Staff is Key In A High Quality Child Care Program

Making a decision about which child care or preschool program is best for your child is a crucial decision in your child’s first step in the life long learning process.

 

Staff is Key! Visit the prospective school and Observe the teachers interactions with children.  How are teachers interacting with children? You should see teachers in engaged conversations with children at their eye level, either sitting on the floor or with them in low child size chairs. 

            You should see a lot of eye contact, just as you would in a meaningful interaction between adults.  Another important aspect to observe is if there is active listening and two way conversations occurring on the part of the teacher and child, as opposed to the teacher being pre-occupied or distracted with other events in the room.  Active listening shows an interest in the child and places a value on what the child is saying. 

            Interactions should be warm and friendly, with gently encouraging tone of voice. 

Good teachers are energetic, patient, and enthusiastic about the children, the activity and the environment.  They look for teachable moments, whether it is a butterfly going by or a leave falling or a chance to teach positive social interaction. 

            Ask about the longevity of teachers in the program.  Happy teachers not only provide stability for children but in most cases mean they like their job! Teacher’s should be organized and prepared and give children an opportunity throughout the day to choose activities. 

            Finally you should see happy faces and lots of smiles on the part of the teacher and the child, an enjoyment of life and the experiences they encounter together.  Listen for “Happy” sounds coming from all the classrooms. 

            For more information on this topic or to obtain a copy of a free check list you can use as you visit child care centers, call or visit Kathy Feigley at Kangaroo Kids Child Care and Learning Center, 1047 Route 28 Branchburg, 908-231-7800 or email staff@kangarookidschildcare.com or connect with Kathy on Kangaroo Kids LinkedIn Page or Like Kangaroo Kids Child Care Facebook page.  Watch for more things to look for in quality programs for young children in future posts.  

Most Popular Baby Names

According to the Social Security Administration, Jacob is the most popular boy’s name of the 21st century (so far), followed by:
• Michael
• Joshua
• Matthew
• Daniel
• Christopher
• Andrew
• Ethan
• Joseph
• William

The Favorite girl’s name is Emily, trailed by:
• Madison
• Emma
• Olivia
• Hannah
• Abigail
• Isabella
• Samantha
• Elizabeth
• Ashley

Go to http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/decades/names2000s.html for year by year popularity of names!

Avoid the 3 S's!

Read the food labels and avoid products with high levels of the three-S's according to WebMD:
• Sugar
• Saturated fat (and trans fat)
• Sodium

Child Nutrition and Shopping Tips for Busy Moms

Web Md helps busy Moms with these shopping tips:

Moms today are busy, whether they work in or outside the home (or both). But that doesn't mean that they don't care about feeding their families in the healthiest way possible.
The simplest tip to help your family get more of the nutrients they need -- and fewer nutrients that contribute to disease and weight gain -- is to serve more whole foods and less processed food. Eat fruits and vegetables with every meal. Serve your children healthy, lean protein at most meals.

Because it all starts with what goes into the shopping cart, here are some simple "healthy eating" shopping strategies for busy moms.

What Food to Put in Your Shopping Cart

Here's a list of nutrients that are important for child nutrition and may be deficient in the daily diets of some American children.

Buy Fiber-Filled Foods for Your Child

Fiber promotes digestive health, reduces the risk of coronary heart disease, and assists in keeping blood sugar levels normal. Fiber may also help children maintain a healthy weight because it fills you up on fewer calories.
Fiber is found in plant foods, pure and simple. Follow these foods and you'll find all the fiber:
• Vegetables (fresh, frozen, and canned)
• Fruits (fresh, frozen, and canned)
• Beans (dried, canned)
• Edamame (fresh or frozen)
• Nuts and seeds
• Whole grain cereal (hot and cold)
• 100% whole wheat or whole grain bread products
• Whole grain blend pastas
• Whole grain crackers
• Whole wheat tortillas

