Author: fuelingbrains_AdMEEn

Of course, as a parent, you want your child to eat healthily. The problem is, this is often easier said than done. If it’s a challenge for you to get your child to eat foods that are good for him or her, try a few of these tips.

Make a schedule

Children generally need to eat every three to four hours. It can be a great investment of time to plan meals and snacks in advance, but if you’re not able to do this, just try to keep a wide variety of healthy snack choices (such as pretzels, carrots, yogurt, and water) on hand and ready to grab so that you don’t have to fall back on fast food or junk food.

Plan dinners

Meal planning can seem intimidating if you’ve never done it before, but it’s worth the time. Start with just two or three days a week. Planning ahead ensures that you keep meals balanced: whole-grain bread, rice or pasta; a fruit or vegetable; and a source of protein like lean meat, cheese, or beans are good staples to choose from to create a balanced meal. Some meals, such as soups, chili, or sauces, can be made ahead of time and frozen so that they’re ready to go at any time.

Don’t become a short-order cook

It can be a challenge to make something that everyone in the family will eat. Instead of catering to everyone’s preferences, however, just provide a few options to serve family-style so that each person can pick and choose what they like. After a while, children will start to mimic their parents’ behavior and become accustomed to eating the same foods.

Bite your tongue

Try not to comment on what or how much your kids are eating. Trying to enforce eating habits (by saying things like “eat your vegetables”) will only create resistance.

Introduce new foods slowly

It might help to tell kids that their taste buds sometimes have to get used to a flavor before they’ll like the taste. A little hero worship can work, as well, such as saying that their favorite athlete or celebrity loves to eat his or her vegetables.

Dip it

If your kids refuse to eat vegetables, try serving them with condiments and dips on the side.

Make mornings count

Most people don’t manage to get their daily dose of fiber, so try to sneak it in during breakfast. High-fiber cereals are great, as well as whole-grain pancakes or waffles.

Sneak in soy

Even if you don’t have lactose-intolerance or dairy allergies in the family, soy milk is a great source of healthy phytochemicals. If you don’t enjoy the taste on its own, you can swap it out for milk in recipes.

Sprinkle some sugar

It might take some sweetening up to get kids to eat their fruits and vegetables, but at least they’ll be eating them. Eventually, they’ll outgrow this need for extra sweetness but still be in the habit of eating fruits and veggies.

Get kids involved

Being involved in choosing or preparing meals gives children ownership and creates more interest. Let them go grocery-shopping with you and help you make selections. If they’re old enough, let them help in the kitchen, too.

Cut back on junk

Remember that you control what foods enter your house. By not allowing junk foods to be available and instead providing more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and dairy products, you’ll force your kids to make healthier choices.

Allow treats

Be sure not to make unhealthy foods strictly forbidden – doing so makes them even more appealing. Allow these less healthy choices occasionally, such as a sugary cereal every so often, or a fast food meal once or twice a month.

Have fun

Being creative with a meal makes it more appealing. Play with your food and make smiley-face pancakes, and give foods silly names. Try making things in mini, too.

Be a role model

Set an example of healthy eating habits for your kids; you can’t expect to simply tell them to eat healthy while you’re snacking on a bag of chips. Kids learn their eating habits from adults.

Remember that it’s about balance – popcorn at the movies or an ice cream sundae are not completely off-limits, as long as they’re balanced with smart food choices and physical activity.

In the life of a three-year-old, every day is a great, new adventure. Like many of us, your little one might not be a fan of early rising, but chances are you get a warm, energetic greeting once the youngster is up and running.

Now as that daily adventure extends to preschool, your child may feel like a big fish in a little pond or vice versa. This can be taken literally, mentally or both. The toddler to preschool transition can be tricky.

But, with the right support and guidance from parents and the preschool staff, it is possible to set up a transition plan. Swing by the new preschool with your toddler and do some exploring at pick-up time. Let your child see all the kids, meet the teacher and the classroom. Talk about all the friends your child will meet, and the interesting things set up in the classroom. This is the time to encourage lots of open discussions. Communication is key to a more seamless transition.

