Author: fuelingbrains_AdMEEn

Cultivating this passion early on creates a foundation for lifelong curiosity and growth. Thankfully, you don’t need a fancy curriculum or expensive resources to spark this interest at home. Whether you’re following the best home school program or simply encouraging learning, here are a few simple ways to nurture a love for learning in the comfort of your own family space.

1. Make Learning Fun and Playful

Children learn best through play, so incorporate educational activities into their daily routine in a fun way. Whether it’s building with blocks, exploring nature, or playing a game, these moments can be filled with discovery. Parents looking for additional learning opportunities beyond a daycare near me can try to be playful with language and problem-solving—asking open-ended questions and encouraging imaginative thinking.

2. Follow Their Interests

Children are naturally curious, and when we pay attention to what excites them, we can build on those interests. If your child loves dinosaurs, read books about them, watch documentaries, or take a trip to a museum. Connecting learning to their passions makes it feel less like a lesson and more like an adventure. If they attend a preschool near me, you can extend classroom learning by engaging in related activities at home.

3. Create a Learning-Friendly Environment

Surround your child with materials that invite exploration—books, art supplies, puzzles, and sensory items. A clutter-free and inviting space helps children feel inspired to explore, create, and ask questions. Whether they’re at home or in a preschool Calgary, an organized learning space encourages curiosity and engagement.

4. Be a Lifelong Learner Yourself

Children model behavior, so when they see you reading, experimenting, and asking questions, they’ll be inspired to do the same. Show them that learning doesn’t stop at school—it’s something you do every day. Parents involved in a best home school program can reinforce this by sharing their own curiosities and discoveries with their children.

5. Celebrate Mistakes as Learning Opportunities

Let your child know that mistakes are a natural part of the learning process. When they stumble, help them see it as a step toward growth, not a failure. This mindset encourages them to keep trying, explore new ideas, and develop resilience. Whether they are in a daycare near me or learning at home, understanding that mistakes are part of progress builds confidence.

By creating a positive, supportive, and curious environment, you can help your child develop a lifelong love of learning that will stay with them far beyond their early years—whether they are in a preschool Calgary or continuing their education at home.

With chilly weather comes more layers; and with more layers comes more drama from our Little Ones! Getting your child dressed can be a challenging job so here are some tips and tricks to maintain your and your child’s “cool” this winter season!

• Pre-teach – Before you even think about pulling out that marshmallow snowsuit, consider how much your child understands about why they need to wear these clothes. Teach them about hot and cold, the seasons, and weather. Learning happens when the child is calm and engaged, not when they are thrashing about, trying to avoid a hat being placed on their head.
• Use tools to help – Take pictures of every article of winter gear your child may use to go outside. Print them and place them in order of dressing; from left to right, or top to bottom, on a larger piece of construction paper. Now you have a visual aid to show your child the steps of getting dressed. Having a tool like this promotes independence and alleviates anxiety in children as they know what is coming next.
• Make it fun – Offer them choices (ex. do you want the red mittens or the green mittens today?). Arrange a scavenger hunt and hide all of their winter clothes throughout the house for them to find, or make it a race to see if they can get their coat on faster than you can. Everything can be a fun interactive game if you really want it to be. The more fun a child is having, the more learning will be happening. Always remember that children learn through play!
• Celebrate the wins – If your little one cannot stand wearing a hat, but today allowed you to put their hood up – celebrate that win! Progress can be slow, so we take the wins where we see them. Be patient and persistent . You’ve got this!
• Promote independence – Minimize your repetition of instructions, and try your best not to phrase your directions as questions. Keep it simple and tell your child what they need to do. Allow your child to attempt the task and remind them you are there to help if they need it. Step in to support before your child escalates to the point of being upset. We want to push their boundaries with challenging tasks, not defeat them by expecting too much from them.

With these tips and tricks in your back pocket, you can now work towards a calmer dressing routine to get outside and explore our Canadian winter wonderland.

