Visit the Little Flower Newsletter for April and you will see what fun our “Flowers” have been having (learning a lot while they are at it)!.
Check out what’s been happening in the Blossom program at The Seed Day Care Center. . . The children have been painting like Georgia O’Keeffe and Vincent van Gogh. . . measuring their long jump. . . and celebrating Earth Day, among other fun and educational activities!
Click on the link below to watch the video and sing along to the catchy tune, “I Stand up Straight.” This video and song are based on a recently published book by Yaffa Liebermann, a licensed physical therapist, who passionately believes in teaching children about good posture at a young age, and who also happens to be the grandmother of a Seed student and Seed alumna. We couldn’t help but notice that the little girls in the video look a lot like Rachel and Kaila!
I recently went to a breakfast meeting sponsored by the Child Care Council of Westchester entitled “Supporting Westchester’s Work Force of Today and Tomorrow.”
Did you know that “the rate of return for every dollar of investment in quality early childhood programs has been pegged at 7% to 10% per year”? (Dr. Farhad Ameen, Professor of Economics at Westchester Community College)
Participation in quality early childhood programs have been linked to increased high school completion. And a study in Illinois found that a 5% increase in male high school graduation rates could generate $379 million in savings from reductions in incarceration and crime-related expenditures.
Another reason to choose a quality program for your child!
For more information on why it’s good business to invest in early care and learning, view The Business Case for Early Childhood Investment, a supplement to Westchester County Business Journal. The Seed is listed under NAEYC accredited programs in Westchester.
Born Learning Tip of the Month from the Child Care Council of Westchester
Celebrate Spring – Talk About It!
Connection to learning: Young children learn with all their senses: sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste. Spring begs us to share its delights with children – to help them see yellow daffodils and purple crocuses, smell lilacs, feel soft new grass and listen to robins chirping. Sharing words about spring is a gift you give to your child.
For your young baby (birth to 8 months)
Take your baby for a nature walk in a park, your back yard, or down a leafy block. If. possible, put her in a baby sling facing out. Talk about what she is seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling – new leaves, birds singing, the sweet smell of flowers, the warm sun on her skin.
For your older baby (9 – 18 months)
Hold your older baby up and let him bat at leaves on trees. Let him crawl on the grass. Talk with him about what he is looking at or touching: “that yellow flower is a dandelion.” Babies this age learn by putting everything in their mouths, so watch carefully, and bring along things he can chew on, like rattles and teething rings.
For your toddler
To help your toddler develop large motor skills and vocabulary, play the following game in the back yard or at the park. Chant: “Let’s jump on the green grass, green grass, green grass. Let’s jump on the green grass, and now sit down!” Repeat with other growing things, like: “Run to the pink flowers,” or “Pat the tree bark”.
For your preschooler
Play “I spy with my little eye” using natural things you see, hear and smell. “I spy with my little eye something purple.” “I smell with my little nose something sweet.” (lilacs) Let her take a turn and you guess.
The Child Care Council of Westchester Inc. and United Way of Westchester and Putnam promote Born Learning, a public engagement campaign dedicated to helping parents and caregivers create early, fun learning opportunities for young children to ensure school readiness and continued success throughout their lives.
This campaign provides education and user-friendly tools that parents and caregivers of infants, toddlers and preschoolers can use to help make ordinary, everyday moments into learning opportunities.
Check out the happenings at the Blossom this month. The March newsletter is now posted!
We just posted the Little Flower March newsletter. Enjoy reading about the recent happenings in our youngest groups!
Check out the fun goings-on in the Little Flower, the Blossom, and the Sunshine Room. Click on “Newsletters” at the top of our home page and follow the links. Enjoy!
The other day, I was alarmed to overhear a woman tell her 4-year-old grandson, “Oh, you’re too big for a booster seat now.”
While you as parents are most likely acutely aware of the need to continue using booster seats until your child is 4′ 9″ tall or eight years of age, maybe your parents or caregivers are not!
Let’s please keep kids safe by following the guidelines below, recommended by NYS Department of Health and Safety.
Booster Seats
Once children outgrow their forward-facing seats (usually around age 4 and 40 pounds), they should ride in booster seats, in the back seat, until the vehicle seat belts fit properly. Seat belts fit properly when the lap belt lays across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt fits across the chest (usually at age 8 or when they are 4’9″ tall).
Go to www.nhtsa.gov and choose Child Safety Seat Information from the menu or click on the child passenger safety icon. The site includes child safety seat installation tips, product ratings, recalls, and other useful information.
For more information about child safety seats, booster seats, inspection/fitting stations in your area, seat belts, air bags, and other highway safety issues, call the DOT Vehicle Safety Hotline at: 1-888-327-4236.
A certified child passenger safety technician can check your installation and answer questions. To find a technician or an inspection station near you, go to www.nhtsa.gov, click on the child passenger safety icon, and then click on the Fitting/Inspection Station link or go to www.seatcheck.org.
Patricia Kuhl shares astonishing findings about how babies learn one language over another — by listening to the humans around them and “taking statistics” on the sounds they need to know. Clever lab experiments (and brain scans) show how 6-month-old babies use sophisticated reasoning to understand their world.
Click on the link to watch this fascinating talk!
http://www.ted.com/talks/patricia_kuhl_the_linguistic_genius_of_babies.html