Author: fuelingbrains_AdMEEn

It takes a village to raise a child. Teaching children through their formative years are as much a job for the teacher as the parents. Thus, there is a need for a mutually beneficial relationship between parents and teachers. A better understanding of parents’ needs will play a key role here.

Parents take great pride in their job.

Though challenging, most parents find child-raising a source of great joy!

Parents need and want information and support.

A majority of parents are willing to improve their parenting skill but do not have the required resources. Teachers should assist in times of stress and provide appropriate support for parents.

It is important to make connections with parents and other caregivers as well.

Parents and caregivers are increasingly becoming more involved in their children’s lives and education, but most do not know where to get credible information. Teachers should work together with all family members in children’s educational activities.

Parents have a difficult time finding resources they can trust.

parents often seek expert guidance and do not trust unverified sources. Teachers are in the position to link parents with relevant science-backed resources like NAEYC’s For Families area. Online resources are a great favorite with parents and they often search for blogs and articles by experts.

What do parents want to know?

Parents want to stay up-to-date on current child development research. They also want to learn about developmental milestones, so they know age-appropriate activities, behaviors, and attitudes. Most importantly, they want to learn to be more patient with their children and to discipline them more effectively.

Teachers should create an environment of trust by communicating better with parents. They should support parents with relevant resources they need. Finally, they should involve parents in school activities whenever possible.

For some reason, it’s a challenge for most parents to get their children to brush their teeth. To make that daily routine a little easier, and hopefully improve your child’s oral health, here are a few tips on how to teach your kids healthy oral hygiene habits.

Make it Fun

Is it even possible to make tooth brushing fun? It all depends on your attitude! Take the whole family on a trip to the store so that each member can pick out their own special toothbrush and toothpaste. (Be sure to look for products that have the ADA Seal of Acceptance so you can be sure that you’re getting quality care.)

For younger children, it could help if you play a song about brushing teeth while they are brushing. You can search for a fun one on YouTube. Additionally, take younger kids to the bookstore or library to pick out a book about the importance of brushing teeth.

Finally, make brushing a game! How? By using sticker charts, your kids can earn incentives for brushing their teeth a certain number of times. That not only gets the job done but turns what may have been a chore into something positive.

Create a Routine

This will vary depending on the family and the child, but creating a routine for bedtime (which is helpful in general for reducing the hustle and bustle of getting your child to bed) gives your child an idea of what to expect. So once dinnertime and playtime is over, they’ll know that they have to brush their teeth before they get that story before bedtime, and they won’t try to get away from it.

Start Young

Getting your children used to brushing at a young age makes it easier for them to keep up with it as they get older. A great time to enforce the habit of brushing twice a day is as soon as they are able to brush, but even better would be when they’re even younger, and you’re “brushing” for them by wiping their gums.

Use Challenges

This works well when you have more than one child. Using the incentive/sticker charts, put a little competitive spirit into the routine of brushing teeth to see who can keep up with the habit the best and reach the goal first. Eventually, it should turn from being a game to being a part of their daily routine that they don’t even have to think about.

As spring blooms and the winter frost thaws, children start itching to get outside. It’s important to find the right activities for every individual child, as some activities just don’t work for every kid. Some kids love reading, and others love fishing, but no two kids are alike!

We want to share with you three of our favorite activities that kids love and that you might want to give a try with your own children!

Plan to Plant Spring Flowers

Springtime is the perfect time to start planning for planting some beautiful Spring flowers. No matter how old your children are, there is a good chance that they will love getting their hands dirty to plant something. From preschool to well into high school, kids of all ages love the feeling of changing the landscape into something a little more beautiful. The hard work involved leaves them feeling happy and accomplished

Enjoy Nature Activities

We know this may seem a little vague, but there are so many things that you can do with kids outdoors that they love. Hiking on a trail that matches a difficulty level appropriate for your child can be a lot of fun. Even if they get a little tired, sitting down for lunch in nature after a short hike endows them with a sense of accomplishment as well as gets them a breath of fresh air.

Fishing and camping are also an option for some more adventurous kids. Most of the time you can find a camping spot that isn’t too far away from home but that your kids will still love!

