Publications

The Bridge to School

By Claire Bainer, Liisa Hale, and Gail Myers

The Bridge to School provides concise, targeted information for teachers who work in Pre-K or Transitional Kindergarten settings, covering both the why and the how of play in classrooms, along with insights into how the normal development of 4-to-6-year-olds is manifested and how teachers can harness and work with those typical needs and behaviors. This powerful professional resource includes theories of child development, brain development, and the value of play-based learning, but the majority of the content is focused on practical classroom strategies that fall in line with ECERS and allow for appropriate academic skill building.

Click here to purchase the book. 

20% Discount Available! Enter the code FLR40 at checkout.

You Can’t Fail When You Play

HiMama Podcast – Episode 73 – 12/4/2017

Why is play-based learning so critical? “One of the interesting things about play is that you can’t fail when you play.” Play needs to be truly chosen, self-instructed and self-directed. Liisa Hale, former Co-Director of Blue Skies for Children in Oakland, California explores the critical early development that needs to happen at home alongside center care, and the history that binds the early education workforce today. Liisa also describes the “second home,” the child care environment that works alongside the home to create a space where children can be their authentic self for 6-8 hours a day.

Liisa brings us along in the journey of how her center first identified the need for high-quality early education curriculum. She reviews the characteristics of today’s “school-home hybrid” and asks, do children have the same space to play and explore at home that they do in emergent learning environments (in between lessons and birthday parties and other weekend responsibilities)?”

“We can make a utopia for children for up to five years.” She provides an engrossing look back at the history of their center and how it supports early development today. Is there a connection between the women’s movement and early education? Listen to find out.

Literacy In The Preschool Years: A Play Based Approach

By Claire Bainer and Gail Meyers

Literacy in the Preschool Years: A Play Based Approach DVD and Study Guide will help preschool teachers explain how pre-literacy develops in children’s play, building their capacity not only to learn to read but also to become enthusiastic life-long learners.

Contact BlueSkies at info@blueskies4children.org to request a copy.

Second Home: A Day in the Life of a Model Early Childhood Program

By Claire Bainer and Liisa Hale

Redleaf Press, 2007

Available at Redleafpress.org

Poised to reinvent mainstream views of quality child care, Second Home narrates a typical day’s activities at BlueSkies for Children, to help teach providers how to create thoughtful and developmentally appropriate programs that incorporate the best qualities of a loving home and the cognitive challenges of a preschool. A chapter for each age group—from infants to five-year-olds—describes typical teacher-child interactions, with an explanation of the research supporting the teachers’ methods.

Second Home: A Day in the Life of a Model Early Childhood Program

Foundations for Relationship: Quality Infant Care During the First Year

By Claire Bainer and Liisa Hale

Available at BlueSkies by emailing the office here.

Outlines the essential components of high quality care for infants growing up in group care, which will establish the foundations of trust that allow each child to grow and thrive.

Second Home: A Day in the Life of a Model Early Childhood Program

Beyond the Curriculum: How Responsive Relationships and Thoughtful Teaching Enhance Quality

By Claire Bainer and Liisa Hale

Available at BlueSkies by emailing the office here.

Creating a relationship-based foundation to curriculum gives children the social and emotional reference they need to become active, engaged, responsible learners and members of society. This foundation is relevant to all children in all programs, whether play-based, Montessori, Head Start, or reflective of any other philosophy of early learning.

Second Home: A Day in the Life of a Model Early Childhood Program

Growing Through Play: Cognitive and Social Development

By BlueSkies for Children (formerly Association of Children’s Services), 1991

Available at BlueSkies by emailing the office here.

Growing Through Play gives you a guided tour of how children learn important cognitive and social skills through their play, from pre-literacy skills to social interaction. Containing authentic footage of children in a diverse classroom setting, this instructional video shows each of Mildred Parten’s Stages of Play in action and makes the connection between each stage of play and how it relates to the learning styles of children of different ages. Growing Through Play also demonstrates the role well-planned environments play in a child’s successful progression through the different stages of play.

Second Home: A Day in the Life of a Model Early Childhood Program

Visiting Kindergartens and Knowing What You See

By Claire Bainer

Kindergarten is an exciting new adventure and this guide is designed to help you on your visits as you seek out the best fit for your child and family. You will find the clues to look for and an explanation of what these signs are telling you. These tips will help you make the most of your visit. You can follow the “What to look for – What to ask” matrix and use the note-taking pages at the end to organize your thoughts and observations.

Second Home: A Day in the Life of a Model Early Childhood Program

From Diapers to Underpants

By Claire Bainer and Liisa Hale

Young Children, The Journal of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Volume 55, Number 4, July 2000

Why Is My Preschooler Breaking the Rules?

by Reshma Memon Yaqub

Claire Bainer’s wisdom regarding the sometimes-challenging behavior of four- and five-year-olds is heavily cited in this article from the July 2007 issue of Parents Magazine.

Second Home: A Day in the Life of a Model Early Childhood Program