Feels Like Summer! Summers at PIC are often a time of many changes and this summer will surely be no exception. By September, we will have more than 6o children leaving our Early Learning program to begin Kindergarten. Some will leave this month to attend our Summer Camp and some will join our After...

Celebrations Continue! As spring and soon summer approach, we are excited to continue celebrating 40 years of PIC. Our celebration will last all year long, but this month we are marking this milestone with two NOT-TO-BE-MISSED events. On Thursday, May 17, I invite you to raise a glass (or pint) with...

The Benefits of Outdoor Play I’m certain that most will agree that it has been a LONG winter. While I look forward to spring for so many reasons, one of the biggest is how much I love seeing the children have opportunities for long periods of daily outdoor play. Be it digging in the sand and dirt...

FULL STEAM AHEAD March 2018 The research is quite clear that the best practice in early childhood education is to break away from passive instruction and allow for more play and investigation, and this kind of learning early in life builds skills and interests that serve children throughout their...

Celebrating 40 Years at PIC It is with both pride and excitement that I announce the launch of our 40th anniversary celebration. 40 years ago PIC was launched as a child care program to serve children and families living and/or working in the West Philadelphia community. While in those forty years...

Everything you need to know - from Deb Green This is the time of year when many children approach the older end of the age range for the classrooms that they are currently in. It is a time when families begin to have questions about children moving to the next age group. I hope that this answers at...

Are excellent teachers born or made? This question has forever plagued the education field, and even more so when referring to those who teach our youngest children. Many believe that teachers who work with young children simply need to be kind-hearted and love the work that they do. However, those...

Your Family Traditions Growing up in Bethlehem, PA I always loved our Christmas Eve family tradition of driving through town and looking at all the homes decorated for the holiday, many with the town tradition of putting a single white candle in every window. We ended at my grandmother’s house for...

October is another very busy month at PIC and has several opportunities for us to come together as a community. Coming up is a center-wide work day on October 14, which is a great opportunity to get in some PPP hours while meeting families and helping with some important PIC projects. At the end of...

The September Surge As I enter into my 37th year in the field of early childhood education, I am so very aware of the many changes in the field that I would never have foreseen in 1980. Yet, the piece that continues to amaze me after all these years, is the “September Surge” that has remained the...