Be sure you are ready as a family when the big day arrives.

Your young child may still be apprehensive and upset no matter how well you think you have prepared. So, be ready for a possible meltdown or simply not the best day. Change is difficult for everybody, regardless of age. But, long conversations and planning to help make the transition better. It may take a few days, a week or more for your child to feel comfortable in the new environment. Rest assured, your child will settle in and it will feel like the youngster has been going to preschool for years.

Preparation is key, and it is an essential part of the preschool transition. But try not to get caught up in the chaos. This is a major move for the entire family. Be kind to yourself as you process the change. At the end of the first week, it might do you well to enjoy a glass of wine, or skip the cooking and grab some takeout.

As a new parent, preparing to put your child in daycare for the first time you are probably dealing with a lot of feelings. You want only the best for your family, and you expect the same from your child care provider. Finding the ideal environment for your young ones was a painstaking task, and now you should trust your instincts. There are many things you will learn along the way. To make the transition more seamless, it may be helpful to put yourself in the caregiver’s shoes. Here is a list of things that child care providers wish they could share with new parents:

• • Your Daycare Provider Has a Life

Service hours are typically from 7 a.m. — 6 p.m., with some pre-arranged exceptions. This doesn’t mean you can drop off your child at 6:30 a.m., scram, and think it is okay. On the flipside, daycare workers have families and lives to get to as well; it isn’t fair to make them wait with your child beyond operating hours. Some parents make this a habit.

• • If Your Child is Sick, Keep Him or Her at Home

Read through all the paperwork that is given to you by the daycare provider and follow all sick policy instructions. You wouldn’t want another child giving your kid an infection or a sickness, so be a team player and look out for all.

• • If You’re Home Sick, Consider Keeping Your Child Home

If you are sick, it is highly likely your child has already been exposed to whatever you are fighting. This is especially trying if it is something highly contagious. Consider keeping your child home and having him or her tested for the condition to avoid contaminating the whole daycare facility. Otherwise, you may end up taking a few extra days off.

• • Bring Diapers for Your Child

Always pack diapers with your child’s stash. When the supply runs low, replenish it. It costs other parents when your child runs out diapers and the provider have no choice but to take from another’s supply.

• • Be Accessible

Parents must always be accessible in case of emergency. If you have a change of plans and skip work for the day, your daycare provider needs to know. Never turn off your mobile phone when your child is not with you.

• • Announce Absences

Give your provider notice if you won’t be dropping off your child on a given day. Don’t wait until the last minute or neglect to call at all. The number of kids cared for affects how much food will be served, how many assistants are needed, and which activities will take place on that day.

• • No Junk Food in the Morning

Please don’t drop off your kids with sugary snacks or chips in the morning. It isn’t good for them, and it is not fair to the other children. There probably isn’t enough to share, and if there is, most of the other kids are probably not allowed to have cookies or cake in the morning.

Lately, three major trends have been spreading across early childcare education, worldwide. These practices are rising in popularity and visibility in preschools, daycare centers, and others early learning providers.

• Professionalization

Currently, more researchers, parents, regulators and the public have a better understanding of the importance of quality education in the early years. Childcare providers are working diligently to achieve much higher standards than ever. A preschool is no longer just a safe place for parents to leave their kids, so they can work. Daycare is now a stimulating environment focused on progressive early learning. Therefore, the demand for qualified teachers is much greater and the requirements for positions as an early learning educator are increasing. This means a push for higher salaries is also in the works.

• Emergent Curriculums

A move toward emergent curriculum has grown in popularity as well. Several countries are straying away from testing, assessments, and teaching prescribed lesson plans. Instead, they are putting the focus on taking cues from students and what interests them and forming a more individualized curriculum. This type of learning has been proven to have better outcomes developmentally in young children. Emergent curriculums are more fluid but must be created and enforced by highly skilled teachers who can put this type of learning into action. The demand for emergent curriculums goes hand in hand with the trend toward early learning professionalization.