Share Your Music

As your kids get older, they start to develop a real taste for music. Spring break offers a good time for you to share your taste of music with them that you have developed over the years as well as a chance for your kids to show you what they are interested in. This builds a relationship and trust between children and parents that can also be done while doing another activity like camping!

When it comes to holidays, buying a bunch of stuff from the store can be expensive and quite frankly, a waste of money. Your children will have more fun with arts and crafts and it can save you money! Searching for some easy Valentine’s Day crafts for kids? We hope you enjoy these amazing ideas we’ve gathered for you.

Melted Crayon Hearts

Everyone knows if you have children you probably have LOTS of broken crayons around the house. Even if you don’t crayons are quite inexpensive and new ones can be used. These melted crayon hearts are easy to make and quite affordable. Although these are hearts for Valentine’s Day, you could ideally make any shape you want if you have the mold.

Learn how to make melted crayon hearts valentines.

Pom Pom Monsters

Does your child love arts and crafts and monsters? Then these pom pom monsters might just be the best Valentine’s Day idea! Not only are these little monsters absolutely adorable, they are pretty cheap and easy to make!

Learn how to make pom pom monsters.

Recycled Seed Paper Valentines

What is better than flowers on Valentine’s Day? Flowers you can plant! This idea is a great way to get rid of old papers even newspapers. Although these can be made for just about any occasion, we think they are perfect for Valentine’s Day.

Learn how to make recycled seed paper valentines.

Valentine’s Slime

If you have children, you have probably heard about the “slime” craze. If not, slime is a fun little craft and science project you and your children can enjoy. Best of all, you can add whatever you want. From glitter, to little tiny hearts!

Learn how to make Valentine’s slime.

Thinking of trying out one of our easy Valentine’s Day crafts for kids? Let us know how it goes!

Preschool-years children are at a prime stage in their lives for cognitive development. One way that teachers can help foster this development is through reading children’s books out loud to the class. Children’s books can help with cognitive development in a myriad of ways. Here are just a few things you can do to use reading as a tool to further development.

Reasoning and Problem Solving

As problems are introduced in a children’s book, you can use it as an opportunity to guide children through the reasoning and problem-solving process. You can do this by asking questions to the class about the plot of the book and what they would do to work through the problems the characters face. This encourages them to think through a hypothetical situation to arrive at a conclusion.

Symbolic Play

Books are a great way to encourage make-believe. Have students act out scenes from the book using everyday classroom objects as props – for example, a tissue box could become a treasure chest. This stimulates the imagination and fosters creativity.

Metacognitive Knowledge

Metacognitive knowledge is when you think about your own thinking. You can encourage this in preschoolers by asking them to think about the book after it’s over – for example, to remember plot elements or a lesson they learned.

Memory

It’s easy to play a memory game that’s based on the book to encourage both short- and long-term memory. Give students an easy quiz after the book is over to remember what it was about. At the end of the week, look back on the books you read as a class and ask students to remember what happened in each.

Social Cognition

Children can learn a lot about social understanding from books. Focus on books that show interactions between characters and discuss these interactions with the class. What interactions are positive, and what interactions cause negative outcomes such as hurt feelings? Students will learn to emulate the positive interactions.

Reading is an important aspect of children’s growth. By reading to children who are too young to read on their own, you can encourage cognitive development and critical thinking skills that they will carry with them for life.

When it comes to cooking, allowing your children to help can be quite scary. Will they get hurt? How big of a mess will they make? Will we waste food? While all of these concerns are valid, there are some simple steps you can take to make cooking with kids more fun and less stressful. Wondering how? Follow these helpful tips from Kids U in Calgary:

• Mash potatoes. Making some mash potatoes? Let your child handle the potato masher, they’ll have a blast, and you can handle the more important stuff.

• Garlic preparation. Need some garlic for your recipe? Kids will absolutely love helping you peel the garlic!

• Spice it up. Shaking the salt shaker or adding some spices can be an easy task for children that will let them feel involved in the cooking process. Make sure you help them measure, however!

• Sort the beans. When cooking green beans, it is important to look them over and remove any that are damaged, let your child handle this task. It will make them feel important while you focus on the harder parts of the meal.

