Finding a Preschool.

It's that time of year when you consider sending your child off to preschool. You have found a preschool that looks great, pleasing to your eye, offers interest centers, choice, natural elements and environments that would extend your child’s instinctive wonder. Perfect! But, who is facilitating this great space and what are their values and belief systems? Should this not be of great consideration? It is for me, for my children, I want to know!

Get to know the teachers that spend a great amount of time and crucial learning opportunities with your child. What do they value when it comes to early learning? Do they recognize the richness of individual  experiences and personalities? Will they take the time to build a relationship with your child, so that at some point it is possible to have the child’s trust in order to influence their learning?

The facilitators or teachers should be qualified and certified educators and committed to establishing a relationship with you, and most importantly, your child with the desire to know their interests, fears, concerns. Without knowing these very important details of a little person at a vulnerable age, it will be difficult to build trust and a relationship. Without trust and security with the people a child is surrounded by, that child will have a difficult time separating from parents and exploring to their fullest sense of curiosity. This effects their intellectual development, interferes with her peer relationships and they will have limited sense of belonging in this particular setting.

Try to find a teacher who wants to know how your child feels each day. As parents we should try to be open, the teacher’s interest comes from a place of nurturing and protecting your child. We should act as a  team, trying to create a safe and secure environment that will then allow the best opportunities for our very special young people!

For a more comprehensive guide for families in finding a preschool read NAEYC, standards for finding a quality program. 

Jada Fiissel

Jada has a Bachelor of Education, has completed her Yoga Teacher Training (300-hours) and a specialization in children’s yoga. She continues to deepen her own understanding through a dedicated practice and teaches adult and Kid’s Yoga throughout the city and incorporates yoga and the teachings in her daily family life.

An Outdoor Dream

“Let the children go outside and run off steam” is a common statement we all have heard. Have you ever thought about the diminishing value that statement gives to the wonder and and enthusiasm children have about the freedom of exploring the natural world? When children are given the opportunity to discover themselves and their connection to nature, they will more likely respect and protect our environment for their own future as well as generations to come.

I’m not referring to the playgrounds with rocks or rubber under the metal play structures. These structures do have value in promoting climbing, balancing and other gross motor skills, however, I’m referring to a playground of natural wonder that encourages children’s curiosity. These spaces not only have the capability of offering all the components related to large muscle development but they will provide a meaningful experience that relates directly to the children’s world, therefore helping to build a sense of identity. 

In this type of space you might see a variety of ground cover such as grass, rocks, bark chips and soil. A holistic outdoor learning environment will have places to hide in, such as tree branches or shrubs, landscapes that enable dramatic play and the ability to care for and nurture plants and animals.  There may be a place for the children to gather, read books, share discoveries or plan a game. This natural environment has many sensory opportunities that are just not available indoors. Not only is it complete with fresh air, it changes daily offering new learning experiences depending on the season and weather. If the children have the right guidance and a teacher who can share in the excitement and the findings, a whole world of leaning possibilities are presented.

Maybe we should consider changing the statement from “Let the children go outside and run off steam” to “Let the children go outside to create a dream”!

Jada Fiissel

Jada has a Bachelor of Education, has completed her Yoga Teacher Training (300-hours) and a specialization in children’s yoga. She continues to deepen her own understanding through a dedicated practice and teaches adult and Kid’s Yoga throughout the city and incorporates yoga and the teachings in her daily family life.

Best Play Dough Recipe Ever!

Play is the work of a child and a nice batch of play dough is a staple in the early learning environment! Play dough lends itself to enhance the children's imagination, fine motor skills, scientific experimentation, social/emotional skills and many language opportunities. The following recipe is a no-cook recipe that contains many items already in your fridge.

While working with play dough, encourage your child to push, poke, shape, flatten and roll. Describe to your child what they are doing while they play to develop vocabulary and comprehension. The recipe below can be adapted to involve more senses by adding colour and scent (maybe even sparkles), experiment with your child to test your hypothesis. At times children will play individually with play dough but often we find in the centres that the children will interact with each other when they play dough is placed in the kitchen. They develop sharing skills, test language abilities and demonstrate their creativity as they cook up meals and baking with the play dough and pots and simply play dough supports brain development throughout the early years.

