Kids U will be introducing a Half Day program for ages 3 and up to its McKnight, Braeside, Strathmore and Walden locations, effective from Tuesday, September 1st, 2015.
Aimed to accommodate the numerous requests we have received from families who cannot do full school days, this program will allow children to benefit from the educational curriculum Kids U has to offer. Though time spent in the classroom will be shorter, the program will still include the entirety of the Kids U’s full Right Brain, Left Brain and Movement curriculums.
Families can choose from the morning session (8:30am – 11:30am) or the afternoon session (12:00pm – 3:00pm).
In order to ensure children receive the same quality of education, the Half Day program will run five days a week (the Kids U curriculum requires a minimum 12-15 hours per week in the classroom for full educational benefits).
Food will not be provided; please pack appropriate snacks for your child.
Note: Subsidy will be accepted for this part-time program.
For more information, questions or concerns, please contact info@kidsu.ca
As a parent, there are no days off. Although it feels like a job that lacks gratitude at times, it can get easier when you have some essential parenting skills. Here are some top tips we have gathered from parents that swear it makes a difference.
Control the Only Thing You Can – Your Response
In the heat of the moment, emotions often rule your response. The truth is that when you are giving out a consequence, it should not be about how badly your child is going to be punished and more so about your consistency while punishing them. This is the time when you should always be steady, predictable and measured. Your response is the one thing you should always control and this will always benefit your parenting skills.
Walk Away
Often, the best response is to simply walk away. Parents often become frustrated because of power struggles. The best way to deal with this is to set a limit and then walk away. Walking away means not engaging in a power struggle. The message your child gets from this is that you are no longer reinforcing negative behaviour. When both of you take some time to cool down, you may have a better chance at a calm conversation that will prove to be more productive and effective.
One Issue at a Time
Parents are often dealing with several behavioural issues at a time – you may have arguing, chores, school performance and tantrums all at once. Most parents try to tackle all of these things in one go, which may in turn overwhelm kids even more and fail to get each necessary message across to your child. Slow down and focus on one thing at a time and the lessons will more likely get across to your child. This will help them become more grounded and have a clear idea about the expectations and limits set.
Role Model
This is probably the best way to instil good behaviour – by being a good role model. Kids watch what we do more than we think they do and they listen to how we speak too. Modelling the right behaviour will give them the right tools and opportunities to mimic this behaviour as they grow older.
The first of three new centres of the ever-expanding Kids U Calgary will open its doors on Monday, June 15th.
Kids U Braeside, our first centre to open in the southwest quadrant of the city, offers preschool and care, registering children 19 months to 6 years. With a licensed capacity for up to 60 children, the Braeside location will be the institution’s “lab” school, specializing in the teaching of Kids U’s unique Left Brain and Right Brain curriculums.
“Our Braeside centre will be the hub for Kids U’s research and brain-based curriculums, and the space is built distinctively to teach our toddlers and preschoolers through our programs and prepared environments,” says the school’s executive director Anil Karim.
Additionally, Kids U will be establishing their corporate offices at the Braeside centre, to accommodate its rapidly growing staff.
It is difficult to know how you can reassure toddlers of their safety as you see them exhibit fears from time to time. Here are some ways you can help your toddler deal with his fears and insecurities.
The Dark
Just like an adult, a child feels that he can’t see what’s out there when it is dark and he feels unprotected and in turn becomes afraid. This is a very common fear of the unknown. Try to teach your child how he can turn on the lights in the house and perhaps add a night light in his room. If they have control over the amount of light they have in their room, their dependence on it will gradually decrease. A great idea submitted by a parent is to take your child out for a walk at night and point out all the interesting things you can see in the dark.
Monsters
Just like adults are often afraid of ghosts lurking around, children are afraid of monsters that can hurt them. There is no use telling your toddler that monsters don’t exist because it is a very real thing in his or her mind. Their imaginations can conjure up monsters in the form of clouds, shadows and dark corners. Take their concerns seriously and tell them that you are going to prevent monsters from visiting. Check under your child’s bed and in closets and after ensuring that there are no monsters anywhere, hand them a spray bottle with perfumed water (you are not going to reveal that) and explain that by spraying this around the room, monsters will not be able to enter. Sometime you need to get on the same level of your child to get through to them.
