Sierra talks about community, both inside the ECE community and inside classrooms. She mentions some of the theorists and what she values from what they share, concluding that there’s “too much good work out there” to adhere to just one theory of early childhood education and ignore the rest.
For parents, choosing the correct early childhood education program can be difficult as they navigate a world that they have little experience with. Sierra talks about observing different environments during her school search when she was a parent of young children and shares two reasons that this search is difficult: parents have a limited memory […]
Sierra Roussos, St. Mark’s Nursery School
Sierra shares key points on why play is the way children learn, as well as examples of playful learning opportunities in the classroom. The early childhood educator’s job is to purposefully create an interactive classroom environment that meets each child’s individual needs and learning styles. “All [learning] comes naturally within a play-based program, that they’re […]
Sierra Roussos, Director of St. Mark’s nursery school and kindergarten, reflects on three benefits parents receive through participation in the early childhood classroom: seeing what children do, knowing children’s classmates, and viewing teachers’ positive interactions with children.
Sierra provides a quick overview of the positive discipline methodology used at St. Mark’s Nursery School and Kindergarten. Created by Dr. Becky Bailey, positive discipline techniques are taught and utilized by teachers throughout the program so that children hear and experience a consistent conflict resolution schema. It has been found that this consistency helps children […]
Sierra explains the reason that classrooms need a teacher-to-child ratio that allows for strong connections to be made, leading to better cooperation.
Interview with Sierra Rousos
Sierra points out components of this half-day program, noting the classroom teachers’ intentional creation of the environment as the Third Teacher. She mentions the play-based curriculum that meets the children’s needs and interests, and encourages life-long learning and a sense of wonder. Love and acceptance of children and their families is also a key component […]
Sierra explains American society’s lack of support for the field of ECE as well as the lack of information available to parents about what constitutes a high quality, play-based, developmentally appropriate program. She shares reasons local communities should support high quality programs.