• Innovation & Technology

In recent years more, innovation and modern technology have hit early childhood education classrooms. Parents, educators, regulators, and advocates are now embracing these tools and recognize technological advances as essential in the learning environment. However, much effort has been made in making updating the classroom more affordable and accessible. For instance, electronic tablets are a useful tool for kids to easily explore early learning apps and other software.

Summer is the perfect time to get your child ready for the next step into kindergarten. Whether they’re coming from a daycare program or simply time at home with you, it can be a big transition. Here are a few things you can do at home over the summer to help them get ready.

Be Chatty

You can help build your child’s vocabulary simply by interacting with them. Trips to the grocery store or the park, or walks around the neighborhood are excellent opportunities to talk with your child, exposing them to new words. The more words your child knows, the better they’ll do academically.

Letting them have experiences such as going to the zoo, visiting the farmers market, or taking a trip to the beach are also vocabulary-building opportunities that build children’s background knowledge.

Read

Research has shown that reading is incredibly important and beneficial to a child’s development. Build a love of reading by letting your child see you enjoy the activity. Also, be sure to read aloud to them regularly to develop basic skills such as how to hold a book and left to right reading. Kids also learn how to make predictions by wondering what will happen next and build their vocabulary.

Practice Independent Tasks

It can be a big shock to your child if he or she goes from always having Mom or Dad there to help take care of themselves. If they haven’t established these skills yet, take time over the summer to let them practice:

• Going to the bathroom (including unbuttoning and fastening pants)
• Dressing
• Eating lunch
• Following two-step directions

Summer is also a good time to practice being away from parents, so that separation anxiety is minimized. Your child should also be taught his or her full name and phone number.

Do Dress Rehearsals

Teach your child what to expect in kindergarten. Tour the school and talk about what happens in a school day. You can also have play dates and play “kindergarten” at home to get them acclimated to that environment. The most important thing to keep in mind is to be enthusiastic about the coming school year.

Play and Learn

Children learn through play. They build their vocabulary, develop problem-solving skills, and learn social skills by playing with others. Your child will need to know how to share, take turns, listen, and work with others to be successful in kindergarten. Playtime is the perfect opportunity for them to learn about feelings and acceptable behavior.

Practice Facts and Figures

Of course, your child will learn things such as how to do math and how to read and write in school, but you can prepare them by teaching basic skills at home. It’s helpful if they go into school knowing things such as how to count to ten, recognize written numbers, as well as basic shapes, colors, and sorting. Knowing the alphabet, how to write his or her own name, and at least some letter sounds can also give them a boost in their school year.

Focus on Big and Small Movements

Children will need to develop both their fine and gross motor skills, which takes intention and repetition. Cutting and drawing lines (squiggly and straight) help build fine motor skills while actions such as hopping, jumping, running, kicking, and catching develop gross motor skills, improving your child’s balance and coordination.

Remember the Importance of Sleep

Five-year-olds need 11 to 12 hours of sleep a day to be ready to learn, so about a month before school starts, put your child on a schedule that syncs up with the school schedule, with the appropriate sleep and wake-up times. This will make things easier for all involved when fall comes.

When having children, parents are faced with many different decisions to make throughout their lives. Child care is one of the more important decisions parents make in the development and growth of their children. In today’s blog post we will discuss the top benefits of enrolling your baby in an infant care center.

It Helps to Develop your Baby’s Linguistic Skills

Many infant care centers have designed curriculums and programs to keep your baby entertained throughout the day. These programs not only keep your children stimulated, but they also help your baby in their linguistic skills as well. Storytelling and storybook readings are common ways to develop the baby’s language skills. Exposing them to different words and making them more familiar with the sounds of language, they will be able to recognize words and speak at an earlier age.

