Parental involvement is an essential component of Notre Dame Learning Center Preschool’s quality educational program. We are committed to collaborating with parents in the following ways:
- Open communication between teachers and parents
- Daily summaries of our program activities
- Parent-teacher conferences each semester and as requested
- Parent education on child development and parenting skills
- Parent participation through observing, volunteering, talent-sharing and fundraising
Did you know?
Researchers have demonstrated that access to preschool can help children get into college and climb out of poverty. James Heckman, a Nobel prize-winning economist, found that every dollar spent on early education yields $7 to $9 as the program’s alumni begin working and contributing to the economy. Helping students catch up in later grades costs more than early education programs. Scientists have also found that early education helps insulate children from the extreme stress that often comes with poverty.
“’Toxic stress,’ as that condition is known, can warp the structure of a child’s brain in ways that may impede school success. We need to raise achievement. We need more high school graduates…and to do this we must get education right from the very start.”
Play in the Early Years
Play in the Early Years: Key to School Success, from the Bay Area Early Childhood Funders. Preschoolers learn differently from school-age children: play is essential to early learning. Play is the main way children learn and develop ideas about the world. It helps them build the skills necessary for critical thinking and leadership. It’s how they learn to problem-solve and to feel good about their ability to learn. Most child development experts agree that play is an essential part of a high –quality early learning program. Play is not a break from learning—it’s the way young children learn.
– From a special supplement to the Children’s Advocate news magazine.
Kindergarten Readiness
Active Learning – how children learn best and why.
Every Letter Makes a Sound – why teaching the alphabet in order isn’t a developmentally appropriate match of a child’s ability to produce letter sounds (or point of articulation).
Kindergarten Expectations – a snapshot of skills that children should display at each developmental domain to be considered ready for Kindergarten.
The Little Boy – a vignette that explores the idea that process is more important than product.
Helpful Links
Protecting God’s Children
Ages and Stages Approach
Tears Tantrums and Tempers
8 Secrets of Happy Families
Alliance for Childhood
Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning
National Association for the Education of Young Children
National Learning Network
Choose My Plate
Tax Breaks for Busy Parents
CA Catholic Conference
Why Investing in Kids is Good for Business
Encouraging Nature Play
The Skills That Make Kids More Likely to Grow Up to Be Successful
The Decline of Play and Rise in Children’s Mental Disorders