Separations
With separations, your child has the constant fear of what if mummy does not come back. It is very normal for pre-schoolers to become anxious when parents or primary caregivers leave. The key to making it a happier one if to have a healthy good-bye routine. Always stick to the same brief good-bye routine whenever you leave your child at a preschool or another trusted person. Making good-byes too long only adds to your child’s anxiety. The most important thing to note here is never to sneak away when your child is not looking. This will only make them more anxious the next time and trust you less. Always tell your child that that mummy will be back.
Try adding one of these superfoods to your child’s meal every day and you will be adding a wide range of health benefits to their bodies. Habits that are formed at an early age usually last a lifetime; forming good food habits at a young age ensures a better understanding of health and what qualifies as acceptable as food intake over time.
1. Avocado
This is the only fruit that has good fats that lower the bad cholesterol, which are guilty of harming the heart. Avocados are also a great source of fiber, preventing constipation in your child. There is also a large amount of vitamin E in avocados, which has been known to prevent cancer. Mashed avocados with some lime juice are perfect for dipping crackers and vegetables and make a perfect spread for tacos or quesadillas.
2. Blueberries
Blueberries are packed with minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. They are also known to sharpen memory, lower cholesterol and fight cancer. For very young children, make a puree of blueberries and add to any dish. As they get older, encourage them to eat a handful daily. Tip: they taste great on pancakes.
3. Oats
This super grain prevents blood sugar crashes and spikes, can keep you full for a longer period and can help get rid of bad cholesterol. Use the old fashion rolled oats as they have more fiber and energy packed in them. Start kids young on an oatmeal breakfast and you will never regret this habit. Cook oats in milk and top it up with blueberries. Another way is to soak them in milk and fruit overnight, leave it in the fridge and have this creamy goodness for breakfast.
4. Spinach
We all know from the days of Popeye the Sailor Man that spinach is full of iron, calcium, vitamins A and C and folic acid – the perfect recipe for growing brains and bones. Spinach can be added to many recipes – soups, quesadillas, pasta and sandwiches. Use it whole or pureed.
5. Yoghurt
Packed with calcium, protein and probiotics, yoghurt helps to build strong bones and teeth. The probiotics in yoghurt helps in digestions and fights the bad bacteria in the gut. Make your own yoghurt or buy it, add fruit to it for sweetness and kids will love it.
Including these foods in your own diet will also help in making your kids want to eat it.
They say that carrying your little baby endlessly will spoil them. Carrying them will actually strengthen your communication, love and bond. There are other things you can do as your baby grows into a toddler to avoid spoiling them. Once certain habits are encouraged, there are higher chances of having a well-mannered child in the house.
1. Setting limits
There is a very big difference between the following sentences:
“Oh okay, you can have a candy.”
“You can have that one candy, but that’s it. Don’t ask for a second one please.”
The first one gives plenty of hope that asking for a second one may work. The second sentence sets limits.
Set simple limits like this from a young age and you will save yourself from endless arguments and negotiations later. Try your very best (and it is really tough at times) never to give in to begging because once you do give in to it, you have just taught your child that begging works and you will want to scold yourself in the candy aisle at the supermarket.
2. Make a case
Teach your child to make a case for something that he wants. If he wants to play with his game console, get him to explain to you that he will put his other toys away first and have his lunch. This may make you want to say yes.
3. Chores first
You will be doing yourself a big favour with this one. If you don’t want to spend the rest of your days cleaning up after the kids, follow the simple rule that chores get done before fun. Toddlers are perfectly capable of putting away their toys and cleaning up small messes. They will probably volunteer happily at this stage too. Form the habit at a young age.
4. Don’t be afraid of disappointing
If you give in to every demand of your child, you will never give them the tools and skills of coping with emotional stress. If they always get what they want, how will they ever learn to cope with the pain of denial? Children need to hear the word ‘no’ often enough to understand and accept disappointment and learn to cope with the emotional pain of not getting something.
5. Work for it!
Experts agree that the one thing that will spoil kids is things coming too easy. It is easy for anyone to take things for granted if they have not worked for it. Set up a reward chart for young kids so they can earn points for good behaviour and exchange the points for things that they want.
Parenting is a full-time job, it’s no wonder it doesn’t come with an instruction manual. The on-the-job training for parenthood can literally last a lifetime. One thing all parents share in common is wanting the best for their kids, but they can and do end up making some mistakes in the process. These mistakes can affect a child’s growth and development and therefore, it’s important for parents to be aware of these potential mistakes they can unintentionally make.