Music Lessons Help to Boost Your Baby’s Cognitive Skills

Music is also a great way to boost your baby’s cognitive skills as it can help them to calm an agitated baby and even stimulate their developing brains. The toys in infant care centers are often specifically chosen to produce sounds such as rattling, in order to introduce your children to the different sounds of the world. In these cases a baby’s task to recognize patterns of activity and prediction is an important cognitive skill that triggers a pointed part of their brain to develop, and music is the easiest way to achieve this.

Interactions with Others at Infant Care Centers

Of course, being around other babies and children in care centers are a great way for your children to begin developing their social skills. Interacting with peers and children that are older or younger allows your child to develop at a faster rate.

Give us at Kids U in Calgary, AL a call to learn about our child care options. We would love to answer any questions or concerns you may have and are ready to help you and making one of the most important decisions of your child’s development.

Creativity is an important aspect of a child’s life that they will carry on into adulthood. Creativity can be nourished and developed during daycare hours. It is a skill that fosters problem-solving abilities. As a daycare owner, you want the parents to understand that you know exactly how important creativity is.

Scratch the Curriculum

Maybe you have made your own, or you have a premade curriculum. Sometimes that works just fine, but know when to scratch the curriculum and set off in a different direction. After some time, you will get to know your students better. You will know what works and what doesn’t with which kids.

It can be helpful to schedule free days or free times where children can do projects that express themselves creatively. Parents love seeing projects that their kids came up with on their own.

Boost Creativity in Your Daycare with Activity Days

Activity days can boost the mood as well as creativity. For example, schedule a picnic or some other activity once a month for every class, even if it’s just at the daycare center. Other more complex activities could include a scavenger hunt, which will get the kids to think outside of the box while they are looking for hidden items.

Playing and Participation

Playing, participating, and sharing is very important at this age. If you encourage your kids to share toys, why not also help them to share responsibilities. Perhaps a pet is too big of a responsibility for one young child, but if a whole classroom chips in, it can be a big learning experience.

Let Kids Take the Reigns

Each of your classes is a small community of its own, so why not let some of its members offer what he or she has to the rest of the community. Young children have obsessions from month to month, so sometimes it can be helpful to their self-esteem to let them showcase what they are interested in every now and then!

Home daycare can be given bad press, with reports of children being unsafe, eating unhealthily, or doing nothing but watching television all day. The truth is, there are many home daycare providers who care deeply about the well-being of the children they care for, are aware of the role they play in those children’s development, and take their responsibilities very seriously. Here are some things that you might not know about home daycare providers.

Families form tight bonds with providers.

Because preschool programs and large daycare centers have a larger number of children in attendance and a greater turnover rate in the staff, it’s difficult to develop meaningful relationships with not just the children, but with their families. Home daycare providers, on the other hand, have more meaningful and regular interactions and communications with children and their parents. They are more readily available for support and advice for parents and can work more closely with them to create the behavioral, social, and educational goals that each child needs. Consistency is incredibly important for young children, so having another relationship that makes them feel safe and secure is beneficial for their development.

A daycare provider’s day doesn’t end when the children leave.

The moment that the last child leaves a daycare provider’s home does not signal the end of their day. Rather, it’s the start of a clean-up period for that provider, wiping down toys and equipment, cleaning up leftover messes, scrubbing down the bathroom, and possibly doing dishes and laundry. They also will have to plan and prepare activities, plan meals, and tackle the record-keeping. This is why many providers have strict late pick-up policies – they need all the time they can get to prepare for the next day and still allow time to spend with their own families.

Smaller group size and multiple ages encourage learning.

A smaller group size means that each child in home daycare is able to receive more attention from the provider than in a larger group. Receiving more individualized care helps to foster a child’s social and emotional growth. Because home daycares usually accept a range of ages, children have the opportunity to interact with others who may be younger or older than they are. These mixed-age groups give children the opportunity to learn from each other. Another advantage to these mixed groups is less competitive behavior between children and less pressure to achieve because all the children are at various learning levels.

Not every provider will be a good fit.

