Wayne Preno - Five Signs Of a Good Youth Coach

As a parent when your child decides that she or he wants to join a sports team, you are naturally delighted that they want to engage in sport and appreciate all the benefits that being part of a team can bring them. But, as with any organization that takes responsibility for your child and their welfare, you want to be sure that individuals who lead it will be good role models for your child. So, what are some of the signs of a good youth coach? Wayne Preno, a youth coach and child care provider through his Bright and Early Daycare and Preschool businesses in Pennsylvania shares some of the characteristics of a good youth coach.
1. A good coach is patient under pressure, and doesn’t lose his or her cool
2. They command respect and lead by example, teaching fairness and good sportsman-like behavior
3. They take health and safety responsibilities seriously but sensibly
4. They set clear but realistic and age appropriate expectations
5. They support children developing to be the best that they can in a fun environment.

Underlying all of those is the ability of the coach to communicate clearly and effectively to the children and the parents. There will inevitable be drama, injury, disagreements and upsets along the sporting journey. The highs of winning, and the lows of losing.

A good youth coach can handle all of these different challenges and more motivating, encouraging and supporting through it all, enabling your child to grow and learn some amazing life skills along the way.

Wayne Preno played basketball, baseball and soccer from Junior High and through University, and then moved to coach in his spare time around family and business commitments.
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Wayne Preno - Tips For Parents – How To Effectively Engage With a Daycare Problem

As a daycare owner, and a parent himself, Wayne Preno understands that there are occasions when you may not agree with a course of action or how the service provider handled an issue. That is absolutely normal and to be expected, as individuals we cannot always be in agreement.

The most important thing for everyone concerned to focus on is obtaining swift resolution and agreement to the satisfaction of all involved. If you as a parent have a concern or are unhappy about something, raise it quickly to make sure it is addressed and resolved as rapidly as possible. It will not be helpful to you, the staff and most importantly your child, to stew and delay over something.

Be clear on what your concern is, and what you feel needs to be done to resolve it, then make arrangements to speak with the appropriate member of staff. Your daycare provider’s policy will outline the agreed procedure, so do familiarize yourself with that too. Always be courteous, polite and constructive in your communications, whether in person, over the phone or in correspondence.

Wayne and the staff at his own Bright and Early Daycare and Preschool in Pennsylvania, fully understand that any concern relating to our children can be emotive. We all want to set good examples for our children, and those in our care. For them to see you work together with other adults handle a difficult or conflict situation well, can be a very positive learning experience.

Wayne Preno has an open door policy at his own daycare and preschool services to ensure that parents feel they can always discuss any concerns or issues relating to their children.
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Wayne Preno - The Benefits of a Structured Regime In Daycare

There are many different types of daycare and preschool environments available for parents to choose from. Some focus almost exclusively on free play and child led learning, whilst others take a much more structured approach with a daily schedule of pre-planned activities, combined with opportunities for free play. How can you decide which will be the most suitable for your child? As an early year’s professional and owner of Early and Bright Daycare and Early and Bright Preschool businesses in Pennsylvania, Wayne Preno has given this very careful consideration and undertaken much research on the respect benefits for children under both approaches. He has also drawn on his personal experiences as a father of three and a youth sports coach.

He knows just how essential it is to give a strong foundation to the children in his care, to develop personal growth and a passion for life-long learning. His objective is that when they leave their early year’s environment and move into the more structured school system they have acquired the social and organizational skills to allow them to move forward with confidence.

As such Wayne has developed his daycare and preschool services to provide the children with a structured environment and routine which encompasses set times for play, learning, games, eating and rest, preparing them for a smooth transition to the more rigorous environment ahead. Wayne Preno is a successful professional daycare and preschool business owner, sports coach and father of three lively children
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Wayne Preno - Tips To Help Parents Searching for Quality Daycare

As a parent searching for high quality daycare for your child can seem like an overwhelming task. We all want to do the best when can but there are so many aspects to consider. As a professional daycare owner, Wayne Preno understands that feeling. 

Wayne believes that it is essential to provide a service that is inviting and welcoming for both parents and children alike, and that you must also look past the glossy brochure, Open Days, and shiny facilities if you are to get a real understanding of the service being provided. 

He suggests that the ‘emotional feel’ should be given as much consideration, and that parents should take the opportunity during their visits (scheduled and unscheduled) to look at the personal interactions going on around them. How do the staff greet the other parents when they arrive, do they take time and engage with them? Are the children happy to see the staff and keen to be with them? Is there good clear communication between the staff; is it respectful; is everyone clear on their role and responsibilities?

All of these indicators are excellent reflections and indicators as to how smoothly your child’s day will be run and the environment they will be nurtured in.  Having confidence in these factors will help you make a better informed, more rounded decision in your childcare provider. 