• Toss some salad. Tearing greens, breaking off florets and mixing a salad are all easy tasks your child can help with. Best of all, research has shown that children are more likely to eat meals they help prepare.

• Blend a smoothie. Having your child help fill up the blender can be a great task they can help with. Best of all, the mess is contained within the blender, so let them blend away!

• Make kabobs. With supervision, preparing kabobs can be a lot of fun for kids. You can also practice patterns while making kabobs, just let your child know which order to place everything in!

• Whisk away. Does your recipe need to be stirred or whisked? Let your child help! While you focus on other parts of the meal they can help with the more redundant tasks.

• Rinse it. Need your fruits, vegetables or beans rinsed? Let your child handle that part. To make sure you don’t lose any product, try using a strainer for rinsing!

Wanting to train your kids in the kitchen? We hope these helpful tips from Kids U help!

The holidays are filled with fun and activities. We have some crafting tips for kids which will keep them indoors and happily engaged on a cold, snowy day. The following is just one example of many crafts that can be used as gifts, ornaments, or just for the fun and games.

Popsicle Stick Snowflake Craft

This fun craft activity is simple and requires a few supplies to make. When finished, it can be used as a Children’s Christmas Tree Ornament. All you will need are popsicle sticks (3-4), glue, glitter, and a piece of string.

Take a popsicle stick and drop a dab of glue in the center. Then layer the sticks on top of each other to get a snowflake’s shape. Any number of sticks can be used to get your desired shape. Evenly spread glue on all the popsicle sticks. Sprinkle glitter of different colors onto the wet glue. Shake off excess glitter and allow to dry. Glue a piece of string on the back of your glitter snowflake so you can hang them up!

This crafting activity can engender the spirit of the holiday season and keep the kids engaged while they await the big festivities.

At this unpredictable and cold time of year, there are always those inclement days when the kids are cooped up in the house. This is the season to break out the creative ideas and enjoy some fun family cozy time. The following list of indoor games and activities will delight and entertain young children with just a few inexpensive supplies.

Family-Room Picnic

Think outside of the box and indulge the kids in lunch away from the table. Start with any old basket; it doesn’t have to be a traditional woven picnic container. Fill it with foods your family would eat outdoors, such as juice boxes, string cheese, packets of raisins, and paper products. Allow the youngsters to pack items they like, themselves. While they are busy assembling lunch, make some sandwiches and lay down a blanket in the living room. Then, dip into your family room picnic and enjoy your time together.

Marshmallow Tinker Toys

Who needs Legos or expensive building toys? If you have a package of thin pretzel sticks and a supply of marshmallows you have all you need to construct the perfect 3-D building, teepee, or puffy action figure.

Photo Bingo

Do some memory drills while teaching your child about members of the family. Arrange nine family photos, placed face down in rows of three. Have available nine checker pieces, playing cards or some other markers that serve as bingo chips. Call out given names or “grandma,” “cousin,” or “mommy,” and the little one will cover the photo with a chip. The winner correctly identifies three in a row.

Sugar Cookie Pizza

This is a fun and simple project. Start with a roll of refrigerated cookie dough. Slice thick dough pieces and place on a cookie sheet. Flatten the pieces slightly and bake for 10 minutes. Decorate your sugar cookie pizzas with red icing or fruit jam as the sauce, use shredded coconut to look like cheese, and place red candy-coated chocolates as pepperoni.

Signature Storytelling

Pick a favorite book and start reading to your child. Once you reach a critical point in the story, ask your child to take over and create a new twist. Ask how he or she would handle a given situation. What would your child do instead of what the character did?

Sensory Table

Fill a set of bowls with different textured objects, like cold, cooked pasta, steel wool scouring pads, peeled grapes, or dried beans. Have the child wear a blindfold and sift his or hands through the items and describe the experience and guess what is being felt.

Barbie Beach Party

Assemble a few Barbie dolls dressed in beachwear, add a few wash clothes as towels and baby lotion as makeshift sunscreen. Use a large plastic storage container as a yacht and head to the bathroom for some tub side fun.

