves by tapping into their creative-thinking skills and to think “outside of the box.” Teachers can provide inspiration by showing the children a beautiful piece of art, a pot of flowers or a realistic-looking toy dinosaur and suggest that, if they like, they can draw, paint or sculpt what they see. Artists do this all the time and sometimes it is very interesting to see what the children create. In addition, hanging art reproductions around the room can show children that art comes in all forms i.e. by displaying paintings of flowers shows children that art can range from realism to surreal to abstract and that it is all ok.

Arts & Crafts can be fun for children. These projects are more “Teacher-Directed” rather than “Child Initiated.” And, it’s highly likely that the end products will all look very similar to each other. That’s not to say that Arts & Crafts are bad. Children enjoy making things and teacher-directed projects help the child learn to follow directions. However, it's challenging for children to express their creativity through teacher-directed, Arts & Crafts projects. So, try to plan for lots of creative art opportunities in your lesson plans and offer children a variety of materials to work with. Creative art is a great addition to outside play time.

- Coach

Dear Coach,

The children in my care all gravitate towards the dress up area. How do I get them involved in other activities?

- Alina, Saugus

Dear Alina,

Dramatic play provides children with the opportunity to socialize with others, experiment with language and imitate the life around them. Children will naturally gravitate toward the most interesting area and not explore other areas in the room.  If this is occurring in your classroom it would be a great time to step back, take a look at your environment and consider these questions: When was the last time classroom materials were rotated? Are materials broken, missing pieces or need a good cleaning? Are there enough materials available for the children to build, expand, or create? Do you as the adult feel inspired or gravitate to the different interest areas? If not, why? Many times, all it takes is to add a few fun or interesting materials to enhance a learning environment. For example, in the block area, by simply  adding hard hats, measuring tapes, pencils and paper to create a construction site would not only encourage the children to build structures but incorporate the fun of dramatic play. Someday, that child may build a real sky-scraper . . . you never know!

Good luck!

- Coach

Dear Coach,

Do you have any ideas for navigating through the holiday season with respecting the diverse families I serve?

- Lindsay, Covina

Dear Lindsay,

That is such a great question and one we are faced with time and time again. As our schools become more diverse and open, it's important we respect everyone's individual needs but still remain inclusive. One of our school districts uses December to celebrate families.  Families are given the opportunity to come in to the classroom to demonstrate something that is culturally representative or traditionally part of their holiday season. Some examples that have been presented were a Jewish family sharing the experience of making latkas; another family read their favorite snowman book to the classroom and then the children created their own snowman with white clay; and finally an Italian family delivered pizza for breakfast to celebrate their heritage and another chose to make hot cocoa with the class. Parents can play instruments, demonstrate a dance or create a yummy treat.  Additionally, by including parents in the classroom makes the home-school connection even stronger!  And there's no better time than the holidays.

- Coach

Dear Coach,

We have many children in our classroom who do not speak up in the large group. They are not shy otherwise, and we speak their home language, but how can we get them to participate more in the large group?

- Elsa, Long Beach

Dear Elsa,

The use of representational toys are intriguing to children. Have you thought about integrating telephones, puppets and drawing to your circle time? It provides children opportunities to communicate in other non-verbal forms. Also children can share their ideas with one another like a "pair and share" if they would be more comfortable not sharing out in the large group.

- Coach

Dear Coach,

I have a parent that will not access special services for their child that clearly needs help, what should I do?

- David, Los Angeles

Dear David,

As a provider, our role as educator does not stop with the child. We have a responsibility to also educate the parents that entrust their children into our care. It’s important for us to understand that every parent wants the best for their child; but may not always know how to do what is best for them. When parents are told that their child may need special help or may have a special need, there is usually an instant feeling of denial; because no parent wants “something to be wrong” with their child. As a provider, we have to buffer those feelings, validate them and help the parent through the process. Often times placing less emphasis on the possibility of a special need and focusing more on the need to ensure that the child is adequately prepared for kindergarten is less intimidating. It’s important for parents to know what to expect and be as comfortable as possible with the process of accessing special help. So what do you do? Here are some suggestions:

1. As a practice, try to build positive relationships with your families from the beginning so that if there is a need to discuss difficult information, the parent trusts and respects you.
2. Give parents as much information about the process as possible.
3. Encourage parents to think about it and get back to you, then follow up to see if they would like to proceed.
4. In the meantime, do what you can to inform the parent of how you handle the behavior or need in the classroom.
5. Find teachable moments and use them to encourage parents to move forward. For instance, if the parent comes in complaining or discouraged about Timmy’s behavior, then you can remind them that there may be someone to help with that. However the only way to find out is to make an attempt to access special services.

Hope that helps.

- Coach