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Daycare has a lot of benefits for young children, especially if they are also a preschool. Through spending time at a daycare, children learn how to be apart from their parents, and learn how to get along with their peers.

There are so many studies linking the benefits of a good preschool to success in children, but finding a good fit for your child is just as important as attending. If you’re in the search for a new daycare, here’s a few questions you should ask at your tour.

What is Your Sick Child Policy?

Every child will experience an illness at some point in their life. It’s important to know what to expect when this happens. Details you may want to find out include what symptoms are considered sick.

Are only children with no symptoms allowed to attend? Are children with fever restricted, but a cough and runny nose still fine? Will you still have to pay for a day even if a child can’t attend?

Do you teach social and emotional learning?

In the past, academics was the only focus in school. New studies have shown that social and emotional learning are just as import as academics though. Good social skills help children learn how to properly interact with their peers and make them more likely to ask for help from the teacher when needed.

Strong emotional skills help kids gain control over their emotions and handle stressful events better. If your daycare offers social and emotional learning, it’s a great thing.

Do you administer medication?

If your child ever needs antibiotics or other medications, it’s important to find out if the daycare will be willing to give that medication to the child while they are at daycare. You’ll also want to learn about any rules or restrictions they may have on medication.

Are children supervised at all times?

This may seem like a silly question to ask—you’re paying for someone to supervise your child while you can’t after all—but it’s still something you want to clarify.

What does the schedule look like?

If naptime is at 1PM on the dot at daycare, but it’s earlier or later at your house, the change in schedule can be disruptive for your child. Asking about the schedule can help you match your home schedule so your child is comfortable in both environments.

While there are no wrong questions to ask your potential daycare, these questions are all great ones that will give you a better understanding of the daycare you are looking at. You may never need your child to receive medications or to benefit from a sick day, but knowing the policies of the daycare can help you be better prepared in case something does happen.

What ever choice you make, do tour a daycare before signing your child up for it. It’s so important to meet the teachers and see the environment for yourself before leaving your child there.

Look back in your memory. If you went to a public school or a daycare, chances are you have a fun memory of playing a supervised game with all of your friends. Maybe the teacher brought out a big, colorful parachute and the colors danced as everyone spun and spun.

Beautiful memories like these are part of growing up, but those games were more than just entertainment for young children. Group games have many benefits for children. Here are just a few.

Group Games Teach Cooperation

Learning to work together is a life skill children will use every day, all their lives. You need to know how to work as a team for almost every single job. Sports, theater, music, and so many other aspects of our daily life require a certain degree of cooperation.

Group games help give young children who don’t have a lot of experience with teamwork a chance to experience it in a fun and engaging way.

By learning that it takes all the kids to spin that parachute, or that the smallest child can make a difference in a match of tug-o-war.

Group Games Encourage Kids to Interact

Children are not born knowing right from wrong. Until they’ve said something mean to another child and seen them cry, they may not realize that their words have consequences. Until they’ve encouraged another kid and seen them go on to succeed, they may not realize how powerful encouragement can be.

Group games give kids the chance to practice their social skills, and to see what happens when they are nice and when they are not as well.

Children with good social skills often do better in school and as adults, because they have learned how to behave properly in different social situations.

Teaches Focus

Group games often require the ability to stay in the moment, and the ability to pay attention to those around you. The ability to focus on a game, your team mates, and the teacher is a powerful tool kids will carry with them their whole lives.

We have all benefited from the ability to focus at one time or another—and suffered when we couldn’t focus. Learning to focus early in life can be of great benefit to children.

Provides Exercise

Finally, movement is as important to children as the ability to sit still. Children need a chance to move, wiggle, run and get their energy out before they can focus on sit-down work. A group game can be a great way to help kids continue to learn while giving their bodies that chance to exercise as well.

 

Group games are fantastic teaching tools. Whether it’s a game of dodge ball, duck duck goose, or spinning that parachute, kids are learning how to interact with each other, pay attention, and stay focused.

If your child is part of a preschool or daycare, find out if they offer group games occasionally. Those group games could have huge benefit to your child.

One of the delightful things about young children is that they are always reaching for and achieving new milestones. When you’re new to the world, everything is an adventure! Whether it’s taking your first steps, or the first time you can open the car door by yourself, these milestones are important to both kids and parents.

