February leadership isn’t about hype. It’s about steadiness. By this point in the year, the shine of January intentions has faded. Those “resolutions” may have passed into suggestions or maybe even been downgraded to wishes. Winter feels long. Illness, staffing challenges, and the weight of responsibility can quietly stack up. You may sense the fatigue […]
Sustaining Joy (Not Just Surviving Winter) Read More »
January brings pressure to reset, reorganize, and recommit from leadership magazines and emails to big box stores offering so many containers that promise to transform your life. But many leaders are simply continuing forward after a full season. In this month’s blog, we explore how choosing intention over urgency can support steady, effective leadership without
Beginning the Year without the Rush: Choosing Intention Over Urgency Read More »
December is one of the most beautiful—and most exhausting—months in early childhood leadership. It’s a swirl of family events, holiday celebrations, licensing deadlines, employee absences, budget decisions, end-of-year paperwork, and the emotional labor of taking care of everyone else. Directors, managers, and administrators step into December carrying a full load, yet the expectations don’t pause
When You’re Tired but You Still Have to Lead: Realistic Strategies for December Read More »
If you’ve ever left a staff meeting wondering if anyone actually heard what you said—or worse, if they understood it—you’re not alone. Many child care directors juggle so many moving parts that messages can get muddled. Staff are left unsure of expectations, families get mixed signals, and directors feel like they’re repeating themselves on a
Leading with Clarity: A Director’s Superpower Read More »
The new year is a natural time to pause, reflect, and reset. For child care directors and administrators, it’s not just about writing resolutions or updating calendars—it’s about renewing your energy for the work ahead and reconnecting with the passion that brought you into this field. After all, child care leadership is both demanding and
Re-Energizing for the New Year: Refreshing Passion and Mission in Child Care Leadership Read More »
As a child care or preschool director, August is your marathon. You’re onboarding new teachers, organizing classrooms, welcoming families, calming nerves, ordering supplies, and solving problems before anyone else even notices them. You are the steady hands guiding your program, even when things feel overwhelming. And yet, in the flurry of scheduling, licensing, and paperwork,
As the busy hum of your program year begins to quiet and summer transitions approach, it’s the perfect time to pause – not just to rest, but to reflect. Childcare leaders often spend the year focused on the needs of others: children, families, staff, and licensing agencies. But what about your own leadership practice? What
A Time to Reflect: Strengthening Your Program Before Summer Begins Read More »
If you work in early education, you know the feeling: a long to-do list, the sound of children’s laughter (and sometimes tears), and the constant pull between being helpful and feeling drained. When you care deeply, you give deeply — and that can sometimes lead to burnout. Burnout isn’t a weakness. It’s a sign that
Burnout Doesn’t Mean You’re Broken Read More »
Even though we live in an era of childcare centers almost everywhere and most of us work or have worked in at least one type of care setting, we don’t often think of the women who actually began this phenomenon in our country. Read along for some of the earliest efforts to care for young
The Beginnings of Child Care in the United States Read More »
One of our family’s military assignments was in Athens, Greece. The base there was small and there was no housing for families so we lived “on the economy” in an apartment that overlooked the Aegean Sea. We had Greek neighbors (who thankfully spoke English!), we shopped at Greek markets, we attended church in a Greek
Leading with Love: Action and Connection in Early Childhood Read More »
