January 2014

Did you know that more than half of obese children become overweight by the time they’re 2? Did you also know that roughly one in five children is overweight by their 6^th birthday? Given such high statistics, whether you’re a parent or a teacher, it’s critical to support physical fitness for preschool children and instill healthy lifestyle habits early on so that children may continue these habits as they grow.

Today is the National Preschool Fitness Day and in light of this, I’d like to take the opportunity to highlight a few child care centers that offer great fitness programs.

Kiddie Academy of Gainesville is a child care center where Health and Nutrition are part of the curriculum and where children spend two hours outside daily. The center has an indoor gym and a soccer enrichment program.

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D id you know that your child’s best learning happens through their everyday routines, experiences, and conversations? In fact, researchers found that the amount of language children hear in the first three years of their life plays an important role in their future learning abilities. The power of simply talking with your child can make all the difference.

Families that have children in child care often ask me how they can create opportunities for developing their child’s communication skills when they aren’t with their child all day.  I share that their daily routines provide ample opportunities to enhance their child’s communication skills, as well as provide meaningful interactions with their child.

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In many places across the U.S., winter is in full force. Don’t let the snow keep you and your little ones indoors. The winter wonderland outside your front door is the perfect play environment for rumbustious little rascals. You can add some structure to your playtime with these three great snow day activities.

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Montessori, Waldorf, Reggio Emilia, High-Scope, Bank Street… what in the world do these names all mean!? Most likely you’ve never come across such terms, unless of course… you started looking for a preschool! If all these early education approaches got your head spinning, this “Preschool Teaching Philosophies” blog series is for you!

In this first post, we’ll give an overview of five common preschool philosophies. Later in the series, we’ll have a specific post on each one and provide more details to help you understand the differences and decide on a program that works best for you and your child.

Teaching philosophies explain how a school approaches learning, which in turn might shed light on whether your preschooler will do well with that particular learning method or in that particular environment. So what preschool learning approaches are there?

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How many times did you achieve all the goals on your New Year’s resolutions list? Yeah, I know, tough question. 2014 has finally arrived and it’s that time when many of us get started on our nice fresh list of New Year’s resolutions! Every year, I too make a list for myself and my family of all the things I’d like to accomplish the upcoming year. Rarely, however, do we actually look back on the year that passed to see how many of the previous year’s resolutions were actually achieved. Most people actively try their best to reach their newly set goals in the first couple of months, but enthusiasm soon fades and the New Year’s resolutions become forgotten or abandoned.

To avoid burning out or simply forgetting about my goals, here’s what I will do this year to keep myself and my family on track:

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