As an ECE leader, you’re used to watching your preschoolers grow and thrive.
From the day they enter the classroom for the first time, their bodies and minds are developing fast — and it’s your job to make sure they’re supported through each development stage ready for their next early childhood milestone.
Ensuring every child gets the same level of care is the most important job on your to-do list. But when you’re juggling a million and one processes, classrooms, or even child care centers, it’s not always that simple.
The good news? Technology can make supporting preschool development stages — and building a quality child care business — easier than ever.
In this ultimate guide to supporting preschool child development, we’ll take a close look at what those early childhood milestones are, how to track them with smart technology, and how doing so can boost enrollment and revenue.
Ready? Let’s go.
Looking to boost quality care in your ECE business? MomentPath helps build smooth processes for a better learning (and teaching) experience. Try it for free today!
Ready for a bite-sized science lesson? 🔬
All children are born with similar brains and brain structures, but as they start to grow and develop, how they’re nurtured, stimulated, and responded to, affects the wiring of their brains — and these neural pathways will have a huge impact on how the child copes throughout life.
Preschool children are developing 24/7 whether you support them or not — but your students are much more likely to do well in life and develop strong resiliency if they’re guided well and properly cared for.
These early influences establish:
Every child deserves the same care and attention. With MomentPath you can ensure they get it. Try it for free today!
All children develop at different rates, but there are some key milestones to look out for (that parents expect teachers to keep an eye on).
They all fit into the four types of development: social emotional, physical, cognitive, and language and literacy.
Here are a few examples of early childhood milestones your child care center(s) will need to track:
Milestones at 2 years old:
Milestones at 3 years old:
Milestones at 4 years old:
For a full list of early childhood milestones, check out the CDC website.
Now let’s break it down and take a look at the best tools to track these all-important developmentally appropriate milestones.
No matter what age you are, upheavals can affect your general wellbeing (hello, Covid) — but with the right skills and support, children will build resilience and self-regulation into their toolkit for life.
According to David Adams, CEO at The Urban Assembly and Director at CASEL, the impact of social emotional development goes way beyond preschool.
“Schools are the developmental foundations for how young people approach problem-solving in the real world. If we can help our young people really think through how they relate to themselves and to others, and then apply that knowledge to solving problems, we're going to create a society that understands how to improve itself over time,” he says.
🛠️ ClassDojo is a multi-platform tool that allows children to create a unique virtual student portfolio for full digital expression.
🛠️ Headspace offers an entire library for kids, with one-off meditations to help them adjust to any difficult situation.
Motor development is the key process that defines future physical health. 💪🏼
There are two types of physical development:
From workout sessions to creative practice, the key to supporting preschoolers with physical development is to offer regular physical activities, nutritious food options, and uninterrupted nap times.
🛠️ From PE with Joe Wicks to Classroom Yoga with Adriene, there’s a whole lot of fun (free) options for teachers and students on Youtube.
🛠️ At MomentPath we offer a full tracking suite from mealtimes to nap times. Plus, the data you gather can be turned into a report and easily shared with parents to share a window into their child’s development.
From following simple instructions to building block towers, preschoolers’ cognitive development is all about learning, thinking, and problem-solving.
Tracking children’s behavior, spending one-on-one time with them, and supporting their play, are all great ways to encourage healthy cognitive development.
Founder of ECE From the Heart and Executive Director of Hope Day School in Dallas, Texas, Cori Berg knows a thing or two about preschool cognitive development. And she believes play is one of the most important factors.
“Children will find their play, no matter what the limitation is on the space… [They] expand to the spaces they’re given and find ways,” she says. “Play is a very helpful thing that can help balance out your central nervous system.”
The outcome? Happier children with a strong ability to interact with their peers and environments.
🛠️ BEHCA Behavior Tracker is an awesome way to keep tabs on child behavior over long time-periods. For more unmissable behavior tools, check out our post on 5 Behavior Tracking Software Tools that Actually Bring Teachers and Young Families Together.
🛠️ Montessori Preschool is a fun preschool app bundle designed to help children learn to read, write, and count (even if you’re not a Montessori school).
Most children learn to speak their first word around 10-14 months.
From that moment, they’re like sponges, constantly listening and soaking up the conversation around them to add words to their ever-evolving vocabulary.
Although listening and speaking is a natural process, learning to read and write needs extra support — and all children need help with their communication skills at preschool and at home.
🛠️ MomentPath’s Message Center is the ideal visual platform for connecting with parents via text, photo, and video at any time of the day.
🛠️ MomentPath’s Learning Moments make lesson planning easier than ever. To build a creative teaching plan, teachers simply tap the type of session they want to run, and can easily share the final product with colleagues.
With the right tools, your preschoolers will thrive at every important childhood development milestone — and so will your ECE business.
Because if you can demonstrate a dedicated plan of care, parents’ trust will only grow bigger, meaning higher enrollment and a healthier future for your school.
From parent communication software to behavior tracking apps, there are plenty of options for your toolkit. Just remember to make sure they’re the right tools to support your community, and to look for fully integratable options to cut down on the admin and training burden on your team.
And when you’re ready to create a centralized command center for all your preschool management operations, MomentPath can help.
At MomentPath, we believe that intentional technology can empower educators and tangibly improve the lives of the young children in their care. And as a major bonus, it can also make life as a teacher or administrator much easier.
Are you ready to streamline your ECE business with an all-in-one child care management tool? Request a free demo today!
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