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.  

Happy Grandparents Day!

Intergenerational Experiences Benefit Children and Seniors

An annual event at Kangaroo Kids is Grandparents Tea!  Intergenerational opportunities abound as young and “mature” meet and provide an enriching experience for each other.  All children at Kangaroo Kids invited their grandparents to tea.  They worked together to plant flowers, make crafts and enjoy snacks, and read stories. 

Granddads and Grandmas, Mom Moms and Pop Pops , Nai Nai and Lao ye ,Paati - Tamil and Dada and Mums and Da’s, regardless of their culture the warmth and smiles they shared were glowing throughout the day.  The loving glance and admiring smiles each had for the other generation was priceless. 

In this fast paced and technology driven world this is truly a heart-warming experience to see the two generations bond and to see the love and support the grandparents at Kangaroo Kids had for their grandchildren.    .  

It is physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, healthy for children to have a close relationship with their grandparents, who are at the other end of the age spectrum.   Grandparents can be great role models and influences.  They provide a sense of heritage and family history, as well as being teachers, mentors, while giving unconditional love. 

Grandparents really are “grand” so do everything in your power to foster a strong relationship between your parents and your children.  Regular get togethers are best, but whenever they are not possible, staying connected is made easy through letters, e-mail, Facebook, Skype, and exchanging photos.    If your child’s grandparents live far away visit a nursing home and adopt a local grandparent.  It will help children feel comfortable when they visit their own grandparents and it will put a smile on a seniors face to share the joy and enthusiasm of a child.

 “The grandparent-grandchild bond is second in emotional importance only to the bond between parents and children”, says Arthur Kornhaber, author of the Grandparent Guide and president of the Foundation for Grandparenting  (www.grandparenting.org)

Are You Ready For The First Day of School?

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.

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.

It important on the first day of school to make the morning as stress free as possible by picking out clothes the night before and having back packs and supplies ready in a specific place by the door.  Get up a little early so you are not rushing.  Make breakfast time a relaxing time to talk about all the fun the new school year will bring.  If your child is very apprehensive talk about a special thing you will do after school like a visit to the park.  This will help to assure them you will be back.  Partner with your child’s teacher to help ease the transition.  The teacher can give you some tips for drop off and tell you what they will be doing the next day so you have something to discuss on the ride to school on the second day in order to reinforce how much fun your child will have at school.

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. 

What makes a good school?

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 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 teachers’ first aid and CPR certified?

3. Is the school clean?  You may see toys around the room and that is a good sign so 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 procedure in play 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.  Look for hands on activities as opposed to only paper and pencil activities.  Children learn best through real life experiences.

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. 

Gardening is an Educational Opportunity!

Gardening is a wonderful learning experience for children!!!!  I am amazed at how skillfull, even the two year olds are at caring for their garden at Kangaroo Kids while planting, watering, weeding and harvesting!!  The children are so proud of their accomplishments!!  They have learned about responsibility, pride in a job well done, taking turns, being gentle and not to mention all the aspects of science they are learning!!!

Gardening is a tremendous time to teach literacy as teachers or parents explain the names of plants and the parts that make up their structure.

And we can’t forget math… look at how they creatively used a ruler to measure their harvest and carry the squash to learn about weight and density!!  There was also a wonderful lesson in teamwork as the worked together to carry the plants that were too heavy to carry alone!!!

Get started in your preschools or even at home and grow your own little garden so children can experience wonderful hands on activities in literacy, math, science as well as social skills of team work and responsibility and pride in a job well done!  

Beat Brain Drain

Beat Brain Drain

Help your kid's reading skills soar during summer break with these words of advice from literacy experts. By Michelle Crouch from Parents Magazine

When Kelley Dolling's first-grade students go on summer vacation, they forget a lot of the reading skills they've learned. "I talk to their second-grade teachers, and find out that many children who were doing great in June are struggling in September," says Dolling, who teaches in Cottonwood, California. "We call it the summer slide."

Indeed, studies show that students who read little, if at all, when school's out can lose valuable ground. And since many 7- and 8-year-olds are just becoming competent readers, it's especially important for them to spend time practicing. Read up on how to make books a fun part of your family's summer routine.

Say Yes More Often

Chances are, your child will receive a recommended summer reading list from his school, but don't limit him to those books, suggests Richard Allington, Ph.D., past president of the International Reading Association. A review of 28 studies found that students read more and learn best when they're allowed to select their own material. "It isn't that hard to get kids to read during the summer -- it's hard to get them to read the books you want them to read," Dr. Allington says. His advice? Take your child to the library or bookstore once a week and let him decide what he wants to read. That means not objecting if he chooses a Justin Bieber biography, the latest issue of Sports Illustrated Kids, or Captain Underpants, a graphic novel. After all, what you really want is for your child to develop a love of reading, and that's unlikely to happen if you're forcing him to read about things he's not interested in. If he's having trouble choosing, suggest these teacher favorites: The World According to Humphrey, by Betty G. Birney, the A to Z Mysteries series, by Ron Roy, and Gooney Bird Greene, by Lois Lowry.

Make It Special

You want your child to be as enthusiastic about reading as she is about splashing around in the neighborhood pool or playing on her Minecraft app. So you've got to sell it a little -- at least until she gets so hooked that you have to pry her away to do something else. You can entice reluctant readers with "drop everything and read" time. You simply shout "DEAR time!" once a day and everyone in the family (including you) grabs a book and reads for at least 15 minutes. (Snag ideas for yourself from our Mom Must Read blog at parents.com/blogs.) Make cozy nooks around the house with colorful beanbags, pillows, and a few books or set up a reading tent in the backyard.

Think Beyond Books

Don't forget about all the other text in your child's world. When you're at the playground, grocery store, or amusement park, encourage him to look carefully at the signs. "New, reluctant readers may get overwhelmed by a book, but if they're just reading about their favorite animal at the zoo, they're more motivated because they really want to understand what the words say," explains Denise Boehm, a second-grade teacher in Weston, Florida.

Offer a Reward

Many bookstores, public libraries, and elementary schools have summer reading initiatives with prizes. They work! A study at Dominican University, in River Forest, Illinois, found that incoming fourth-graders who took part in a library program significantly improved their reading skills during the summer break. The Barnes & Noble summer reading program (barnesandnoble.com) will give your child a free book for participating, or you can try to tempt her with the 10 tokens given for filling out the Chuck E. Cheese's (chuckecheese.com) reading rewards calendar.

Go Digital

If your kid loves screens, consider getting him a tablet or download a few e-books at his level and let him read on yours for a change. Websites can also boost reading skills. Ask your child's teacher if his school has a subscription to an online reading program such as Reading A-Z or Lexia that you can log on to over the summer. Or try Abcya.com, a free site that offers sight-word games, storybooks, and other activities organized by grade level. Just remember: One of the best strategies for motivating your child to read over the break is to limit overall screen time. "If your child has easy access to electronics that provide fun with little effort, reading is naturally going to be a tougher sell," says Daniel Willingham, Ph.D., a cognitive scientist at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville. So stash books in the car, and the next time your child says he's bored, leave your smartphone in your purse and ask him to read a story to you instead.

Originally published in the June 2013 issue of Parents magazine.

Flag Day

June 14th is Flag Day!  Do you know why our flag is red, white and blue?  To the original members of the Continental Congress, red stood for hardiness and courage, white for purity and innocence, and blue for vigilance and justice. 

To learn more about our flag go to http://www.usflag.org/history/flagday.html