Wayne Preno set up his two businesses in Philadelphia and Cheltenham PA, Bright and Early Daycare and Preschool, twelve years ago having searched for the right daycare for his own children.

Tips to Be a Better Coach - Staying Positive

As a coach to any kind of sport, you will know that inevitably you or a player will make a mistake somewhere along the way during a game or practice. It is important that you try to avoid these mistakes, but even more important that you move on from them when they occur.

Often times good players make mistakes that causes them to question their abilities for the rest of the game. This can come in the form of a fumble or a play error, a wrong read or simply a result of them not paying attention. However it happened, the important thing is to remind that player of all of the positive things he or she has done in that game or other games. This is your job as a coach, to keep your team mentally sharp and focuses. The body can only be as ready as the mind, which is why you have to help your players not waste their thoughts on distractions like a previous mistake. Remind them that everybody, even professional players make mistakes, but they do well because they can shake it off and keep moving without losing a beat.

The best coaches are the ones that are able to keep their players having a positive attitude and moving past mistakes that can happen out on the field. A good strategy when a player makes a mistake is to reinforce the positive, like their previous great plays or contributions. This will keep them focused and ready for action.

Wayne Preno is a former coach who knows the importance of keeping players positive.

Being a better Coach - Keep it Fun

If you are a coach of a youth team, getting them all to work together and cooperate with their skills to get a win can be a very difficult task. This is something that any experienced coach can tell you, even professional ones. What is important to note however, is that you should not become so focused on winning games that you forget what the whole point of playing the game is in the first place, having a good time! 

While it is always better to get the win, make sure you are not sacrificing the sanctity and heart of the game in order to do so. The real role of a coach for any youth athletics team is to teach them values and show them how teamwork and fighting for a common goal can help you to accomplish anything. Above all, you want to provide a memorable and positive experience for these children that they will think back on with a smile for the rest of their lives. Do not become so obsessed with being the best team that no one on that team is having a good time anymore.

While it is good to train and hone the skills of your players, providing discipline and structure, many coaches make the mistake of using too much discipline. Some figure that the most fun part of the game is winning, and the more discipline their team has, the better chance they have of winning and having fun. This is actually not true, as some of the best teams out there are just ones who go out and play their game, not caring whether they win or lose.

Wayne Preno is proud to own both the Bright and Early Daycare and Bright and Early Preschool. He has also done some youth sports coaching, and has always emphasized the importance of having fun.

At The Daycare - Problem-Solving

When you have your child enrolled in a daycare, no matter how good that center is, you are likely to come across an issue that you do not agree with the staff about. Problems are a natural part and occurrence of everyday life, and the world of daycare and child development is not immune to this fact. 

What is important is not finding a daycare center that you never have problems with (they don’t exist) but finding one that works with you to resolve these conflicts quickly. This is important because the faster that you can address and handle an issue, the easier it is to resolve it. Often ignoring an issue or problem, or not addressing it can make it rapidly grow out of hand, requiring you to dump massive amounts of time and energy into fixing something that could have been prevented almost entirely. So the important thing is not to avoid conflict, but to go about handling it in a civilized and decisive manner.

If you have an issue that you want to discuss with your daycare, never hesitate to speak up, but also be sure to do so in a courteous and undisruptive manner. Remember that other people’s children are there as well, and you should be mindful to set a good example for all children. You are a parent, and daycare centers know that you have the ultimate decision-making power when it comes to your child, so long as it is within reason. That is why you should always address an issue as soon as possible.

Wayne Preno is adaycare owner (Bright and Early Daycare) who always encourages the parents to let him know of any issues or concerns they may have.

How to Find a Good Daycare Center - Interactions

When parents start looking for a good daycare center for their children, it can often be a very daunting task. There are usually many choices and no clear way to make them. It can be especially hard when you consider that your child or children will be spending a considerable amount of time wherever you choose to put them. 

Because of all of these factors, many parents freeze up when it comes time to finally decide which daycare center is right for them. Lucky for them, there are a few tips and pointers that can tell you whether or not a daycare center is a good pick. And one of the most important things you should look for is how the staff interacts with the children.

The staff play an important role in any daycare center, as they will be the adult supervision as well as the example set for the kids. As kids can be very impressionable, it is important that the staff is aligned with the same beliefs as the parents. When visiting a daycare center, pay close attention to how the staff interacts with the kids. Do they look comfortable? Do they look happy? Are they playing with the children or keeping their distance? You should also check and see that the staff is paying attention to each individual child, as it is important for kids in developmental stages to get lots of one-on-one time with an adult.

Wayne Preno is a professional businessman and entrepreneur who owns Bright and Early Daycare, Philadelphia and Bright and Early Preschool, Cheltenham, PA, for 12 years.