If you are the proud parent of a preschooler, here are some of the amazing milestones you can look forward to as your child learns and grows. Preschool age is considered 3-5, so depending on where your child is in that age range, they may have already reached some of these milestones.

Conversation Specialists

Learning a new language is hard. Your child has spent their life hearing language and learning to speak their first words. At 3, your child is now ready for more in-depth conversation. Children at three years old can not only answer simple questions, but they can have exchanges with you, asking and answering something in the same conversation more than once.

As they learn and grow, these conversations will keep on growing and advancing.

Imagination Exploration

At four years old, your child can imagine what it’s like to be someone or something else. Play might involve pretending to be a dog, a favorite character in a movie, or a favorite career like a fireman. At four years old they may also be able to name some colors and answer simple questions about the world around them.

Four year olds are also getting a better grasp of the world around them in other ways. They may be able to ask if they can play with a favorite friend, even if that friend isn’t in front of them. When around another child who is obviously sad or hurt, they may make an effort to comfort them. This might include offering comforting words, or a favorite toy they think will make the other child feel better.

Ready to Learn

At 5 years old, many children are crossing over into Kindergarten. They are ready and able to learn many things about the world around them, and may have already started. Children this age can often count to 10, and may know some letters and letter sounds as well.

They are now able to play games that follow rules, such as hopscotch, and just as they’re ready for the rules of the game, their ready to hop on one foot too.

 

Young children grow and develop very quickly. They are always learning, always growing. As parents, it’s exciting to see them achieve something new, and with their speed of growth, those exciting new developments can happen almost every day!

Preschool can be a wonderful place for them to develop those new skills, with other kids to learn from and a teacher to guide them. Children in preschool tend to perform better both in school and as an adult, and that may be from all these opportunities to grow, learn, and reach those milestones.

There is a common theme among loving and caring parents: They want the best for their children. Everything from the snacks provided to their kids, to the toys and books, to the time spent with them, is all aimed at helping them turn into successful young adults. Good nutrition, educational toys, and reading to your child are all vital to giving your child the best start in life, but there’s one more thing you can do to help them be successful. You can enroll them in some form of early childhood education. There are many studies out there showing that children who have gone to preschool or other early education programs end up more successful than those who don’t. According to a 2017 study, birth to age 5 are a critical time for learning in children, and can establish study and behavioral skills that will last their whole life. Another study confirmed this, with higher high school graduation rates, and fewer needs for special education in children who had early childhood education. So what does early education do for young children?

• Better Behavior Kids who have been to preschool learn how to manage their emotions better. They have more chances to interact with teachers and their peers than children who grew up without early education. They have more opportunities to practice good behavior, and a better emotional intelligence by the time they reach kindergarten than those who don’t. Learning how to interact with others beyond a parent or sibling relationship is important. The ability to be with other children who are learning and growing in the same way can be of great benefit to young children.
• Better Learning Skills Children who have been through preschool know what to expect in a learning environment. They’re familiar with classroom procedures, have the elements of reading, writing and math down, and are prepared to learn new things. This not only makes transitioning into Kindergarten easier for them, it frees up their focus for learning new skills, instead of simply getting used to the idea of learning.
• High Earners Kids who have gone through preschool are more likely to have a higher wage than kids that don’t, as a working adult. In a study conducted on preschool and prosperity, kids who went to preschool made on average 25% more than those who didn’t. Those aren’t the only people who benefited. Their parents did too. Children of parents who sent their kids to preschool were able to earn more too.

There are many benefits to sending kids to preschool. It’s a critical time for learning and having a skilled teacher who understands the needs of children can be of great value. If you’ve been thinking about enrolling your child in a preschool, set up a tour of one today. We have some amazing options for early childhood education at our own center, and will be happy to show you around and share what we do for children every day.

One major truth about children is that they don’t all learn the same. Some children learn best when they hear a spoken lesson, while others benefit more from hands on experience. The same is true about where they learn.

An active, wriggly child may find it hard to focus while sitting at a desk but may learn better in a different location.

Flexible seating is one way to help kids who are too wiggly to learn sit down and focus. Flexible seating can be used in the class room, at daycare, and even at home to help kids settle down and focus.

