Parent Resources - Little Sunshine's Playhouse

June 19, 2026

Play Based Learning is the Secret to Kindergarten Readiness

Picture a four-year-old sitting at a kitchen table in the spring before kindergarten, working through a worksheet. Her parent sits beside her, pointing to letters, counting out numbers, running through flashcards. There is love in this scene. There is also anxiety. The quiet, persistent worry that kindergarten is coming and the window to prepare is […]

June 10, 2026

The Difference a Hands-On Dad Makes: What Early Childhood Research Shows

This Father’s Day, we want to share what that research actually says, and why the role of a father in a family during these early years matters more than most people realize. The science on the importance of dads in early childhood has grown significantly over the past two decades, and the findings are consistently […]

June 2, 2026

Principles of Reggio Emilia: Documentation as Communication

By Stephanie Rino, Director of Curriculum and Learning Walk into a Reggio Emilia preschool and look at the walls. You will not find generic posters or decorative borders. You will find photographs of children at work, their words printed carefully beneath them. You will find sketches, questions, and traces of investigations still in progress. You […]

May 21, 2026

April 2026 National Teacher of the Month

The Teacher of the Month award is our way of celebrating educators who live out our core values—compassion, humility, integrity, loyalty, and discipline—each and every day. We’re excited to announce that our 2026 April National Teacher of the Month is Ms. Dominique from Little Sunshine’s Playhouse of Southlake. The leadership team at Southlake had such kind words […]

May 18, 2026

Principles of Reggio Emilia: Teachers as Partners and Guides

By Stephanie Rino, Director of Curriculum and Learning Think about the best teacher you ever had. Chances are, they did not simply stand at the front of a room and deliver information. They listened. They asked questions. They noticed what made you curious and found ways to follow that curiosity somewhere meaningful. That memory captures […]

May 14, 2026

Our Southlake Preschool Turned Every Child Into an Artist

There is a moment that happened over and over again at our Family Art Show last April, a child grabbing a parent’s hand, pulling them across the room, and saying with complete confidence: “Look what I made.” That moment is everything. It is what we work toward every day inside our classrooms at Little Sunshine’s […]

May 6, 2026

Matrescence: The Identity Shift of Becoming a Mother That Nobody Talks About

There is a word for what happens to you when you become a mother. Most people have never heard it. Matrescence. It was first coined by medical anthropologist Dana Raphael in the 1970s and has only recently started making its way into mainstream conversation. The matrescence definition, at its simplest, is this: the physical, psychological, […]

April 27, 2026

How to Identify Your Child’s Learning Style (And Support It at Home)

Every child is wired differently. Some light up when they get to move their bodies. Others want to take everything apart and see how it works. Some are drawn to art and color, while others want to talk through every idea out loud. These differences are not random. They often reflect your child’s learning style, […]

April 20, 2026

Principles of Reggio Emilia: The Classroom is the Third Teacher

By Stephanie Rino, Director of Curriculum and Learning Walk into a Reggio Emilia daycare or preschool and you will notice something immediately: the space itself feels alive. Natural materials, thoughtful lighting, children’s artwork on the walls…every detail is intentional. This is the principle of the environment as the “third teacher.” In the Reggio Emilia approach, […]