Movie Time

Sooner or later, even the most creative parents resort to movie time in front of the tube. Keep a good stash of family-friendly DVDs hidden away only for those days when outdoor play is possible. Watching the same old flicks that are available anytime, can be extra boring when entertainment options are limited.

The thing to remember about teaching good manners to toddlers is that they are learning new important habits that will last a lifetime. But, like with any set behavior, these practices won’t be engrained overnight. Expect kids to have frequent setbacks throughout the learning process, so don’t give in to discouragement. Adopting good habits comes with lots of repetition, reinforcement, and practice.

There are a few points of basic etiquette that all children should put into practice, regardless of age:

Good Manners All Toddlers Should Learn

Teach toddlers the difference between positive behavior and bad habits early. By 18 months of age, kids have a growing awareness of how other people behave. Therefore, this is prime time to set good examples for your inquisitive toddler to mimic.

• Polite Hellos and Farewells: Even before your toddler learns how to communicate verbally, you can encourage your child to always greet people with a wave and use the same friendly gesture as a goodbye.
• Remain Seated While Eating: Anytime your child wants a snack or consumes a meal, be sure to have the toddler sit down in a chair. Have them remain seated until the toddler has finished eating.
• Enforce Gestures of Appreciation: Teach good manners by encouraging your toddler to develop the habit of saying please and thank you.

Good Manners for Preschoolers

The preschool age is the best time for learning new, lasting habits. To instill good manners into your young child, present the important skills as something that big kids do.

• Standard Table Manners: It takes some time to develop good table manners, and be prepared to do a lot of reminding. By preschool age, your child should be eating with the proper utensil, chewing with his or her mouth closed, and using a napkin.
• Polite Vocabulary: Your preschooler can now focus on polite phrases that are a bit more complex, such as “excuse me” and “may I please have a cookie?”

Good Manners for Kindergarten Students

At this age, kids are proud of their good manners and like to show off their skills. But they still need to be reminded from time to time and need constant encouragement.

• Making Eye Contact: Adults expect a kindergartener to make eye contact when they talk to them. To help kids at this age instill the habit, try to make a game out of recognizing the color of a person’s eyes when your child is spoken to or speaks to someone.
• No Interrupting: Kindergarten students are old enough to wait patiently for their turn. When a child does interrupt when someone is talking, remind the kindergartener that unless there is an emergency, that rude behavior is unacceptable. Always acknowledge a child’s good behavior with a nod of approval or a warm smile.
• No Mumbling: Not speaking clearly is a bad habit that can be a hard one to break, even for adults. Kindly remind your child that you cannot understand what he or she is saying, and politely ask the child to repeat the sentence more carefully.

While it may seem hard at times, always remember that learning good habits begins at home. Parents who teach good manners from the start will instill important life skills.

The holidays are the perfect time of year for families to come together and celebrate. As the years have gone by, we have seen more and more kids with their noses buried in phones and tablets, and it seems so opposite of what the holiday spirit is about. For the first time, families are starting to have a no electronics holiday gathering focused on holiday crafts for kids. To keep the little ones entertained, here are some fun activities for kids that will be better than a tablet (we hope!)

Snowflakes

Anyone can make a snowflake from white construction paper… even adults! It really helps get everyone in the holiday spirit and allows everyone to show their creativity.

Make an Ornament

One of the most classic indoor activities for kids during the holidays is to design their own ornament. For an ornament creation station, purchase a few dozen solid colored decorative ornaments of a variety of colors to decorate. Use markers to add designs, puffy paints to add fun textures, glitter to make them shimmer and little holiday decorations like bells, ribbons and pine needles. There are so many fun options that some kids may want to decorate more than one!

Snow Sculptures

If it is snowing outside, have the kids make sculptures similar to snow men but using more creativity. Provide some pipe cleaners, food coloring and buttons to let the kids really have fun with it. It’s a great winter activity for children!

Holiday Cookie Decorating

Create a bunch of sugar cookies using different cookie cutters and set up a spot with icing, sprinkles and other cute decorations to let each child be creative.

There are so many fun and easy holiday crafts to try out! We hope that everybody enjoys themselves so much that they won’t even think about their digital devices.