Exercise Ball

Most of us have seen the huge, round balls that can be used to aid an exercise routine. An exercise ball can also be used as a seat however, and can give kids a way to get out excess energy while still focusing on learning.

As you can imagine, exercise balls need clear rules for them to work. Common rules include bouncing lightly on the ball, that the ball must stay on the floor (and not be thrown, etc.) and that kids must sit on their bottoms while on the exercise ball.

Teachers should remove the exercise ball if kids are unable to follow the rules, as throwing the ball or bouncing too hard could prove to be a distraction for other learners.

Wobble Chairs

Not every child is going to like sitting on a giant yoga ball. Fortunately, there’s a huge variety in different flexible seating options. Wobble chairs help students in two different ways. They provide both vestibular and proprioceptive feedback to the child.

They also look more like a chair, and children are less likely to use them improperly. An exercise ball looks so much like a ball, it’s tempting for young kids to treat them that way, the wobble chairs look more like a chair.

Standing Desks

Sometimes, sitting at all may be the problem for an eager young learner. The option to stand can provide the feedback a child needs to be able to stay focused on a task. Studies have shown that standing desks are also very healthy.

Sitting for long periods of time isn’t the most natural thing for our bodies, and giving kids a chance to stand up and stretch can make their back and neck feel better.

Most kids are used to standing desks already, think of the kitchen play sets that require a kid to stand at the stove, or a play workbench. From the very beginning, kids are standing to play, so it makes sense to carry it over into learning.

 

Kids of all ages can benefit from flexible seating options. The ability to choose where you sit, how you sit, or if you even sit at all can help kids focus during reading time or even when crafting and building. There’s a lot of learning to be done when you’re a child. Clearing the way for learning may be as simple as changing the furniture a little.

Ask any kid if they’d rather play a game or do a homework assignment, and you’ll get an almost universal response. Kids aren’t always as inspired to learn their ABCs or numbers as their parents are. When kids are engaged in learning however, their interest can be a powerful tool in how well they learn.

Keeping kids engaged with learning is important to help them learn, but they need a little help to keep them interested.

Make a Reading Fortress

Reading is a critical skill and the basis for all learning. Even when a child has gone off to college, they’ll still be depending on their ability to read to understand their college textbooks. A child that is passionate about reading will spend more time practicing that skill—and a reading nook can be a key part to this success.

A small cozy tent, corner stacked with beanbag chairs, or a fun fort style platform make for amazing reading locations. When a fun hideaway is combined with books, it makes both the perfect place to read, and the perfect place to encourage learning.

Sandbox Style Play is Critical

It might seem like your kid is just goofing off when playing with blocks, art supplies, or even educational games like Minecraft. Open ended play items however, help build vital critical thinking skills. When kids play in an imaginative way, it encourages them to practice independent thinking.

A lot of tools key to learning are used in open ended play. When acting out a scenario with other kids, communication is important. They need to be able to describe what they want to happen in order for the play to continue. This may help build vocabulary, cooperation, and communication skills.

How does one make the tallest tower in the world without it falling over? What will they stand on when the tower is taller than they are? Basic problem-solving skills and critical thinking are used in novel ways during open ended play.

Engage with Kids

The most important tool in helping kids enjoy learning is your own attitude. Whether you are a teacher, a caretaker, or a parent, your own interest can help inspire theirs. If a child isn’t interesting in learning math, making a game out of it can help keep interest alive.

Kids often respond best when their authority figures are interested too. An active hand shows interest and can help inspire kids to do more.

Providing a child with books may not help them become interested if you don’t spend time reading with them. Sandbox style play is fun by yourself for a while, but really needs another person to truly take off. Presence is one of the most important things you can do to help spark a love for learning.

 

Learning is important for growth, whether you are 1 or 100 years old. The ability to enjoy learning is a gift you can give your child that will be useful to them their whole lives. Whether you foster that love through playing games or providing a lavish selection of books, keeping that love alive is one of the most wonderful gifts you can give a child.

It’s time for fall! With the autumn leaves turning and a cascade of color falling everywhere, it’s time to reflect that season in the classroom. Autumn is a great time to engage kids both indoors and outdoors. If you want to share fall with your children or students in a fun way, here are 4 fun child friendly activities to celebrate fall.

