The Hand Holders: A Tribute to Caregivers

I want to thank each of that work with children.  You role is very important whether providing child care as a profession, being a parent, co-parent, step-parent, foster parent, grandparent or having an important role in any child’s life.

The Hand Holders:
A Tribute To Caregivers

There is no job more important than yours;
no job anywhere else in the land.
You are the keepers of the future;
you hold the smallest of hands.

Into your care you are trusted
to nurture and care for the young,
and for all of your everyday heroics,
your talents and skills go unsung.

You wipe tears from the eyes of the injured.
You rock babies brand new in your arms.
You encourage the shy and unsure child.
You make sure they are safe from all harm.

You foster the bonds of friendships,
letting no child go away mad.
You respect and you honor their emotions.
You give hugs to each child when they’re sad.

You have more impact than does a professor,
a child’s mind is molded by four;
so whatever you lay on the table
is whatever the child will explore.

Give each child the tools for adventure,
let them be artists and writers and more;
let them fly on the wind and dance on the stars
and build castles of sand on the shore.

It is true that you don’t make much money
and you don’t get a whole lot of praise,
but when one small child says, “I love you”,
you’re reminded of how this job pays.

How is my Preschooler Developing Physically?

Now that preschoolers have accomplished the skills of walking, running and jumping, they are ready for more physical feats.  Young children gain a great sense of confidence by being able to use their strength and power.

We help the children to gain more physical skills by:

• Supporting their healthy risk taking, such as climbing higher than before, rolling down hills, or carrying a pitcher of water.  Teachers stay close by to help them feel safe.
• Reminding children of safety rules and helping them to prevent disasters.  Teachers might say “clear a path for your race before you begin to run.”
• Playing movement games such as “Bluebird, Bluebird, Through My Window,” a marching parade, or the “Hokey Pokey.”
• Providing writing utensils, paint brushes, clay and play dough to allow children to build the muscles that control their fingers.
• Playing outdoors a lot.  Swings, slides, tunnels, tricycles, and climbers give children the chance to practice moving their feet alternately, climbing steps, pedaling, walking and running.

We do not play many competitive games at this age.  These games can damage self-confidence.  Losing often can stop preschoolers from wanting to try new things.  They are more interested in being a friend than being better than a friend.  As they reach school-age, many children become more interested in and better able to handle competitive sports.

Please feel free to share on the blog any ideas you have on encouraging physical development and activities others may be interested in.  We want to hear from you.

Baby/Toddlers – What are they learning from ART?

Creative people are often resourceful and thoughtful. If a baby feels safe and trusts her/his caregiver and the surroundings, they are more eager to explore and find out more.  Creativity is invaluable and should be encouraged in children.  A secure relationship with caregivers can provide a strong foundation for creativity.

There are a variety of art experience you can provide for children.  Babies have opportunities to use their senses to explore and create.  The process of squishing finger paint in their hands, tearing paper or scribbling with crayons is satisfying for babies and toddlers.  They are developing eye-hand coordination, and are making choices to change the way a drawing looks.  You can provide crayons, chalk, play dough and other materials for creativity and pre-writing skills.

At this age, children’s creations do not usually represent real objects unless we, as adults, label them so.  As they grow, children will attempt to create what they see in real life.  For now, they are simply enjoying the pleasure of creating and exploring the materials.

Teachers should use descriptive language as we discuss a child’s creations (“This painting has circular stokes:, “This color is bright!”)  By encouraging discussion about what has been made, we support children’s language development.  We focus on specific aspects (“How did you make this line so squiggly?”)  We strive to help them feel their work is respected and valued.  We often post the children’s creations for everyone to enjoy.

Teachers often encourage children to explore different art media. We might hang some sticky paper on the wall and have children enjoy sticking items to it to make collages. W e might have children paint with their bare feet.  These experiences let children explore real materials with their senses.  This is how babies and toddlers learn best.

More Science – Thirsty Plants

There are many activities you can conduct with children to emphasis science in your classroom.  Here is one of my favorites in which results are seen pretty quickly.

Supplies:

Celery

Glass of Water

Food Coloring

Have your children mix some food coloring in a glass of water.  (I suggest doing this with several glasses and colors.) Place a celery stalk in the water.  Watch what happens for a few days.  Does the celery stalk change over time?  You can have the children make predictions of what they think will happen before the experiment and later they can tell what actually happened.   This is also a great way to teach children how plants grow by drinking water.  It provides a great opportunity for conversations on the importance of children drinking water and staying hydrated during these hot summer days too.  