Pick Up Potassium Power

Potassium is one of the minerals that children today tend not to get enough of, according to recent studies. Potassium works as an electrolyte in the body, helping maintain a healthy balance of water in the blood and body tissues. Potassium also assists in nervous system and muscle function.
Good sources of potassium in the produce section include:
• Artichoke
• Avocado
• Bananas
• Cantaloupe
• Leafy green vegetables (such as beet greens, Swiss chard, broccoli)
• Orange juice
• Prunes and prune juice
• Papaya
• Potatoes with skin
• Tomatoes
Other foods with a lot of potassium include:
• Beans and peas, including lima beans
• Fish, shellfish, and clams
• Low-fat and fat-free dairy
• Nuts (including almonds, brazil nuts, peanuts, soy nuts, and pistachios)

Look for Healthy Protein and Amino Acids

Healthy protein should be included in almost every meal your children eat. The amino acids within protein serve as the building blocks for our body’s cells, according to a report by the Institute of Medicine.
Good sources of protein are animal products and soybeans, which contain all nine amino acids that your body can't make on its own:
• Eggs
• Reduced-fat cheese
• Fish
• Lean meat
• Skinless poultry
• Low-fat milk
• Soybeans and soybean products
• Yogurt
Plant protein sources tend to be deficient in one or more of the essential amino acids. But if you eat the plant proteins on the same day, they complement each other to become complete proteins in your body.
• Beans
• Nuts and seeds
• Vegetables
• Whole grains

Be sure your children eat omega-3 fatty acids and monounsaturated fats. Omega-3 fatty acids are particularly important for infants and young children because they help neurological development and growth, according to the Institute of Medicine. Monounsaturated fats improve insulin sensitivity and help reduce the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.

These foods are excellent sources of omega-3s or monounsaturated fat:
• Fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, herring, mackerel, anchovies
• Eggs with omega-3
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Olive oil
• Canola oil
• Ground flaxseed
• Products that use liquid olive oil or canola oil (certain margarines, salad dressings, bottled or prepared sauces, and baked goods, for example)

How Does Preschool Help A Child Grow?

What are some of the ways preschool helps a child grow? By Child psychiatrist Joshua Sparrow

For some children this may be the first time they're going into a group setting where the attention by caregivers will be divided among several children. Learning to share the relationship to the teacher will be a major new gain. Also, the child will be learning to make friends, share, take turns, and hold back on impulses, areas in which they're still making progress. Preschool will present them with more opportunities to practice these skills. They'll also have opportunities to learn about other children's feelings, and to discover the joy of being generous. It's very early, but you'll see examples where the child will say, "Do you want to play with this doll?" That's their little gift, and they're learning the internal pleasure they get out of that.

Also, at this age kids love the daily routine of preschool. They get excited about mastering the schedule — they know when storytime and snack and lunch and nap happen — and they're really thrilled with themselves. Their fantasy play becomes stronger around this age, and there are ways of being more elaborate with their imagination when other children are around. They also benefit from their peers in terms of language acquisition, and even motor development. You may start to see them climb up on a slide more readily, for instance.

Separation Anxiety

The transition to preschool is often marked with two steps forward, one step back, as your child grows and learns in amazing ways — but at the same time, regresses in some behaviors, too. In Scholastic for Parents, Child psychiatrist Joshua Sparrow, M.D., is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School professor and co-author, with T. Berry Brazelton, of Touchpoints 3 to 6 and a former preschool teacher and gives this advice about how to ease your child's transition.

Starting preschool is a big step for many young children. What are some of the biggest challenges they face?
The most common challenge for most kids is saying goodbye to their parents, or trouble separating. For some children this may be their first time out of the home. Others may have separated before, but are now in a new, possibly more demanding situation.

How can parents help soothe their children's separation anxiety?
First, they can look within for whatever ambivalence they have about leaving their child, because he will pick up on those feelings. If there's any hesitation or discomfort or doubt — which there often is; you hate to leave your child when he's unhappy about it — but if you don't feel good about where you're leaving him, or about the fact that you have to leave him, your child's going to feel, "Well, maybe this isn't really a good place or idea." The first thing you have to do to prepare your child is to prepare yourself.

How else can parents help ease the transition for their preschooler?
There are a number of things you can do to prepare your child. Prior to starting school, take your child to visit the classroom and meet the teacher. If there's a way of having a playdate with one of the other children who will be attending the preschool, that's great, because then the children can welcome each other when they begin school. You could give your child a transitional object, like a favorite blanket or teddy bear they can carry around with them all day; or even a story so the teacher can read it. And give your child lots of reassurance that "Mommy's coming back," or "Daddy's coming back."

