David Elkind

David Elkind is currently Professor emeritus of Child Development at Tufts University I He is best known for The Hurried Child and The Power of Play

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

Parents need not worry about preschoolers falling behind academically-they’ll catch up quickly. Young children do need to have as much socialization as possible, e.g., playdates. Social interactions foster all facets of mental, emotional and social development . #Parenting

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

Children of preschool age during the pandemic will have little memory of that era they lack the time/space (when/where) concepts required for recall memory. With a few exceptions, most of what they recall is what they have later heard, not what they have experienced. #NAEYC

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

Save for the social, some preschool education can be learned at home. Labeling plants and animals indoors and out, naming the colors, shapes and sizes of everyday things, and reading to and counting with preschoolers can be an effective readiness program. #Parenting Tips

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

One solution is to tell the children that when they are with the grandparents they are to obey grandparent rules and with parents they are to follow parent rules. Grandparents like their rules and Parents like theirs but they are both good sets of rules to learn. # Parenting

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

Thanks to the Pandemic, increasing numbers of grandparents are taking care of their young grandchildren. This can create a conflict if the grandparents home rules differ from those set by the parents. #Parenting Tips

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

Learning a second language is easiest during the preschool years. Young children, who regularly watch a foreign language children’s TV Show, learn a lot of the language without any instruction. It is good way to use TV in the absence of early childhood programs. #Parenting tips

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

Parents engaged in home schooling should take advantage of the public libraries e-book lending programs. You can check on the books available for any academic subject and borrow them, at no cost, for several weeks. This really broadens instructional options. #Parenting Tips

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

For those parents who will engage in the home schooling of their young children a child development primer is essential. It will provide not only guidelines to age appropriate instruction, but also for observing the miraculous evolution of abilities during this age period. #NAEYC

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

For preschoolers at home, this fun pre-reading activity can facilitate later reading achievement. Young children enjoy naming and tracing letters, first with their fingers; and then with a pencil or crayon. In so doing they etch the names and shapes into their memory. #NAEYC

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

Mental operations derive from real actions. With many young children staying at home, they can play at physically counting; adding and taking away units from a row of objects like pennies or stones. This fosters their ability to later do these operations in their heads. #NAEYC

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

Freud wrote that laughter is ignited by a “failure of expectancy.” It is the visual/auditory failures of expectancy
young children find most humorous. Adults, who make funny faces, wear crazy hats. or say nonsense words can help lighten the stress of these heavy times. #NAEYC

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

As young children listen to music, they playfully transform it into action such as dance, or into restful pastimes and even sleep. Now that little ones must spend more time at home, music offers an important means of reducing the stress of fearfulness and social isolation.#NAEYC

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

Preschoolers at home need playful chores to keep them busy and to give them a sense usefulness and purpose. Pretending that making the bed is putting a coat on an elephant or tying strings to toys so they can “fished up” and put away are but a couple of examples. # Parenting.

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

State guidelines for reopening ECE programs should take account of the financial, space, equipment, material, and staffing constraints on ECE Centers. What is ideal from a Public Health perspective may not match what is realizable in practice. #NAEYC

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

Young children are intuitive learners. They absorb our underlying feelings, attitudes and predispositions, as if by osmosis. As parents, we must be aware that our true interpersonal prejudices and antipathies are those children acquire the most easily and permanently. #Parenting

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

The pandemic makes us very much aware that we are, like all biological organisms, subject to infection. As parents, it should reinforce the need for us to instill sound hygiene, exercise, and eating habits in young children. Good health is the best defense against disease. @NAEYC

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

In talking with young children, it is tempting to share our concerns for the future. But preschoolers live in the immediate here and now. So when sharing with them, try to focus upon events that have recently happened ( lunch)or which are going to happen soon(a walk) @NAEYC

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

Among those whom we should be grateful to, and thankful for, are today’s parents. While trying to manage their anxiety over job security, unpaid bills, and doubts about their home schooling skills, they still convey their love and hope for the future to their children.#Parenting

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

Many children are stressed by not being at school or preschool, with their friends, teacher, and in their own classroom. This unhappiness may appear as, tantrums, negativism or acting out etc. Children are most helped by a sympathetic understanding of their behavior. @NAEYC

[David Elkind @DavidElkind2]

Staying at home makes it tempting to overeat, to pass the time and to reduce anxiety, Healthy snacks (such as sliced apples, pears, carrots, celery sticks and raisins for children (and adults) is one idea. Dipping fruits and veggies makes them more enticing. #Parenting @NAEYC