Doing Too Much
Almost every parent does this just to make life easier for their kids. Parents end up overdoing things that could be more beneficial to their child if they learned to do them on their own. This includes fulfilling all their demands, coming up with instant solutions for every problem, and doing things on the children’s behalf. This will make a child overly dependent and can deter their inner confidence from developing. Children must learn responsibilities from an early age to combat dependency. Parents should step back often and let kids do things on their own.
Not Listening
Parents are often in the habit of waving off a child’s fears and concerns. Parents should put themselves in their children’s shoes from time to time and really listen to what they’re saying. If they don’t listen to their children, they will never be able to connect with them emotionally. Spending some quality time listening to a child’s thoughts and ideas does a lot in terms of understanding and connecting with the child.
Communication
Communication is the key for any successful relationship. When a parent and child communicate in a healthy way, the child will trust the parent and will feel more inclined to communicating even more. The child will also be able to share details about his or her life freely without inhibitions at any age.
Setting Limits
Limits are important for children and adults. To better govern a child’s behaviour, limit are compulsory as they grow up. Limits are not negatives. In fact, limits and behaviour guidelines encourage healthy and secure growth and development. If a parent is too lenient with their child it promotes lack of boundaries and discipline is necessary for a child to learn important life lessons. However, if a parent is too strict this could result in lack of responsiveness and respect from the child, later developing into a negative relationship if it continues. A strong easy medium between two concepts is generally the greatest ingredient to any parent-child relationship.
When a child is ready to move out of their crib or family bed into their own toddler bed, there is a lot of excitement as the bed is picked out and as the room is done up. At the same time, there are sometimes feelings of anxiety and fear as the toddler is now going to sleep on his own. The family may face situations where the toddler appears at the parents’ bedside a dozen times during the night and become inconsolably cranky the next day because of the lack of sleep.
This transition phase is a big one for any child as they are now expected to go to bed and go to sleep on their own. There are some ways parents can make this transition an easier one, here are some tips!
It is important to first ensure that the toddler has a regular bedtime routine. This is crucial to ensure that the whole process of sleeping in their own bed works out.
Before parents start the process of buying a new bed or talking to their child about sleeping on their own, it is a good idea to point out other children of the same age in their circle of friends who are sleeping in ‘big kid’ beds. Another way to introduce the idea is through books. Your Own Big Bed by Rita Bergstein is a great book for this.
It may seem like a good idea to make this transition when the family is moving to a new house, but little people may not be able to handle so many changes at once. This change should also not happen when the little people are going through toilet training or any other major change in their lives.
The child should be a big part of the whole process of the new bed. From picking it, to helping the adult to assemble it, this helps with the sense of identity.
Parents should introduce a music routine for bedtime. This calming music will help the child feel a sense of familiarity and help them go to sleep on their own. It is best to start this music routine at least a month before moving to the toddler bed.
When children have begun to sleep in their beds, parents should lots of words of encouragement and positive reinforcement for them to know what a good job they have done.
Parents should remember that moving a child to a new bed is a big deal for them, give the little ones a lot of understanding and love and patience and they will get there.
As parents, we all know how stressful it is to run out of diapers, especially when you’ve got one (or several) uncomfortable and upset babies on your hands! But imagine what it’s like to constantly be short on such an infant essential. It may sound like a nightmare, but it is a reality for some families in Calgary. One in five Calgarian moms struggle to provide their babies with clean diapers.
Here at Kids U, we strongly feel that no child should want for any necessity, and we have partnered with the Calgary Food Bank to do a diaper drive to contribute to this cause. From April 1st to May 31st, our McKnight location will be accepting new or opened clean diapers to donate to the Bare Bottoms Diaper Drive. You can find the donation bin at the front entrance, or give your donations to our program coordinator Miss Katie.
Community helpers is February’s theme at Kids U McKnight. By introducing the importance of various trades and occupations and the impact they have on their community, we are instilling in our children a sense of civic duty at an early age. We have aligned several guest speakers (thanks to our wonderful parent volunteers!), ranging from electricians to nurses to health inspectors to chiropractors!. Not only will these presentations be jam-packed with interesting information for the children, but they get to hear about all of the awesome things that their classmates’ parents do for a living!
Additionally, we will be teaching the children about Chinese New Year’s, as it approaches on February 19th. Through arts and crafts and unique activities, they will learn all about the cultural diversity of the Chinese community that is such a huge part of our city.
February is not just the month of love (although we will definitely be celebrating Valentine’s Day in style as well!), but it is a month in which the children at Kids U will be broadening their knowledge of community and culture!