Some ideas to scent and colour the play dough recipe can be as simple as using food colouring and essential oils or adding a bit of Kool-Aid. Other ideas for a more natural colour and scent may include the juice of blueberries for the colour purple and turmeric powder for a orange/yellow. Get creative and have fun, let your imagination and your child guide you!


Play Dough Recipe

Mix

• 2 cups of flour
• 1/2 cup of salt
• 2 Tbsp cream of tartar

Mix

• 1 1/2 cups of warm water
• 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil
• 1/4 tsp of glycerine

Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Feel free to add more flour until the dough is not sticky. Children love to help add ingredients, pour, stir and mix. They feel very proud when they are able to help with these jobs and take ownership in the accomplishment!

Jada Fiissel

Jada has a Bachelor of Education, has completed her Yoga Teacher Training (300-hours) and a specialization in children’s yoga. She continues to deepen her own understanding through a dedicated practice and teaches adult and Kid’s Yoga throughout the city and incorporates yoga and the teachings in her daily family life.

Eating Fresh Vegetables

Once spring arrived we started planting and growing a variety of plants and vegetables. A few of the vegetables that grew rather quickly were the pea sprouts, bean sprouts and the sandwich booster sprouts. When the pots were overflowing we cut the sprouts down to the roots.  One day we made sandwiches and wraps using the various sprouts.  The sprouts continue to grow. When they are tall enough we plan to cut and enjoy eating them again.

Laura Bieber

What you do...Children do!

Children watch your every move. They learn, say and do things you do as a daily routine or maybe only happen once in a while. They watch your every move and imitate the behavior that occurs in their environment.

For example: This little girl is playing with this doll. She is doing daily routines that she has seen her parent’s do with her younger sibling. She is continuously playing with the baby, makes faces at the baby, holds and rocks the baby, talks to the baby, lays the baby on a blanket and changes the diaper and clothes of the baby.  

Laura Bieber

Summer at the Early Years!

Yes it is true…we are open all summer! Our hours are from Monday to Thursday, 9:00 to 4:00 and Fridays, 9:00 to 1:00 with a variety of old and new programs scheduled throughout the summer months. Be sure to come check us out!

If you visit our Dr. Hanna location you will continue to see Myriam throughout the summer as well as some new faces. Myriam is an avid gardener who loves to spend time outdoors. She believes that children are capable and will often surprise us if you give them a chance. She has worked in daycare centres since 1989. Myriam's main partner has been Jada who has her Bachelor of Education in early years and has 15 years of teaching experience.

At the Scott location you will meet Laura who has been consistently at Scott for over a year and enjoys the work she does with all the families that she meets during her day. Heather who has 9 years of daycare experience and loves to work with children because they keep her young will be at Scott and Dr. Hanna during the summer months.

Visit Linda at Miller who has vast daycare experience and has created a warm and calm atmosphere to play and work in. You will see Stacey around the centre, she is currently attending University in the education program, she loves nature and the role of play in her world as well as children's.

Jocel and Danica will be circulating and supporting the centres during the summer months and look forward to meeting you.

Lynn is very passionate about the Triple P and other programs she offers to families in and around the Early Years Family Centre. Lynn firmly believes that, "an ounce of prevention, is worth a pound of cure!" You may have seen her within the last year.

A huge thank you to Lynda who makes it all happen for our centres as the Site Developer and has made it possible for us to be open during the next two months.

Laura, Jada, Heather

Laura and Jada have recently implemented this blog and are looking for feedback and ideas for futures posts. Please don’t hesitate to offer your suggestions in person or Facebook message us. Thank you!

Trimming the Lawn

Today we are going to cut grass. I planted birdseed in empty pop bottles and have been watering them frequently. As the grass starts to grow taller and taller we cut it with scissors. Once we finish cutting the grass we put the containers back on the windowsill and keep watering it until it grows tall enough to cut again. An experience like this develops children’s fine and gross motor skills along with their social and emotional development, language skills, cognitive abilities, problem solving and so much more. This spring, garden with your children to provide an opportunity for them to develop in different ways.

Click here for some helpful tips about gardening with children. 

Laura Bieber