Make Your Own Fall Trees

Let your kids create their own fall trees! This is a fun craft kids can easily do on rainy days when it is less fun to explore outside. Provide a blank tree for each child, and let them paint in leaves in autumn colors, or glue paper scraps of appropriate colors on the tree.

Round sponge paint brushes or cotton swabs make great leaf shapes that are easy for smaller kids to handle.

Outdoor Scavenger Hunt

In good weather, taking kids outside to explore the new season directly can be a great choice. A scavenger hunt helps kids pay attention to nature, focusing on the beauty that is all around them. There are many thoughtful premade lists available, but feel free to make your own tailored to the autumn features around you.

Great examples of things to look for:

• Pinecones
• Maple leaves
• Acorns
• Squirrels
• Spider webs
• Snails
• Birds

If you have autumn decorations such as scarecrows, haybales or corn stalks, these could also be added to the list. If you’re using a generic list, check over the contents to make sure the items on the list are readily available nearby.

Have a Harvest Parade

Dressing up in costumes, parades, and festivals are all a big part of the season. A fun activity for a large group of kids is to wear costumes together and march in a parade! Kids can have a great deal of fun showing off their Halloween costumes with their friends.

Don’t forget to grab a few costumes in different sizes for kids who have forgotten what day the parade is. It can be very disappointing for younger kids to realize they don’t have a costume for a very exciting event like a parade.

Decorate Pumpkins

Pumpkins and other gourds are generally associated with autumn, when they often ripen. Letting kids decorate a pumpkin with paint, glitter, glue and other crafting supplies is not only a fun craft, but can work as an autumn decoration as well.

Another fun game related to pumpkins is to play “Pin the nose on the pumpkin.” Little ones can use paper noses with double sided sticky tape on them, and try to get as close to the nose area of a jack-o-lantern as possible while blindfolded.

 

Autumn is a wonderful time of year, filled with so many seasonal activities. Keeping children in touch with the seasons can also help them better understand and adjust to the changes associated with each time of year.

Autumn activities are a great way to help children learn about the seasons, cooler weather, and basic science such as trees losing their leaves.

Circle time is a common part of preschool through the early years of standard education. The idea behind circle time is to get kids active and engaged with the teacher, and to help form bonds with those kids.

Kids who participate in circle time can reap a lot of benefits besides getting to know their teacher. Kids who participate often have better speaking skills than children who don’t, improved self-esteem, and better social skills.

There’s no doubt that circle time is a positive activity, but only if it’s engaging. Sometimes kids can spend their circle time scuffing the carpet and wondering when it will done. To keep things exciting, here are three exciting activities for circle time.

Bug in a Rug

Bug in a Rug is a memory game that is not only fun for everyone, but helps build short term memory skills. While one child’s back is turned, another child is under a rug in the middle of the circle. The child who has their back turned must then turn back, and guess who is under the rug.

In order to guess, they’ll need to look at who is still in the circle and guess who is missing. This is a fun game for everyone and works very well to keep kids engaged.

Dance Freeze

Sometimes kids need to get their energy out. Dance freeze can help them get their wiggles out in a fun and constructive way. To play this game, kids dance to circle time music. When the music stops, kids have to freeze exactly how they are!

This is a fun game for gross motor skills, attentiveness, and to help build bonds between their classmates.

Choose fun and silly songs to help keep the kids engaged and having fun while they dance and freeze.

Group Art Project

Sometimes it’s better to have an activity kids can do quietly. A group art project can help build fine motor skills, team work, and social skills. Try having the kids paint together on one huge sheet of paper. They can work together to decide what to paint, and then hang it on the wall later as a decoration.

You may be able to engage kids more by asking them what they want to paint, and if they want to work together on one big idea, or lots of little small ideas.

A group art project is particularly wonderful for the classroom because it doesn’t need any fancy equipment. All you need to get started is a big piece of paper and some paint supplies.

 

Circle time is a common activity in preschool, and with these fun games and activities, could become the highlight of their day. When children are eagerly looking forward to circle time, they’re more likely to reap the benefits.

A child who is active and engage with their fellow students and teacher will have better social skills, focus, and fun.

The next time you’re planning a circle time activity, give one of these three activities a try. Kids are sure to enjoy these activities whether they are sitting down or standing up, and will have a great opportunity for learning.