Parents may hold a misconception that, just because they’ve decided to go with a home daycare, everything will automatically go smoothly and fall into place for their child. This is, unfortunately, not the case. There can be a situation where the child fits in perfectly with the daycare group and gets along well with the provider, but the parents have different views on how their child should be cared for. Conversely, the parents and provider could have a fantastic relationship, but the child simply is not able to adjust to the group, no matter how hard anyone tries. To maximize the chances that everything will fit together, parents should do their homework – research a variety of daycare providers and ask thorough questions.

Kids U realizes choosing the right daycare center for your family is a vital decision to give your child the very best of care. Before making your decision, check out some tips to help ensure you are making the very best choice for your child and you. Read on for a few tips to help you choose the right daycare center for your family.

• Do Your Research. Do research prior to visiting a new daycare center. Learn about different centers and offered programs in your area. You can choose a program you may want your child to excel in. This also allows you to read different reviews from parents and learn of complaints they may have.
• Visiting the Center. After choosing a daycare center to visit, it is important to learn how the staff interact with the children there. It is recommended to have one adult per every three babies under the age of 24 months. If the center you visit has less staff, then this is a sign to find a different daycare center for your family.
• Ask for a Commitment. Stability is important in a child’s life. Ask the daycare center how long the current staff has been working there and what the rate of replacement typically is.
• Look at the Policies. Keeping your parenting styles similar to the center is important for your child and family. Ask the center their policies on matters such as food, media, discipline, sleeping, and play time. Don’t be afraid to ask them questions that will help you to decide on the perfect center for your family.
• Don’t Be Afraid to Speak Up. If there is something you don’t agree with at a particular center, then don’t be afraid to speak up and be heard.

Child’s play is about much more than entertainment, playing is learning. It serves a pivotal role in both physical and psychological development. When it comes time to prepare your youngster for primary school, families can incorporate fun games to aid in the transition. Check out the following pastime activities to help get your child kindergarten ready.

• Kid’s Card Games: Tried and true classics like Go Fish or Memory help kids develop hand and eye skills and gain motor control.
• Legos & Blocks: Building and creating with blocks and Legos strengthen hand muscles and helps children learn colors and letters.
• Read Stories: Those early story times set the foundation for beginning reading. Read to your child and allow the little one to tell you a tale or two, even if he or she cannot yet read. Ask your child to a specific question about the story.
• Sing Nursery Rhymes: This activity helps kids make predictions about the story. It also helps them develop writing skills. They grasp an understanding of words with like sounds and similar letter. Besides, rhyming is just fun!
• Play-Dough: Make homemade dough or putty and build an assortment of animals to create your own zoo. Play-dough is a great tool for strengthening little hand muscles. It helps develop the gripping skills needed to hold and operate a writing utensil.
• Build a Parkour: Build a training course, climb stairs, go through hoops, balance on a beam. By achieving these tasks your child will build equilibrium and positive self-esteem.
• Draw Me… A Penguin: Let your child select the drawing tool and create on any surface. This can involve anything, including a sponge and a wall, or chalk and a sidewalk. The higher the canvas the tougher the workout when those upper arm muscles must get the job done.
• Bake Cookies or Cook a Pie with them: It takes motor skills to mix ingredients together and open containers. Baking also encourages independent thinking and teaches lessons on chemistry and division.
• Dress Up: Put together a costume gala to encourage kids to put together outfits, dress themselves and encourage independence.
• Puzzles: Matching and grouping develop both problem-solving and foundational number skills.
• Play Dice and Counters: These games develop reasoning and numeracy skills, it also helps young children to learn patients while waiting for their turn.
• Ball Games: Sports play is great for developing hand-eye coordination and gross motricity skills. It is important the kid understand, they don’t have to win every game. They must learn to roll with the punches and be resilient.

If parents use casual teaching methods your child will pick up important skills without even knowing there was a lesson being taught. Play-based learning is fun and will help give kids the tools they need to transition to primary school.