To reinforce the idea, you can play a little game in which something disappears from sight but your child rediscovers it. Roll a ball under the couch and say, "Look, we can't see it. Do you think it's still there? Let's go look." When your child finds the ball, you can say, "See, even though we couldn't see the ball it's still there, just like Mommy when she went to work." What you're doing is reinforcing "object permanence," a concept that comes earlier (by the end of the first year) but can be threatened by the emotional challenge that separation presents.

At Kangaroo Kids we encourage the parents to visit a number of times with their child before leaving the child on their first day of school. This helps the parent and child to form bonds with the teachers that will help to make the transition on the first day go more smoothly. A familiarity with the environment and new faces provides a more secure foundation for their first drop off at a new school. We also encourage parents to send a family photo that may get lots of wet kisses on the first few days.

Save Our Oceans

New Jersey is a coastal state and it is important for us to take care of one our most valuable natural resources, the ocean! The world’s oceans not only provide spectacular views as you watch the rhythmic tranquil waves of a calm day or the fierce crashing waves of a stormy day but it also provides much of the food we eat and generates most of the oxygen we breathe. It is an endless recreational resource for swimmers, boaters, and surfers and provides a career for many people throughout the world. It helps to regulate our climate and offers us a pharmacopoeia of potential medicines, not to mention those soothing seaweed wraps that many companies offer as an option for good health. The ocean has inspired artists and poets, and soothed the nerves of many everyday folks as they stroll through the gentle ocean breezes.

Our seas provide a wealth of diverse kinds of life but unfortunately due to the destruction of our coral reefs and some destructive fishing practices this diversity of life is being greatly reduced.

How can we help to protect our oceans?

We can help by reducing our carbon footprint, so turn off those lights and bike when possible or try to carpool or take public transit.

Choose to eat fish that are in abundant supply or are fished without harm to our oceans and coastline. You can visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium website http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/download.aspx to download a pocket guide of sustainable seafood.

You can also take care of our oceans by not polluting, properly disposing of trash, and avoiding the use of pesticides that run into our streams and oceans.

World Oceans Day will be celebrated on June 8th, and hundreds of aquariums, zoos, museums, conservation organizations and Kangaroo Kids Child Care and Learning Center, as well as thousands of individuals around the world will participate with fun, inspirational, and educational events. The 2011 and 2012 theme is Youth: the Next Wave for Change

So join Kangaroo Kids and wear blue on June 8th and spread the word about the importance of our oceans and how we can protect them.

World Ocean Day.org has provided a few ways we can do our part to protect our blue planet:
Take the The Seven C's Challenge for Ocean Conservation:
• Commit to making a real difference
This year create a vision for a sustainable future and strive to achieve it!
• Conserve in your home
When replacing appliances, upgrade to “greener" options and install compact fluorescent and LED light bulbs.
• Consume consciously
Rethink what you “need”, purchase “green” products, and buy locally grown foods and locally caught sustainable seafood.
• Communicate your interests and concerns
Share your interest in a healthy ocean with a child, with friends, family, colleagues, and the local media or social networking sites.
• Challenge yourself daily
It’s not always easy but try to walk, bike, carpool, and take public transportation to cut down your coral-reef harming carbon emissions.
• Connect in your community
Meet new friends and make a difference by getting active as a volunteer with a local watershed or ocean group.
• Celebrate our ocean!
Take part in a World Oceans Day activity near you or plan your own for June 8th.

Find more information and inspiration at: www.WorldOceansDay.org and www.SeasTheDay.org

Garbage-Less Lunches

It is important to take care of our Earth everyday! Last week the Pre-K classroom at Kangaroo Kids collected and saved all of their garbage. “Sounds disgusting I know, however, the reason for this was so the children can visualize how much “stuff” we throw away and waste,” said Pre—K lead teacher Miss Misse. They also had a special day where every family packed a “Garbage-less" lunch!

Why not help the environment and pack “Garbage-less,” lunch every day! I know it’s a challenge, but here are some hints from Miss Misse so we can all pitch in to Save the Earth!

