As teams deepen relationships over the year, differences become more visible.
Differences in communication styles. Differences in values. Differences in lived experience.
Cultural humility invites leaders to shift from knowing to learning.
Unlike cultural competence—which implies mastery—cultural humility is an ongoing practice of reflection, curiosity, and respect.
Read MoreBy this point in the year, emotions are closer to the surface.
Children are dysregulated. Staff are tired. Leaders are absorbing everyone else’s stress.
This is where emotional intelligence moves from theory to necessity.
Read MoreFebruary often carries a quiet heaviness.
The newness of the year has worn off, the work hasn’t slowed down, and many leaders are holding more than they let on.
By midyear, teams aren’t lacking effort.
They’re tired.
They’ve been showing up—through staffing changes, shifting needs, and the everyday emotional labor that early childhood work requires. What often begins to fade at this point in the year isn’t commitment, but clarity.
Not clarity about tasks.
Clarity about why the work still matters.
By the middle of the school year, leadership challenges tend to feel familiar.
The same conversations resurface.
The same behaviors create tension.
The same questions linger: Why isn’t this working yet?
At this point, it’s easy to assume the issue is motivation—or worse, attitude.
But in early childhood, many challenges that look like a lack of will are actually gaps in skill.
And confusing the two can quietly undermine trust, morale, and growth—especially midyear, when energy is already stretched.
Read MoreAs the school year continues, many leaders find themselves in a familiar middle stretch—not at the beginning, not at the end, but carrying what the year has already required while still responsible for what comes next.
At this point in the year, leadership is less about launching something new and more about sustaining what matters. And what often determines whether teams stay steady—or slowly unravel—during this stretch isn’t strategy.
It’s mindset.
Read MoreWhile we’ve just finished the calendar year, we are actually in the middle of the school year—and that distinction matters.
In early childhood, January is not a fresh start. Children are still developing routines, relationships are already established, and teams are carrying both momentum and fatigue from the months behind them. This moment in the year often feels layered: reflective, yes—but also deeply rooted in what is already in motion.
Leadership during this stretch isn’t about beginning again.
It’s about stewarding what already exists.
And that’s why this series begins with Personal Leadership.
Read More“Mattering isn’t something we add to our work. It’s the way we do our work — together.”
— Deidre Harris
Over the past several weeks, we’ve explored mattering through many lenses — the personal (“Me”), the collective (“Core”), and the systemic (“Big”).
We’ve looked at how being noticed, affirmed, and needed can transform how early childhood educators experience their work and how children experience their care.
But as we close this series, it’s important to name something deeper: Mattering is not a short-term initiative.
Read More“We don’t just build programs — we build people. And people thrive when they feel seen, valued, and needed.”
— Deidre Harris
Culture is built through patterns of behavior.
If mattering is going to last, it has to move beyond nice words into consistent practices.
This is where the Me–Core–Big framework becomes so powerful — it helps programs align intention with action.
Mattering is not a single event. It’s a system of noticing, affirming, and needing — at every level of community.
Read MoreThe Ripple to Families
Families don’t just experience early childhood programs through policies or lesson plans — they experience them through people.
When staff feel supported and significant, families feel it:
Drop-off becomes a warm hand-off, not a hurried exchange.
Conversations become two-way partnerships, not directives.
Trust builds — especially in moments of challenge or transition.
“The way adults treat one another becomes the emotional blueprint for how children learn to treat the world.”
— Deidre Harris
The Echo of Every Interaction
Walk into a thriving early childhood classroom and you’ll feel it — the calm hum of cooperation, the laughter between colleagues, the unspoken rhythm of care.
That atmosphere doesn’t come from curriculum or compliance checklists; it comes from connection.
The emotional climate of a classroom is a mirror of the emotional climate of the adults within it. When teachers, assistants, and leaders feel seen, valued, and needed — they naturally extend that same energy to children and families.
That’s the ripple effect of mattering.
Part 2 of the “Mattering in Early Childhood Education” Series
“Inclusion opens the door. Belonging invites you to sit at the table.
Mattering assures you the table wouldn’t be the same without you.”
Mattering — “I Am Significant Here.”
Read MoreIn early childhood education, our work is rooted in mattering.
Every day, we help children feel seen, valued, and needed — through our greetings, encouragement, and consistency.
But here’s the hard truth: the people who give that care often go home wondering if they matter, too.
Read MoreQuiet quitting or disconnection can be the result of the erosion of belonging.
Sometimes it can appear in conflict—but it often looks like silence. For example, a staff member stops joining conversations, contributes less in meetings, or avoids shared spaces. Their absence may be subtle, but it signals something deeper: they no longer feel as connected, valued, or included as they once did.
As a leader, noticing these early signs is an act of care. Addressing them with curiosity and empathy communicates, “You still belong here.”
Read MoreBelonging grows stronger when it’s woven into the everyday rhythms of how your program operates—not as an extra initiative, but as part of the way you already do business.
When connection becomes a built-in feature of your systems, it shifts from being a feel-good moment to a cultural habit. It’s not something leaders have to remember to do; it becomes something the team naturally expects and practices.
Embedding belonging into your routines ensures that empathy, reflection, and accountability sit side by side. It sends a clear message: We care about outcomes, but we also care about how people feel as we achieve them.
Read MoreBelonging doesn’t come from grand gestures—it grows through small, consistent acts of care repeated day after day.
These micro-moments of connection quietly communicate, “You matter here,” expressing your program’s values far more powerfully than any policy or poster.
They are the living heartbeat of your mission—the daily rhythm of empathy, respect, and shared humanity.
Read MoreBelonging doesn’t live in orientation binders or welcome week activities—it lives in the daily interactions between people.
The way we greet each other, how we handle mistakes, how we speak in meetings, and even how we end the day—all of these moments tell a story about whether belonging is simply spoken or practiced.
As early childhood leaders, we often focus on systems and logistics: ratios, curriculum, family communication, compliance. Those are vital—but they are not what people remember. What they remember is how they felt in your presence.
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