2015

Recent research from the same German behavioral scientists who brought us Männergarten suggests that children are born with an innate fascination for sharp objects, self-destruct buttons, and hazardous nooks and crannies.

OK, it’s a joke!

They probably don’t feel the need to allocate research funding to something that everyone knows is true 🙂

More seriously though: what can you do about your child’s safety?

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As a child, I pretended that I was a teacher and told everyone I was going to be a teacher one day.  As life would have it, I ended up obtaining a business education and working in the financial accounting and auditing world for 15 years.

When I became a parent, I found out how challenging it was to find reliable high quality child care. 

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One of the things parents look for when evaluating a child care provider, whether it’s a child care center, preschool or home daycare, is the discipline policy. After all, we all know that our toddler or preschooler is going to misbehave at some point. So it’s important to know what happens when a child misbehaves at daycare.

I know what you’re thinking:

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We’ve already been to Italy (for the Reggio Emilia approach and Montessori philosophy) so the next stop on our tour of preschool philosophies is Stuttgart, Germany!

This is where the Waldorf-Astoria Cigarette Company organized the first school based on Rudolf Steiner’s pedagogy in 1919. The educational approach is most commonly referred the “Waldorf” philosophy, although “Steiner” is also used.

So what is a Waldorf school?

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Did you know that the U.S. Department of Defense has the best regulated child care program in the country? We heard they are developing a 5-level “daycare sick child warning system” called “DEFCOUGH” based on the “DEFCON” system they developed during the cold war.

It goes something like this:

• DEFCOUGH 5: All quiet on the health front. Your child is eating normally and you try your best to build up their immune system with a balanced diet.
• DEFCOUGH 4: Early warning signs encountered, typically a cough or a runny nose. Take preemptive action such as an extra Vitamin C.
• DEFCOUGH 3: Daycare is no longer an option. Medic! Request a fly-by from a relative, babysitters, or neighbor to care for your child, because they’re too sick for daycare.
• DEFCOUGH 2: Request for fly-by negative. One or both parents need to request time off work to care for your child.
• DEFCOUGH 1: Request(s) for time off negative. Crisis imminent!

OK, DEFCOUGH is a joke, but the crisis scenario is all too real for working parents with children in daycare.

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I was planning on staying for one year when I first arrived to the US as an au-pair. Well, it’s now been 11 years and I never returned to Colombia. I met my husband during that first year as an au-pair, got married and we now have 3 children. Being an immigrant hasn’t been easy, it was a struggle for me to learn English.

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In our recent post about what to expect when starting daycare or preschool, we said that starting daycare is a lot like flying. The first takeoff in particular can be stressful before the whole crew (you, your child and your child care provider) reaches a “cruising altitude” comfort zone. While switching daycares may not be as big of a change as starting the very first time, it’s not easy either!

Just as layovers are difficult for even the most seasoned travelers, switching daycares or preschools will have its own turbulence pockets for both parents and children. Here are a few tips to ensure a smooth crew change.

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Germans are an interesting bunch when it comes to caring for children both young and (nominally) old. Kindergarten is a German invention from 1779 and Männergarten – places for men to while away time with beer, sports, and video games while their wives or girlfriends go shopping – is one of the most “interesting” (or “strange”, depending on your views!) consumer innovations of the 2000’s.

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Every child grows up with a dream of what they will become when they enter the working world. From Kindergarten, we learn about adult life through Career Days, Take your Child to Work Days, and of course, our families and neighbors. For me, it wasn’t the parents in my classroom telling us about their careers, but the teachers who I looked up to the most.

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You know the old dilemma about whether it is safer to drive or fly?

The logical answer depends on statistics and facts. As a driver, you don’t have a radar system, ground control, or a co-pilot. Maybe a GPS and a backseat-driver who “just tries to help.”

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