Instead of disposable juice boxes, pour your favorite drink into a leak-proof bottle. Reuse yogurt, margarine, dip, and hummus containers to hold snacks. Declare an end to soggy, squished sandwiches, crumbled cookies, and broken chips by keeping them safe in a solid, resealable container. Cloth napkins save forests, and you can use them hundreds of times. Real silverware can replace plastic spoons and forks. Pack it all up in a reusable fabric or plastic lunch bag, instead of brown paper or plastic grocery store bag. This will also to keep your hot food warm and cold food cool. Misse always role models activities that protect our natural resources as she even sips her daily beverages from a mason jar! These are just some suggestions; get creative! Hopefully, some of these creative ideas will inspire you to have a garbage-less lunch everyday!

Oh my NO TV?!?!

Here are a few ideas of other things to do during Turn Off Your TV:
1. Volunteer in a school to teach reading, math, computer skills.
2. Learn to play the guitar or other musical instrument.
3. Attend community concerts.
4. Organize a community clean-up.
5. Put together a puzzle.
6. Visit the library. Borrow a book. Attend library activities.
7. Go ice skating or roller skating.
8. Listen to the radio.
9. Visit the zoo.
10. Paint a picture, a mural or a room.
11. Attend a high school sporting event.
12. Find out about your area's community center or park's activities.
13. Go swimming. Join a community swim team.
14. Read a book aloud to your younger sister/brother.
15. Plan a picnic or barbecue.
16. Go bird watching.
17. Volunteer for a community organization or charity.
18. Play with your pet.
19. Go dancing.
20. Write a letter to a friend or relative.
21. Learn to cook.
22. Plant a flower, vegetable or herb garden.
23. Read magazines or newspapers.
24. Plan a slumber party.
25. Start a neighborhood basketball, soccer, or kickball game.
26. Go camping (even if it's just in the backyard!).
27. Join a choir.
28. Go through your closets and clothes. Donate surplus items to Goodwill, the Salvation Army or a local rummage sale.
29. Start a diary/journal.
30. Go to a museum.
31. Take a nature hike. Collect seeds and leaves. Make a collage with the materials you collected and post it on the refrigerator.
32. Play cards.
33. Start a community exercise group that power walks, runs, or bikes.
34. Read a story to your younger brother or sister.
35. Get out the family photo album. Research your family history.
36. Go listen to a local band.
37. Make crafts to give as gifts.
38. Make up a story and write it down.
39. Learn to say simple phrases in a few different languages.
40. Ask an older family member to tell you a story about his or her childhood. Write about it.
41. Learn some new riddles or jokes.
42. Bake two batches of cookies; one for your family and one for a neighbor.
43. Watch the night sky through binoculars; identify the different constellations. Observe the moon.
44. Visit a local bookstore.
45. Go to a movie with your family or friends.
46. Walk to work or school.
47. Start a kids bowling league.
48. Train for a 5K race.
49. Teach a neighbor about a computer program.
50. Go fishing.
51. Begin a family project.
52. HAVE A PARTY TO CELEBRATE A TV-FREE WEEK.
These were prepared by tvturnoff.org. You can find more information at http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/turnoffweek/TV.turnoff.week.html

Choosing A Good Book For Your Child

How to Choose Good Books For Your Child

“One approach is to look for award-winning books. There are two famous awards for children's literature made each year by the American Library Association that are good indicators of quality work: the Caldecott Medal for illustration and the Newbery Medal for writing. But these are given to only two of the approximately 2,500 new children's books published each year,” according to Kathryn Perkinson from the United States Department of Education. Your local librarian can give your recommendations of books best suited to your child’s age and interests.

You can also go to http://www.parents.com/fun/book-gallery/ to find some of the best books for your child, organized by age. Scholastic also has many suggestions for books to read with your infant and toddler at http://www.scholastic.com/resources/article/choose-books-for-your-baby-and-toddler/.

Reading a variety of books to children including alphabet, number, narrative, predictable, rhyming, fiction, non-fiction, and poetry books give children a vast experience with books.

Reading books with a plot also teaches children that stories have a beginning, middle, and end which helps with their recall and their ability to comprehend sequences of events.

For young children you want to make sure the books are durable, so choosing a cloth book for babies and a cardboard book for toddlers is a helpful so they can explore the books on their own.

Happy Reading!