It’s About You! October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

This blog is focused on early childhood education, yet I know the topic that I am writing about today  is very important to all providers and parents.  Taking care of yourself, enables you to be here to take care of others.  October we generally think of fall, cooler weather and Halloween; however it is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  It is a reminder to all of us to get checked for breast cancer.  The topic of breast cancer is not always comfortable, as well as, the procedure to get them checked, but it can save your life.  Actually a mammogram takes only a few minutes of your time and is really not that bad.  Yes, I have had a few! Early detection plays a major role in fighting and surviving the disease.  So wear some pink, set up an appointment for a mammogram, and share this information with your parents, family and friends.  It just might save someone’s life!

Did you know?

• Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States (other than skin cancer).
• About 1 in 8 U.S. women (about 12%) will develop breast cancer at some point.
• Breast cancer is not just a disease affecting women.  A man’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000.
• Besides skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed caner among American women.
• In women under 45, breast cancer is more common in African-American women than white women.  Overall, African-American women are more likely to die of breast cancer.  For Asian, Hispanic, and Native-American women the risk of developing and dying from breast cancer is lower.
• Approximately 85% of breast cancers occur in women who have no family history of breast cancer.
• The good news is many women can survive breast cancer if it’s found and treated early.

For more information and valuable resources visit:

UGA Cooperative Extenison – Making the Right Choices to Reduce Cancer Risk

Click to access FDNS-E-93a.pdf

American Cancer Society

http://www.cancer.org

National Institutes of Health – National Cancer Institute

https://www.cancer.gov/

Food Safety After a Hurricane

The hurricane is over and now it is time to clean up.  Food safety should be top of mind especially if you are working with small children.  Here are some tips from UGA Extension to help you know what to do in regard to your food and keeping it safe.  I am really not happy about wasting food, but with my power out for four days and no ice available in our areas, then discarding food became a priority. Of course, I carefully reviewed all the food safety guidelines, prepared and saved what I could, but most was discarded.  It was a learning experience for me and thought I would share in case you find yourself in a similar situation.

If you did not go through a hurricane or storm recently, this is great information to help prepare you for any future disasters.  It is always best to be prepared and “If in doubt, throw it out.”

Click on this site to learn more about being prepared both before and after a disaster.

be_prepared_georgia

Preschoolers – Learning to Get Along with Others

The social skills children learn today will will be used throughout their life.  Making and keeping friends is an important challenge for preschoolers.  As providers and parents we play an important role in encouraging and teaching children how to get along with others.

Typically, preschoolers prefer to play with other children, rather than alone.  You can encourage cooperative play by allowing children lots of chances to choose playmates and decide how they will play.  It is more fun to play doctor if you have a patient.  With the teacher’s help, they have to figure out how to find everyone a turn and a fair share.

When conflicts come up, we encourage children to come up with solutions.  You might say, “Hmm, there is only one green crayon and tow children who want to use it.  What can we do?”  Let them help in making decisions as problem solving will an important skill they learn while young.

Try to engage children in cooperative games more than competitive ones.  They are much too young to worry about winning and losing, so play games in which everyone contributes.

We encourage children to identify the feelings of others by pointing out how they have hurt another child and how they might fix things to make them better.  A teacher might say, “Katie said she’s very angry.  Remember when Darius broke your toy? What do you think you can do to help Katie rebuild the tower you knocked over?”  Helping children learn empathy gives them the opportunity to right the wrong.

There are many ways you can encourage children to help others.  They might make cards for a sick teacher or child, take water to the workers outside, or help with a task.  It is important for children to experience how good it feels to just be a friend!

 

A Special Thanks To Teachers

September is National Food Safety Edcuation Month

For the past twenty years, September as been recognized as National Food Safety Education Month.  The theme for this year is “Notorious Virus”.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),  Norovirus is the leading cause of foodborne illnesses, with about 20 million people getting sick each year.  The most common source for norovirus is ready-to-eat foods and shellfish from contaminated water.  Once a person is sick it is easily spread to others.

Of course, the best way to prevent the spread of norovirus is simply washing your hands correctly. Other tips include:  avoid bare-hand contact; purchase food from approved suppliers; encourage employees to stay home when sick; clean up spills properly; and clena and sanitize food-contact surfaces.  Handwashing is the number one way to prevent infectious disease so from the children in your care, to the providers and food handlers this is something to put great emphasis on.

To learn more about Food Safety Education or to find activities for children visit:

https://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/features-month/september/national-food-safety-education-month

 

Labor Day Activities for Children

Did you know the first Labor Day was celebrated in New York City?  10,000 workers took an unpaid holiday to march in the first Labor Day parade. The holiday was founded when many in America worked 16 hour days in harsh work environments.  It was considered a day to recognize the challenges and the rights of workers.  The first Labor Day was really a rally for the adoption of eight hour work days and other suitable work conditions.

Labor Day the last big holiday of the summer months and first holiday of Sept.  It is a special day to honor people who work.  Labor Day is a time to pay tribute to the workers who have made America what it is today.  Since work is children’s play how can you help them learn about this holiday?

There are various sites that can provide some great activities to help children learn about Labor Day.  I decided to include one link for your review and hope you will be able to use some of the activities with your children.  These are geared toward preschool, but may be modified to work with other ages too.

Celebration Station – Preschool

Labor Day Art

• Thank You Cards
• Community Helper Mural
• Worker Collage
• Classroom Worker Badges

Labor Day Games

• Hats off to Workers
• Tool Match Up
• Dramatic Play
• Movement Fun
• Guess the Worker

Labor Day Language

• Alphabet Jobs
• Thank You Notes
• Occupation Books

Labor Day Social Studies

• Community Field Trips
• Worker Visits
• About the Holiday

Labor Day Snacks

• Workers Lunches
• Snacktime Helper

Labor Day Songs & Rhymes

• Occupation Rap
• Oh, The Workers Go to Work
• When I ‘m Grown Up
• Workers on Parade

http://www.preschoolexpress.com/celebration-station09/labor-day.shtml

(C) Jean Warren http://www.preschoolexpress.com

 

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.

Science and Learning

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.  

 

Science Activities – Grass Seed Starters

The quickest and easiest sees to grow are grass or alfalfa.  They tend to grow almost anywhere as long as they are watered regularly and receive sunlight.  Here are some ideas for unusual planters.

Potato

Slice the top and bottom from a baking potato.  Scoop out the top, fill with moistened cotton balls, and sprinkle seeds.

Paper Cup

Fill a paper cup with potting soil and decorate it to resemble a face.  Sprinkle the soil with seeds and moisten it with water.  You children will enjoy watching the planter sprout hair.

Sponge

Soak a sponge in water, then sprinkle on seeds.  Moisten the sponge when dry, and soon it will be teeming with life.  Variation:  Try making sponge planters in different shapes.  Cooking cutters make excellent stencils for cutting sponges.

For more creative ideas visit the following websites:

http://sciencenetlinks.com/lessons/look-at-those-seeds-grow/

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments/seedgermination.html