Written by Melissa Sawatzky, Behavioural Coach at Kids U

When we think about outdoor play, many just picture children running around screaming, playing on slides and swings getting gross motor exercise to burn off all of that extra energy. But in reality, there are so many more benefits to outdoor play, and it is an important part of the Kids U philosophy to work those benefits into the daily lives of our students.

An outdoor play space should be seen as another classroom, in order to provide whole brain development for young children. And like all of our classrooms at Kids U, a natural environment is a must.

By using natural play spaces instead of the standard cookie cutter plastic or metal play equipment that you see in most playgrounds, children are able to engage in imagination and cooperation with their environment as well as with each other. Children learn how to respect nature while learning and engaging in open-ended play.

Luckily for parents, a natural outdoor play space is easy to recreate at home for the continuity of learning – all you need is Mother Nature!

When setting up a natural play space for children, it is important to envision how the children will use each area. By doing so, you are enticing children to explore, experiment and build.

• Tree stumps can be positioned in a circular seating pattern to encourage communication by storytelling or performance.
• Tree stumps, boulders or logs can be used for jumping and balancing.
• Pea gravel, wood blocks and other loose materials can be used to create art projects and construction ideas.
• Garden boxes can be used for planting flowers and vegetables, teaching children about food, nutrition and caring for living things.
• Mud kitchens with materials that the children might see everyday at home.
• Mud kitchens are so much fun and encourage children to interact with one another while using imagination to create their own scenarios for play.
• Creating sensory paths with different materials for the children to feel and explore. Sensory paths can be made with sections of grass, sand, rocks, water, mud…anything that gives a different feeling on their feet!

We hope that these ideas have sparked your own imagination on how you might be able to create a natural play space for you and your child in your own backyard!

Find out more about Fueling Brains natural outdoor play spaces at www.fuelingbrains.ca/

Written by Melissa Hackett, Senior Manager of Licensing and Compliance, Kids U Inc.

Teaching children to read is one activity that requires the best of efforts. Reading and writing are survival skills in our world today. As a parent, your kid must acquire literacy skills at the best daycare near you. At our preschool in t2k 6j5, we employ a variety of children-oriented learning materials to teach preschoolers reading. Let’s see what these are.

Children learn reading in preschool via interactive activities, learning games, reading activities, writing applications, and repetition/reinforcement activities. All these fall under the basic components of any preschool reading program. They include:

Foundational Literacy Skills

Before children start to learn reading actively, some activities encourage passive knowledge acquisition. An interactive storybook session falls into this category. There are several classic children’s storytelling books for this purpose. Children also need to be exposed to a variety of picture books, fiction, poetry, and non-fiction books for a broader vocabulary. Seasonal books and holiday stories also help them learn.

Game sessions help children identify the letters of the alphabet, words, sounds, and syllables. Not only that, they reinforce those already learned. This repetitive nature is essential for retention. These games include flashcards, sight word puzzles and rhymes, and many others.

Read-Aloud

Reading aloud is a method of learning that teaches children how to recognize words and letters, how to pronounce them, and how they fit into sentences. It also fosters registration and aids the easy recall of vocabulary already learned.

Repetition

It’s not unusual to see children recite stories from memory. This is because they have done repeated readings of a single story so many times that it sticks for a very long time. A storybook can be read in slightly different ways to help children understand the story. Simple questions are asked and this further cements the knowledge of the children.

Alphabet Knowledge

Children need to learn the alphabet to be able to distinguish them from one another, including the upper and lower cases. They also need to associate each alphabet with the sounds they make. In time, they will progress to learning words and recognizing the sounds attached to the words.

Print Awareness

Children must learn how to use books. They need to understand how words run from left to right and top to bottom. Tracing the words as they read them aids this.

How Can I Help My Child Read?

As parents, we play an important role in the development of our child’s communication skills. Most children spend more time at home than in school. Hence, the learning process should not end in the classroom. As a parent, what can you do?

