Mealtime is an opportunity to provide babies, toddlers and young children with a wide range of experiences that involve their five senses. Incorporating activities around food — and the various cultures from which dishes originate — can help children expand their worldviews and
develop stronger brain pathways.
We know how important high-quality early childhood education is, but how can we continue to boost this quality? An important component is coaching.
If you’ve ever been in a classroom full of energetic children, you know another expert perspective can be very helpful. Coaching is professional development that emphasizes the application...
Read More › - The Importance of Coaching in Early Childhood Education
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our podcast, Quality Time!
We decided to create a podcast for many reasons. We noticed there aren’t a lot of podcasts directed to early childhood education providers. And none targeted specifically for providers in Nebraska. We’ve also seen podcasts grow in popularity, so we...
Read More › - Spend Quality Time with Us
Step Up to Quality is now eight years old!
We celebrated our anniversary in July and recently released our annual report. The best news is that we are continuing to grow.
We’re nearly at the 700-participating-providers mark! Which leads us to our most meaningful statistic: nearly 38,000 children have been educated and...
Read More › - Step Up to Quality Celebrates 8 Years
High-quality early child care and education is crucial to a child’s future success, and we know that supporting the professionals who shape these children is just as important. Now,
Step Up to Quality is offering more coaching and peer support for providers at an earlier stage in our program.
Whether your child will become the next Mozart or strictly stick to banging pots and pans around the house, music can be an excellent aid in their development. Music-related activities help children develop fine motor skills, improve language development, increase the neural activity within their brain, and help them to...
Read More › - Let's Get Musical: Incorporating Music in the Classroom and Home
Healthful, nutritious food is important for everyone, especially young children. Eating habits start in infancy, and by the time children enter elementary school, those habits are fairly established. So, if we want our children to have lifelong healthy eating habits, early intervention and experience with healthy eating is an important...
Read More › - Farm to Preschool Builds Healthy Eating Habits for Nebraska's Children