Resources

Empathy begins with the capacity to take another perspective, to walk in another’s shoes. Empathy includes valuing other perspectives and people. It’s about perspective-taking and compassion.

Hands-on learning is a form of education in which children learn by doing instead of simply listening to a teacher or instructor lecture about a given subject.

We celebrate Earth Day to remind the world that our plant is the only place we can call home and that we should always work towards protecting it. Celebrating Earth Day also serves as an opportunity to show all the ways we can be more sustainable and help take part in saving and protecting our environment.

As a parent, your job is to help your children navigate the tide of strong emotions they are experiencing. This is no small task and your kids really need your loving guidance to figure out how to cope with their emotions.

Having to mentally juggle more than one language is a challenging activity but one that brings plenty of rewards later in life. It is well known that early language development is critical for the acquisition of literacy skills, general academic achievement, and the social and emotional well-being that comes from being able to communicate. At L'Academy we care about creating a language-rich environment for children.

Kids who establish healthy lifestyle patterns at a young age will carry them and their benefits forward for the rest of their lives. Physical activity strengthens children's bones, muscles, hearts, and lungs, it improves their coordination, balance, posture, and flexibility.

While we all love getting fresh air and sunshine, sometimes we have to stay inside due to bad weather, school closure, or some other reason. Being stuck inside isn't necessarily a bad thing — it can be an opportunity to learn something new. Challenge your little ones to do something different by making a craft or an easy recipe, or by playing a game that wouldn't have otherwise interested them.

Social-emotional skills are essential for connecting with others, they help us manage our emotions, build healthy relationships, and feel empathy.

Running, jumping, climbing, swinging....Research shows that free play gives children many valuable benefits, including the development of physical, emotional, social, and cognitive skills. Remember to give your children enough time during the day for free and unstructured play.

There are so many holiday traditions around Christmas in the United States. From decorating a tree, baking holiday cookies, watching movies, opening Christmas presents, but what are Christmas traditions around the world like?

In the age of AI and automation, parents often wonder what to do from the beginning to help their children succeed. L'Academy is founded on the belief that creativity, confidence, and compassion will be the enduring foundation for children to grow and thrive. And this is why L’Academy builds our curriculum on the three L’s: Language, Love, and Leadership. As we work to create meaningful experiences for children we focus on three important aspects of children's learning.

Process Art is child-directed, choice-driven, and celebrates the experience of discovery. In process art, the final product is always unique and the focus lies in the creation of the work, not the outcome. It’s the process that matters not the product.

Many parents assume that creativity is an inborn talent that their kids either do or do not have. Creativity is more skill than inborn talent, and it is a skill parent can help their kids develop.

Spending quality time with your children deepens relationships, creates memories, and makes them feel important and loved. Meaningful connections are about the quality of time, not the quantity of time.

A tantrum is a sudden, intense display of uncontrolled anger or frustration. Learning how to stay calm and respond properly can help you and your child, or even stop the tantrums for good.

Work-life balance is the relationship between your work and the other important things in your life, like your family, social life, household responsibilities, and so on. If you feel like you have enough time for all of these things in your life, you probably have a good work-life balance.

At L'Academy we wholeheartedly believe that a child’s success is greatly enhanced when teachers and parents are partners in the process. When working together as partners, parents and teachers develop stronger relationships with one another and develop skills to support children’s behaviors and learning.

These are stressful times, for children as well as adults. Because young children have not yet developed coping skills to deal with the big emotions they may be feeling, they may act out when they have feelings that they are unable to express or deal with. Stress and uncomfortable feelings are not always bad, and children need trusted adults to validate their feelings and help them learn how to handle them.

Developmental milestones are a set of functional skills or age-specific tasks that most children can do at a certain age range. But remember that every child is unique, don't get caught up in meeting each of these milestones especially when you’re hearing about them from family, friends, or other parents. There is a large and completely normal range of when a child will develop a certain skill.

It seems like you can't watch the news these days without seeing another scary story. Even though you're afraid, don’t avoid talking to your children about emergencies. Having a little training and understanding can help your children get ready for unexpected events and keep them safe.

As many of our children have been adjusting to being in group care again or even for the first time, families are sometimes concerned about how their child navigates through conflict resolution and building friendships. Be assured – they are doing great! We continue to talk through problem-solving, turn-taking, and being a good friend all while learning that sometimes caring for others involves giving space too!

In light of recent events, many parents may find themselves struggling to talk about the concepts of race and ethnicity with their children. Remember that it is ok not to know all the answers, but we need to give our best, educate ourselves, and be honest with our children. Silence about race teaches children that they cannot talk about it and may reinforce prejudgements later in life.

Summer is finally here!! Remember how magical and memorable the summer holidays were when we were kids. We made daisy chains, mud pies, we set up great games of pretend-play. This summer with most camps and 4th of July fireworks shows being canceled, we suggest doing simple, imaginative activities and crafts that are inexpensive and often, cost-free. All you need are things that you already have around the house and a little bit of imagination.

This summer may look a little different than past summers and activities during COVID-19 aren’t quite the same as your traditional summer activities. There’s always plenty to look forward to about the season of sun, despite the disappointment of canceled summer camps, vacations, concerts and family gatherings. Don't worry there are still plenty of options to make this season one to remember.