Read With Your Child

Just like in preschool, reading to your child at home gets them familiar with sounds, words, and the language at large. It also excites their imagination and teaches them important things about the way the world works. You can always draw moral lessons from children’s stories to teach to your child. Most importantly, reading with your child is a great time to bond.

So what’s the right way to go about this? First, make the right choice of books. Children love short stories with funny characters. They also prefer books with vivid and colorful illustrations. A variety of children reading books offer these qualities so you can make your pick. Before reading starts, you may ask your child what they think the story is about, who they think is in it and what will happen to them.

When you read, do it slowly and steadily. It’s important to trace out the words with your fingers and say every word out loud for them to hear. Change your voice and expression for each character too. They always love that! In time, your child should also learn to trace the words with their fingers as they read with you. Let your child turn the pages of the book. As you read, ask questions about the story and what they think will happen next. Do not forget to explain difficult words to them in simple terms.

Always remember to point out differences between words and letters, upper and lower cases as well as punctuation marks. You can also try to play a ‘find the letter or word’ game with them.

One last tip- talk to your child’s instructor. They may have some useful information for you on how to help your child read better!

Childhood might seem a carefree phase for most adults. In reality, the children suffer too. Commitments, conflicts in the family, peer pressure, pressure from studies, performance anxiety before examinations are significant stressors. There is different daycare in T2K 6J5 to take care of the stress factors of your children.

Childhood Stress

With time the children learn coping up with stress. Even the slightest reason for anxiety for an adult can be a significant issue for children and might cause severe effects. An overwhelmed feeling of emotions that cannot be coped up is stress. Mostly metal, the stress might arise from minute factors for children and often might require professional assistance. The most common stressors for children are:

School

Although school can be a happy place, many children come under immense pressure to perform well in school. The studies imparted at school and the homework can be an impending task for them. Additionally, lapses in the studies can lead to stress.

Examinations

Examinations can put even teenagers and adults under stress. The fear of failure or under-performance is the major factor leading to stress, anxiety, and depression.

Peer Pressure

All children are not equally social and might not be equally popular among friends. Making friends can be difficult for many and might not fit in the lot. They might feel uncomfortable, and this would lead to stress.

World Events

Disturbing news or natural calamities, war, or terrorist atrocities can affect child psychology adversely. The children might worry about their safety and the safety of their family, which would lead to stress.

Bullying

According to a recent study, more than a million children are subjected to bullying every year. As a parent, it is essential to identify the factors of bullies that your child might experience. The common symptoms of experiencing bullying can be becoming nervous, reducing school performance, and bringing up lame excuses to avoid going to school. Regular eating or sleeping habits can also be impacted.

Family Issues

From moving to a new neighborhood to separated parents, family issues can be a major stressor. It can be challenging for the child to cope with such significant stressors and might need professional assistance.

Tips to Help Your Child Manage Stress

Parents are busy these days. But it is not only crucial by equally essential to spend quality time with your children. The parents should arrange ample time for their children to involve in fun activities to relieve the stress. Parents should also be interested in their day-to-day activities and be cautious to learn about the issues faced in school or personal life. Symptoms of anxiety can be common among children and adolescents. Some tips to overcome stress are:

Encouraging Healthy Lifestyle

Getting the right amount of sleep can make your child more resilient to stress. You can keep a check on the hours of sleep of your child and give them five portions of a variety of fruits and vegetables every day. A balanced diet can boost their mood and reduce their stress level.

Keep Them Active

Physical activities can be an excellent way to manage stress. Plenty of exercise, outdoor games, or even relaxation techniques as deep breathing reduces stress levels. Activities induce the release of the feel-good hormone dopamine that reduces stress drastically.

Stop Overscheduling

Overscheduling can be a major stress factor. A child can expect some game time after 6 or 7 hours at school. Instead of finishing the homework soon after coming home from school, it can alter their mindset. Kids need time to rejuvenate, and overscheduling can make them stressed.