 

Summer is the height of the seasons. Trees have their full growth of leaves, flowers are blooming, and the weather is warm and comfortable. Although some kids can’t wait to get outside and play, others may need a bit more encouraging.

If you’re dealing with kids who would prefer to be indoors, here are 5 activities that will get them eager to experience the outdoors.

Chalk Drawings

Drawing on the sidewalks with colorful pieces of chalk can offer hours of entertainment. Kids can lay down and have someone else chalk their outlines, make chalk pools to relax in, or their own tiny obstacle courses. The sky is the limit when chalk is available, so make sure you have a bucket or two to bring outside.

Does this sink or float?

Experimenting with water is a fan favorite with kids. A bucket of water and a variety of items can keep kids interested as they experiment with what sinks or floats. Any activity involving water needs to be closely monitored but can offer a fun way for children to learn, grow, and experiment.

Wash the Toys

Another fun activity is to have them take plastic horses or cars out with a tub of water and wash them. If the kids have a spare change of clothing with them, putting shaving cream on the horses or cars to wash off can be a good sensory experience for kids, as well as giving them a visible target to wash.

Scavenger Hunt

Sometimes all kids need to enjoy outdoor time is a checklist and a marker to check that list off with. Scavenger hunts with things like leaves, rocks, or even the sun on them can keep kids busy as they search for everything on the list.

There’s plenty of ready made scavenger hunts available online, but you can also make your own. Do you know there’s a pine tree nearby? Add that. Have you seen a particular sort of bird? Look for it!

Measuring Nature

Kids love to measure things! On your next nature walk, take a ruler or measuring tape and let kids measure the different things they find. This can also be a great tool to help them get engaged with the world around them.

How big is that rock? How big is that flower? By measuring things, children can interact with nature in a meaningful way.

Some kids love playing outside, but others need a bit of help warming up to mother nature. If you want to help get kids engaged in the great outdoors, these 5 fun activities can help kids explore the world around them.

As always, the most meaningful part of the activity is your own interaction. Preschoolers sometimes need a little bit of help to see the possibilities in that chalk, so help get them started with a pool of lava that needs to be crossed, or stepping stones that need jumped on.

With a little help, kids will be running, jumping and playing outside in no time.

Preschool is a huge step for many young children, especially if they don’t have prior experience with daycare. It can be an exciting time, with so much fun and learning, but also a bit scary too. Fortunately, there are things you as a parent can do to help make this transition easier.

With a gentle introduction from you, children can walk through those preschool doors with confidence, and be prepared for an adventure.

Talk With Your Child

The first action you can take to help your child is to describe to them what going to preschool will be like. Let them know there will be friends to meet, and do a few activities like crafts, or songs that are fairly common for Preschool.

By listening to you describe preschool, and doing some fun activities, it will help your child see preschool as a fun time to look forward to, as well as easing any fears.

Visit

Another great way to help break the ice with your child is to visit the area. Your child will be able to see what the space they will be in looks like before they are suddenly thrust into it. Becoming familiar with the unknown is a great way to help them visualize what preschool will be like.

This is also a good time to meet the teacher and perhaps other classmates as well. Plan to visit a few times in advance so your child gets plenty of exposure to the new classroom before the big day.

The Big Day

On the day your child is to begin school, reintroduce your child to the teacher, and remind them they have met before. The first day can be difficult for both you and your child, but there are a few things you can do to help make it easier.

The first is to step back, and let your teacher have a chance to meet your child and interact for a few minutes. This gives them a chance to break the ice before you leave.

If your child is clingy and doesn’t want you to leave, don’t get upset with them. Be kind and gentle with your goodbye but leave promptly once you have let them know you are leaving.

As hard as it may be to see your child’s tear-streaked face, don’t be tempted to sneak out when your child is distracted. It may make things worse down the road. Make sure you have said goodbye and your child knows you are leaving before you go.

Children can react very differently on their first day of preschool. Some boldly step into the classroom without ever looking back, and some are afraid to let go of their parents. All of these reactions can be normal.

Preparing your child for preschool can help them focus better after you have left and turn it into a grand adventure for them. If you’re planning to send your child off to daycare in the upcoming weeks or months, now is a good time to start paving the road for their success.

