Community Resources -It Takes A Village

The beliefs and perceptions about children fundamentally influence our daily interactions with every child we interact with. At Colorado Kids Academy, we carry within our minds and in our hearts that children are competent, capable, and rich in po tential. We use this as a lens with which we view and interact with children. It is based on our beliefs and perceptions of a child’s abilities, development, motivation, purpose, and agency. Our image of the child has evolved from o

“Instead of always giving children protection, we need to give them the recognition of their rights and of their strengths.” -Loris Malaguzzi, Italian Educator Throughout our days at school, we observe risk-taking happening in every child in all areas of development. While observing children master a physical challenge, we will use phrases like, “do you feel safe?” or “you are working so hard to figure that out,” or “I can see you feel proud for climbing so high all by yourse

In this blog post we will discuss the necessity of children having the experience of struggle. Please note that all topics in this newsletter are framed using Lev Vygotskys “zone of proximal development” and are considered “appropriate struggle” for preschool aged children. What is the Zone of Proximal Development? According to Lev Vygotsky the ZPD is the range between what a child can do on their own and what they can do with guidance or support from someone more experienced

My favorite analogy for describing a child’s need for boundaries is by educator Janet Gonzalez-Mena. She describes this need as, “Imagine driving over a bridge in the dark. If the bridge has no railings, we will drive across it slowly and tentatively. But if we see railings on either side of us, we can drive over the bridge with ease and confidence. This is how a young child feels regarding limits in his environment.” Setting fair boundaries is so important in building health

Spring comes every year as a time to remind us of the space between life and death. In our gardens and outside, we kick through the dead leaves of last fall to reveal the new growth and life. Both of these are welcome and normal, but sometimes talking about death and the grief that follows with children can feel difficult and daunting. In this post, I am here to offer advice and strategies for approaching the concept of death with children. I will also talk about why children