by Jackie Mader, The Hechinger Report
November 27, 2025
When my oldest little one was a 2-year-old, we relocated to a brand new state and I discovered myself again at sq. one with my seek for little one care. In my new metropolis, I now had an excellent downside: There was an abundance of applications with availability, and I had a selection of the place to enroll my son. As I toured a half-dozen of them, nevertheless, I frightened that whilst an early childhood reporter, I wasn’t asking the precise questions or taking note of the precise factor.
A number of months later, our early childhood group at Hechinger launched a undertaking digging into the weather of a high-quality preschool. That article and the corresponding video turned a fast and straightforward information as I checked out choices for my second little one. It’s what I despatched to pals who requested me for recommendation whereas navigating their very own searches.
Whereas I really like telling tales from the sphere, my colleagues and I are additionally enthusiastic about offering useful instruments and guides for academics and caregivers. Listed here are just a few of my favourite early ed “cheat sheets” from our decade of reporting on early childhood.
1. The 5 parts of a great preschool: What do you have to search for whenever you step inside a preschool classroom? What clues can you discover on the partitions or bookshelves? What questions do you have to ask academics and faculty directors? This video and article break it down. Whereas lecture rooms and applications will differ by setting, many of those parts, like the way in which academics discuss to youngsters and an emphasis on play, apply in every single place.
2. Cracking down on unsafe sleep merchandise: As an anxious new father or mother, nothing scared me greater than listening to about toddler deaths as a consequence of unsafe sleep merchandise. Nonetheless, when determined and exhausted, I attempted a number of objects that I heard would assist my infants sleep, together with some that the American Academy of Pediatrics later discouraged in up to date protected sleep tips in 2022. Whereas reporting this text, I used to be shocked by the shortage of proof and oversight of merchandise that many dad and mom like myself imagine are examined earlier than they’re that can be purchased.
3. The way to increase math abilities by speaking about math together with your youngsters: Most dad and mom know the way essential it’s to learn to youngsters. However do you know that there are straightforward methods caregivers can develop math abilities? Earlier this yr, my colleague Jill Barshay checked out a wave of analysis from the previous dozen years on easy issues adults can do to put an early basis in math.
4. The way to reply powerful questions on race and racism together with your youngsters: Analysis reveals racial stereotypes begin early, and that’s why it’s essential to speak to younger youngsters about totally different races and skim books and provide toys which have various characters. Many dad and mom really feel ailing outfitted for these conversations, nevertheless. In 2020, I requested three specialists how they’d reply to actual questions from younger youngsters about race and racism so adults really feel higher ready for the questions that youngsters inevitably ask.
5. How dad and mom can help their youngsters with play: With all of the challenges of being a father or mother, it may be laborious to listen to there’s one more factor we needs to be doing. However this 2023 dialog with researcher Charlotte Anne Wright helped me reframe the way in which I take into consideration play and my position in it with my very own youngsters. Whereas it’s essential to offer youngsters alternatives free of charge play, Wright’s analysis reveals “guided play,” or play with a studying purpose in thoughts and light-weight help from a father or mother, can have advantages for kids, too. It’s not as heavy of a elevate because it sounds, and Wright gives easy methods dad and mom can interact in playful studying with their youngsters on bus rides and journeys to the laundromat.
This story about preschoolers was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, impartial information group targeted on inequality and innovation in training. Join the Hechinger publication.
This <a goal=”_blank” href=”https://hechingerreport.org/5-cheat-sheets-for-parents-of-preschoolers/”>article</a> first appeared on <a goal=”_blank” href=”https://hechingerreport.org”>The Hechinger Report</a> and is republished right here below a <a goal=”_blank” href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/”>Artistic Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Worldwide License</a>.<img src=”https://i0.wp.com/hechingerreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/cropped-favicon.jpg?match=150percent2C150&ssl=1″ type=”width:1em;top:1em;margin-left:10px;”>
<img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https://hechingerreport.org/?republication-pixel=true&submit=113560&ga4=G-03KPHXDF3H” type=”width:1px;top:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: perform() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https://hechingerreport.org/5-cheat-sheets-for-parents-of-preschoolers/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } </script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”//cdn.parsely.com/keys/hechingerreport.org/p.js”></script>
