Halloween Safety

Halloween can be a fun day for the whole family!  Here are a few great tips from the Center For Disease Control to help make your Halloween adventures fun and safe!  http://www.cdc.gov/family/halloween/

Principles for Effective Guidance and Discipline

1. Discipline is not punishment, but an opportunity to help children behave appropriately.
2. Discipline includes preventing problems and helping child succeed.
3. Discipline helps children learn self-control and how to get along with others.
4. It is appropriate and necessary for children to be curious, experiment and test the limits.
5. The environment and routine should prevent crowding of children and other frustration or situations that lead to discipline concerns.
6. All children, at all times, including their most challenging moments, deserve respect.
7. Labeling children negatively affects everyone, especially the child.
8. Role-modeling appropriate behavior is more effective than telling children how to behave.
9. Before intervening, give children an opportunity to work out their struggles themselves, when possible.
10. Limit the use of the word, “No.”
11. Having a consistent adult response is the norm to redirecting behavior.
12. Praise good behavior and efforts or attempts at trying to behave appropriately. 

5 Things to Look for When Choosing a School for your Child

1. Staff is key!  Look for attentive and caring teachers.  You should see lots of smiles and warm, patient interactions.  Ask about the longevity of teachers as consistency provides a secure base for children.

2. Is the facility safe?   Are outlets appropriately covered, is there a procedure for security at drop off and pick up times, is the playground fenced, are the teachers backgrounds checked, and are teacher’s first aid and CPR certified?

3. Is the school clean?  You may see toys around the room and that is a good sign that children have many opportunities for learning in different environments and with different materials.  What you want to look for: are the floors clean, is there a system in place for toys that have been in children’s mouths, is the facility cleaned on a regular basis?

4. Ask about the curriculum.  Are lesson plans posted, do teachers assess children, are there a good supply of materials available to children?

5. Trust your instinct!  You should hear happy sounds, respectful communications, and warm interactions regardless of the room you visit! 

You can email staff@kangarookidschildcare.com for a complete checklist of what to look for when visiting a school.  

Children Learn Through Play

Did You Know…

·         When children identify and recognize shapes they are practicing simple geometry, an important early math skill!

·         When children squeeze playdough they are developing the fine motor skills they will need for writing!

·         When you read nursery rhymes to your child you are helping him or her with their ability to sound out words!

·         When children play with blocks they are learning engineering skills!

·         When children play with water they are learning science concepts like being able to identify which objects sink and which float as well as make experimenting with making predictions!

Back to School Tips

The best environment for children is where parents & educators communicate & work in a collaborative partnership.  Schools should welcome parents as partners.  Parents should connect with schools and teachers by communicating early, volunteering to help, and saying thank you!

Here are some tips for a smooth start to the school year! 

1.   Connect with teachers early!  Volunteer to help!
2. Help your child set up systems.  Where and when do children do their homework, how should they set out materials and clothes for the next day?
3. Stay involved!  Attend Back to School, go to the music and sport events, meet other parents

Learning through Play

Did you know…  Play is one of the most important ways children learn?

In the popular Exchange book, Play: A Beginnings Workshop Book, Betty Jones, in her article "The Play's the Thing: Styles of Playfulness", notes the many ways children learn through play...

• to make appropriate choices among many possibilities.
• to use their imagination, to improvise, to think flexibly, and explore new options.
• to be aware of their own real interests, without being distracted by other possibilities: to say "yes" and to say "no."
• to solve problems, both with materials and with people.
• to cooperate with other children in the creation of mutually satisfying projects.
• to work through their feelings in creative, non-destructive ways.
• to pay attention to a project until it's done.
• to use something — a dramatic action, a word, a toy, a set of blocks, a collection of marks on paper — to represent something else — a real experience, a powerful feeling. Practice in these sorts of representation is essential in the process of becoming literate, which is another form of representation.
• to see themselves as competent and interesting people, with useful skills and good ideas.

Encourage A Love Of Learning

5 Ways to Encourage a Love of Learning

1. Read, read, read to your child for at least 15 minutes every day.  If your child is older take turns reading  — you read one page, he or she reads the next — or establish a family reading time when everyone reads their own book.

2. Encourage your child to express his or her opinion, to talk about feelings, and how to make good choices. This will build his or her confidence to participate in school discussions and activities.

3.  Help your child develop hobbies and interests, and ensure he or she has the tools needed to pursue their interests.

4.  Provide your child with play opportunities that support different kinds of learning styles.  Listen and dance to music, sort the laundry to reinforce math skills, collect leaves and sort and classify them, paint pictures, make playdough!   

5. Point out the new things you learn with enthusiasm. Discuss the different ways you find new information, showing your child that learning is both fun and challenging.