 

Better Brains for Babies – The Role of Music

When you hear a familiar song on the radio, how does it make you feel?  Often it brings fond memories, makes you smile or even can improve your mood.  It is funny how you can often remember every word of a song you learned when you were younger.

So does music have anything to do with early brain development?  Does it help children to be smarter?  What can you do to help nurture a child’s love of music?

The Role of Music

 

Sing a Song, Play a Musical Instrument, Make Music part of your Day!

 

 

Falling In Love….With Fruit & Veggies

Beets are red and blueberries are blue, please eat your fruit and veggies too! Imagine sitting at the dinner table and your kids are actually eating their veggies! What a great day that would be! It can be like pulling teeth to get your child to eat their vegetables which are very important to their growth and development. Let’s not forget about the sweet delicacy of fruit which are equally important. Fruit and veggies are good for the decreasing obesity, increasing their nutrition and their performance in schools. If you have a picky eater there are a few techniques that will help you sneak them in. Smoothies are a great way to pump your child with the nutrients of fruit and veggies and your child will never know that the drink is healthy. Some other techniques for adding more fruit and veggies into your child’s diet are:

• Leading by example– if your child sees you eating your fruit and veggies than they are more likely to eat them themselves
• Let your child help prepare the dish– if your child has an active role in the preparation of the dish than they will have a greater desire to eat their creation.
• Sneak in fruit and veggies into their favorite dishes– adding these items into their favorite foods will increase their probability of eating them such as with the smoothies listed above or maybe adding carrots to their favorite spice muffins.

Thanks for Having a Big Heart!

  

Thanks to all the child care providers and parents
that work with children each day to help them learn and grow.

Let’s Go Play!

Play is important for all ages of development.  So, what type of play is there?

Four Main Types of Play

• Active, physical – increases muscle strength and coordination.
• Manipulative, creative – good for practicing eye-hand coordination; gives opportunity to express ideas, use initiative, solve problems, and make decisions.
• Imitative, imaginative – encourages emotional expression; helps child understand others and himself; lets child practice different ways of behaving.
• Social – provides ways for learning about how to get along with others, fair play, sharing, and friendship.

Play is important during the preschool years. You may notice your child talking to a doll or favorite stuffed animal as though it were real.  Imaginary friends often appear now.  You may overhear very detailed conversations between your child and his imaginary friend.

This pretend play helps children deal with their emotions.  It helps develop emotional stability.  Children who play make-believe games can handle frustration better.  They are also less aggressive and get along better with others.

Parent can encourage imaginary play.  When your child wants to “feed” his teddy bear, play along and set a place at the table for his special friend.  Often, you will not need to actively participate in make-believe play, but avoid criticism.  Allow your child the freedom to create his own imaginary world for learning.

 

How Does Your Preschooler Grow?

3-year-olds

Children are individuals.  Each will grow and develop at different rates. So how do you work with this age group?  Here are some basic guidelines as you plan your work with 3-year-olds.  They will need your guidance and encouragement during this time.

3-year-olds will soon (or may already) be able to:

• Have a sense of past, present and future time.
• Recite numbers to five (but may be able to count only to two)
• Understand and accept simple explanations
• Enjoy a lot of dramatic play
• Show more independence

Physical activity now includes pedaling a tricycle, throwing and catching a ball and jumping.

Hand and fingers are more coordinated too.   Using a fork and spoon for eating, drawing squiggly lines and cutting with scissors are skills the 3-year-old is practicing.  Children are ready to learn concepts such as colors, numbers, counting and the alphabet.  They will also learn ideas like “over/under” and “in/out”.

Emotions for this age is intense.  Affection, joy, anger and frustration are often expressed loudly and very physically.  Throwing a block across the room when a tower falls is the way many 3-year-olds deal with frustration. They may tell you to leave them alone one minute and the next “I love you”.  It may be hard to answer questions all day long, but they will have hundreds throughout the day.  Where the 2-year-old asks “What is this?”  The 3-year-old will want to know “Why?”.  Don’t be surprised by questions like:

• Why are you doing that?
• Why is the ceiling high?
• Why do the clouds move?
• Why aren’t the clouds moving?
• How did you do that?
• What is this for?

Although you may get tired of answering so many questions, your answers help children learn.  If a child gets no answer, he may stop asking.  Answering questions encourages curiosity.  Try to give simple answers.  Avoid too many details.  If you haven’t given enough information, the 3-year-old will ask for more!  Try asking them what they think the answer is.  This age group can be so much fun.  Take the time to enjoy their journey of learning.

Watch out for the next blog which will talk about the importance of play.