Open-ended questions have no right or wrong answers. They are here to help broaden children’s thinking processes, to develop their language skills, build confidence in their ability to express themselves using words, and to encourage children to think beyond the obvious.

STEM education helps children to better understand the world around them and relate to it. It involves introducing children to new concepts through activities and games and helps them live the concepts rather than only read about them. These concepts can also sometimes be real-life problems where they need to find out the best possible solution to overcome it.

Building with blocks provides one of the most valuable learning experiences available for children. Block play stimulates learning in all domains of development such as cognitive, physical, and social-emotional. While playing with blocks, children have the freedom to bring their ideas and visions to life as they physically create and master their stories and experiences.

Summer is here! On hot days, water play is such a great way to cool off but there is much more to it. Water play provides hours of rich and valuable early childhood experiences and fosters learning in all developmental areas.

Local and Global Health Departments are strongly recommending social distancing, in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 Coronavirus. With so many closures and cancellations, parents are struggling to keep the kids happy, healthy, and active. It's hard to come up with creative ideas when there's an overlay of fear and anxiety, but there are ways of making the best out of any situation, this one included and explore what our amazing Bay Area has to offer.

Dramatic play is s a type of play where children assign and accept roles and act them out. It means pretending to be someone or something else, maybe a superhero or someone well known and familiar like mom or dad. Some children take on real-world roles, other times they take on fantasy roles. Either way, dramatic or pretend play involves breaking down the barriers of reality and results in natural and fun learning.

Preschool offers many benefits. It can be a great place for children to interact with peers and learn valuable life lessons such as how to share, take turns, and follow rules. It also can prepare them academically for kindergarten and beyond.

Children learn best when they are allowed to explore and move. Hands-on learning is a type of learning experience where knowledge is gained by physically doing something, rather than just watching someone else do it. During hands-on learning experiences, children collaborate, explore, create, and investigate. Which results in engaging and valuable learning experiences.

One of the most rewarding aspects of the human experience is our ability to connect with others. Being able to communicate with someone in his or her language is an incredible gift. Bilingual children learn faster and easier, have improved problem-solving skills, and have more career opportunities in adulthood. They also find it easier to connect with other cultures which makes them more open-minded and accepting of diversity. Most importantly, it’s much easier to learn a second language at an early age.

We know this is a difficult time for everyone. Being stuck at home with few answers is tough on adults and children too. When it seems that you are running out of ideas to keep your kids busy, try one of these fun cooking ideas to inspire learning and fun.

Children learn best from repetition. They appreciate predictability and patterns. Children thrive on routine. Establishing routines at home can promote positive bonds between children and parents. Some families like the idea of having structured homes with lots of predictability and daily routines, while others prefer having a more flexible lifestyle.

To help children develop habits that will last a lifetime, an active, healthy lifestyle must start early in life. Your child learns the most about healthy active living from you. Include the whole family in regular physical activity and healthy eating. It’s easier if families do things together as part of the daily routine.

Believe it or not, there are benefits of reading to children before they’re even born. Babies can hear their mother’s voice and absorb language during the last 10 weeks of pregnancy. Reading aloud to your unborn baby can set the foundation for the future development of language and give your little one their first lesson in speech patterns.

During these challenging times with the current COVID-19 outbreak and preschools being shut down across cities, many parents are struggling to keep their children busy. Children and young people need as much stability as possible, especially during such uncertain times. They look to us, the adults to model how they should respond in the current situation and our words and actions are powerful ways to provide this reassurance. Keeping your restless and enthusiastic kids busy inside the house is not easy but we suggest discovering and finding new ways to learn and have fun. Have you thought about doing a science project with your kid? We have a few interesting ones for you to try out.

From birth through early childhood, children use their senses to explore and try to make sense of the world around them. By encouraging the use of all of the child’s senses (sight, touch, hearing, taste, smell, motion, and balance) through play, you can support cognitive growth, language development, gross and fine motor skills, and much more.

Over the years, researchers have found evidence that eating behaviors and meal habits in early childhood have an impact on children’s food preferences and eating patterns in adulthood. Starting a healthy lifestyle during childhood can have long-term advantages, according to the American Psychological Association.

Even though hand-washing can seem minor it is an important part of your health. Turn hand-washing into something your child can take pride in.

News of the coronavirus COVID-19 is everywhere, from the front page of all the papers to the playground at school. Here you can find a few tips on how to talk to your children about the coronavirus, how to tell the truth but to keep in mind the appropriate ways to talk about something as important and ominous as a global pandemic.

We know this is a difficult time for everyone. Being stuck at home with few answers is tough on adults and children too. When it seems that you are running out of ideas to keep your kids busy, try one of these ideas to inspire learning and fun.

This day in age, daycare is a necessity for many parents because many families require two incomes to get by.

Some parents believe teaching their children to share is as fundamental as teaching any other basic values in life.

Many parents are hesitant introducing a second language to a child because they worry their child might start talking later.

Toilet training usually starts at around 18 to 24 months, but don’t stress if your child doesn’t show interest until later.