Kids love to learn, but while they may be happy to resight to you a giant list of dinosaur names, they often cool considerably when it comes to the alphabet. This is in part because of how they are taught it. Instead of flashcards or singing the alphabet song, here’s a few fun ways to get kids engaged on learning their letters.

ABC Scavenger Hunt
Kids love going on treasure hunts. Searching for the letter of the week can be a fun way to get them thinking about that letter. Once your child has been introduced to the letter “A” for example, ask them to find a few things in the area that start with that letter.
They might bring you a stuffed alligator, or an apple. What ever they bring you, discuss whether it begins with the letter a, makes the “a” sound, or doesn’t belong after all.

This can be a fun way to learn the letters, and also a bit of phonetics too.

Shaving Cream Letters
Who wants to write with boring old pencil and paper? Add some spice to this by letting your child get messy. Shaving cream in a shallow dish can be a great way to inspire them to work on their letters. Show them how they can write the letters in the cream, and then smooth it all down to practice again.
Kids love the sensory experience provided by the shaving cream.

Connect the Dots
If your kids aren’t quite sure how the letters should be formed, connect-the-dot activities can be a great starting point. Tracing and connecting dots can help them gain muscle memory as they learn how to draw the letters.
There’s even cute dot print markers that allow you to create your own connect-the-dots in what ever form you want, and in a variety of colors.

Matching Lowercase and Uppercase
For more advanced learners, a fun activity is to get large, dried beans, and write the different uppercase and lowercase letters on the beans. Give the child a set of uppercase and lowercase beans in a bag, and ask them to try and match the uppercase letters to the lowercase letters.

Practicing matching lowercase and uppercase letters can help kids put together the two in their head.

Eating the Letters
Snack time is also a great way to learn letters. This could be anything from searching for letters they know in a bowl of Alphabet Soup, to sounding out their favorite snacks and trying to figure out what each one begins with.

Learning the alphabet is a critical part of learning to read, and it’s never too early to start. By keeping lessons short and fun, kids will be more willing to learn their letters and dip their toes into reading. Your daycare can help by adopting some of these fun lessons into their own routine. Ask them what they do to help teach the alphabet to your growing children. Whether its playing with their letters or listening to a book, every aspect of learning to read is important.

Arts and crafts are a common preschool activity that most young children love. There’s more to sitting a child down with construction paper, glue, and a project idea however. Learning arts and crafts have a range of benefits for your children, and can help them in other aspects of their life. Here are just a few of the ways crafting can benefit preschoolers.

Builds Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills are important at every stage of life. Through crafting, preschoolers can learn how to cut, tape, glue and color their crafts. These skills are all ones they will use later in life. The same fine motor skills that are needed to apply a crystal to a foam crown are the ones need to grasp a pencil or write a letter.

Boosts Critical Thinking Skills
After the project has been cut out, what comes next? Assembling crafts is a great way to learn how to think ahead and solve problems. Critical thinking skills are another skill children will use their whole lives but will be especially useful when they’re solving word problems in elementary school.

These basic skills can be developed with something as simple as figuring out how to put together a craft.

Learning Shapes and Colors
A big part of crafting is choosing the colors you want your project to be, or discovering how shapes can be combined to make new things. As children are introduced to these new things during craft time, they can learn the names that go with them.
Learning that two triangles can be put together to make a diamond gives them the word for those shapes. Learning how to ask for the red crayon helps them learn those colors.

Counting and Patterns
Shapes and colors aren’t the only thing kids learn about while doing crafts. Stringing a beaded necklace for example, can teach children how to make patterns. It’s also a great opportunity to practice counting. When kids do crafts, they are frequently exposed to counting and patterns.
These opportunities to learn will help them build basic math skills they will need later in life.

Builds Confidence
When a project unfolds beautifully, it makes a child feel good about their skills. A well-made craft, or even one that’s a bit wobbly but still beautiful in your eyes, is a huge confidence boost for children. On top of this, being allowed to work with tools that are normally kept out of reach, such as scissors or glue, helps them learn how to use these items in a safe way.

Crafting is fun and engaging for children, but it’s also useful for them. The skills they learn when making simple projects will help them develop fine motor skills, learn basic math and critical thinking skills, and help them learn to follow instructions.

These skills will help them all the way into their adult life. The next time you put together a piece of Ikea furniture or create an advanced craft of your own, you’re using some of those skills you learned with your first craft in preschool.