A Calm Morning

Waking up to a disorganized home can be s stress-trigger for some children. The morning sets the tone for the day, and you may make mornings calm with an organized home to reduce your child’s stress.

Seeking Professional Care

Parental stress can affect the child, and the family acts as the child’s stress buffer. If the parents cannot cope with anxiety, you might opt for daycare near you for stress management of your child. Professional care by Kids U is beneficial to help your child manage stress factors.

At Kids U we offer stress management for different age groups from infants to teenagers. We offer complete exercise of the brain and have ample space for group sports and basic movement skills. You may book an appointment and experience the difference.

One of the things that everyone can agree on is how much life has changed ever since the pandemic began in late 2019. Now, we can see that everyone’s affected, including our little ones. One thing that has kept most parents up at night is how to care for their little ones during these uncertain times. For this reason, our daycare in Calgary is open to help all the parents out there to care for their little ones in a safe environment.

Trying to juggle work and caring for your child in this time can be a daunting task since you could be wondering if your baby would be safe. That’s why our childcare in Calgary is determined to ensure that your kid stays safe and gets to enjoy life even in these tough times.

So, if you are a parent or a guardian seeking some insights on how to care for your kid amid the pandemic, continue reading.

Options for Child Care During the Pandemic

For years, parents across the world have relied on schools and after-school programs to help keep their kids safe during the day. However, many schools are closed, and virtual schooling is the new norm.

While some parents may have the privilege of working from home, others have to leave their homes to bring home the bacon. Here are some options that are not new but can help during this season:

• Day Cares, Preschools, and Child Care Centers

If you are a working parent and have a young kid, our daycare in Calgary and other preschools are excellent places that provide child care. If you are considering bringing your child to our childcare in Calgary, here are some protocols that we have in place:

• Adequate staff to child ratio to ensure safety
• Staff wear masks when feasible
• Pick-up and drop-off procedures are modified to ensure your child’s safety
• Proper social distancing
• Constant screening of staff and children for signs of infection upon arrival
• Revamped cleaning and sanitization procedures

With these guidelines, you can have peace of mind knowing that they are physically safe.

• Nannies

If you can hire nannies who have some educational background, it would be an advantage for you. Also, if you can afford a live-in, even better for you since they can help provide additional support. This can help so that you can be at ease knowing that your child is in good hands when you are at work.

However, if you choose to go down this road, remember to ensure that your nanny is healthy and maintains the COVID-19 safety guidelines. Also, since it is challenging telling a younger child to wear a mask in the house is challenging, it would be better to instruct the nanny to engage in more outdoor activities.

• Family Members

You cannot overlook the help that your family can offer. It can be a great source of care, especially if you have some members of your extended family who are near you who can help take care of your little one. However, be careful that each one who comes to your home maintains the set COVID-19 guidelines.

Extra Tips on How to Care for Their Emotional Needs?

You might have ticked all the boxes when it comes to keeping your child physically safe. However, do not forget that the pandemic has also affected the emotional well-being of these growing minds. Therefore, you may also need to equip yourself with the right information to help your kid thrive during this trying time.

• Expect Reactions to Vary

Children will respond differently to stressful events. Depending on your child’s age, you can expect some to be clingy or irritable, while others can demand extra attention and even refuse to eat. Try to be calm, show empathy, and be patient with them.

• Ensure A Sensitive Caregiver Caters to Them

After traumatic events, kids need the reassurance that all will be well from a sensitive and responsive caregiver. These will help protect them from the harmful effects of the pandemic.

• Allow Them to Interact

Remember, social distancing does not insinuate that they cannot interact with other kids. So, being creative during such times can go a long way in keeping them in touch with other kids. That is why bringing your child to our daycare in Calgary can be a huge plus.

The points mentioned above are some nuggets of wisdom that you can apply during this pandemic. However, if you need more information, you can contact us at Kids U, and we would be glad to help.