Our Neighborhood Child Development Center Inc.

Have you ever thought about how learning happens? What do you believe about teaching and learning? Who has which roles? What methods matter?

https://open.substack.com/pub/oncdc/p/how-does-learning-happen?r=j7thc&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

"Peace is not the absence of conflict; it is knowing how to resolve conflict without resorting to violence or force."

https://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2026/06/international-day-of-play-protect-play.html?kuid=3e80f0bc-3347-42af-ace5-f4a05dc4b879-1781456907&lid=41289&kref=5yXSkuCvdMYf

Looking for child care we would love for you to join us! Do you love getting messy? Believe in learning through play? Take a tour today!

https://form.jotform.com/242835072688062

We regularly rearrange our classrooms based on observations of children's interest. This group really loves small container spaces and cozy spots. Tables are rarely the preferred work surface these days so floor space for puzzles and clipboards for writing are a must. We try to have comfortable seating for teachers with plenty of cozy up spots to read books. What would you want to explore in the literacy lounge? -studio

The Virginia Board of Education is meeting Thursday July 25 for the first reading of the standards for licensed child care. They will be accepting public comments at 9am to begin their meeting. I encourage all those in ECE in VA to consider reading the proposed standards and commenting to the board.

Sign up to comment: https://links-2.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Flinks-2.govdelivery.com%2FCL0%2Fhttps:%252F%252Fforms.office.com%252Fg%252FvwL5cfsudr%2F1%2F01010196d9b76b01-53eeb2ab-d87e-4794-bc68-8c0393a811c4-000000%2FC7mKbwbHFCPw1FlgvWbkHHYNwf1I5dEgLwOhikz_ThA=405/1/0101019edbe0911b-57056f3c-6f60-4f23-a46c-5117087c2bac-000000/nePJDqq7sgz7eFt8l-iZRTxLpEKLNnaiPl2WzuXd5ao=452

Here is the current draft: https://www.doe.virginia.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/77944/639173002501270000

Fill | Virginia Board of Education Public Comment Sign-Up Form This form is used to sign-up to address the Virginia Board of Education at one of its scheduled business meetings. Requests to address the Board through this form should be submitted no later than the day before the scheduled business meeting, but may be requested at the meeting at the discretion of...

Not every child is a literacy or mathematics prodigy, of course, but they all, if allowed to be their own teachers, are driven to discovery. I've rarely met a parent who was not, rightly, blown away by their preschooler's capacity to learn in this way. "Children who don't go to school," explains Dr. Fisher, "live in a state of alert awareness because they're not expecting to be told what to do and not expecting to be evaluated." It frees them up, she says, to look for patterns and make connections. A child who has not yet been taught the dubious lesson that they need adult instruction and approval for their learning instead comes to rely upon their own curiosity, which is what play-based, or self-directed, learning is all about.

https://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2026/05/self-directed-learners-live-in-state-of.html?kuid=9c38b096-4500-4333-9146-27df017bff48-1777318056&lid=41289&kref=Kf1XizDRwerK

Play is the way https://vimeo.com/1192689442

Today is the international day of play!!!

Play is a human right in the UN convention on the rights of the child (United States remains the only UN member state that has not ratified the Convention) perhaps today you could join in play and play advocacy!

Contact your elected officials and encourage them to protect play as a right of childhood. | USAGov https://share.google/F8MalsbJZH9uzKDG6

"For most of human history "school" was life itself and that doesn't bore anyone. It has, however, become a "tradition" to sit children in desks and inflict our "wants" on them with little concern about their wants or needs, then complain when they aren't interested in living the first two decades of their lives in a state of forced labor, obedience, and irrelevance."

We could change this, we must change this!

Blaming Everything But Standardized Schooling "Students are not where they need to be or where we want them to be." This is a quote from the commissioner of the National ...

I find myself writing more and more these days on Substack, check out the latest story about some recent PD our team did.

Approaching Staffing Struggles and Burnout Head On We know the cycle of burnout in ECE all too well and with a few team changes happening we decided to face it head on during a PD day.