Stranger Danger

Strangers, it’s a scary word. To parents it represents one of our biggest fears. We worry a lot about a stranger harming our children. To continue with Goddard’s theme this month about safety, we are focusing on strangers this week. How do you strike the balance between raising a friendly child vs. raising a cautious child? Click here to read the whole article.

Trick or Treating Safety Tips

Halloween is an exciting time of year for kids, and to help ensure they have a safe holiday, The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) put together a comprehensive list of safety tips. Here are a few highlights. To read the full list click on this link American Academy of Pediatrics.

Costume:

• Plan costumes that are bright and reflective. Make sure that shoes fit well and that costumes are short enough to prevent tripping, entanglement or contact with flame.
• Consider adding reflective tape or striping to costumes and Trick-or-Treat bags for greater visibility.
• Because masks can limit or block eyesight, consider non-toxic makeup and decorative hats as safer alternatives. Hats should fit properly to prevent them from sliding over eyes.

Walking at Night

• A parent or responsible adult should always accompany young children on their neighborhood rounds.
• If your older children are going alone, plan and review the route that is acceptable to you. Agree on a specific time when they should return home.
• Only go to homes with a porch light on and never enter a home or car for a treat.

Healthy Food:

• A good meal prior to parties and trick-or-treating will discourage youngsters from filling up on Halloween treats.
• Consider purchasing non-food treats for those who visit your home, such as coloring books or pens and pencils.
• Wait until children are home to sort and check treats. Though tampering is rare, a responsible adult should closely examine all treats and throw away any spoiled, unwrapped or suspicious items.
• Try to ration treats for the days following Halloween.

Dealing with Bullies

We don’t want to think about it, but at some point your child may run into a bully.  You can’t always be there to help, but you can teach your child about how to cope with bullying and the importance informing a parent or another adult if bullying occurs.  Click here to read the tips.

Making Halloween Less Scary

You probably never think of it as a parent but Halloween can be a scary for some kids. In fact, it can be downright frightening. Skeletons, mummies, bats and vampires can really take the fun out this great tradition and stop your child from participating in trick or treating and other events.

Try to take the fright out of this Halloween night with some of these quick tips:

• If you feel that your child is developing fear about the scary parts of Halloween, talk to them about it. Explain that other kids are in those costumes. Maybe even have a sibling dress up ahead of time to show them what’s underneath the scary costumes and faces.

• Let your child choose their own costume. Make sure that it is appropriate for their age. Try choosing a costume that is not scary  or only a little scary, like a pirate or ghost. Make sure your child is comfortable in their costume.

• Avoid the haunted mansions or hayride. Enjoy the traditional non-scary halloween events such as fall fairs, pumpkin patch, or hayride instead. Also consider trick or treating during the daytime. many malls have daytime events for the smaller children.

You can’t always protect your child from scary and gory decorations, but you can try to minimize exposure to them. Talk through your child’s fears so they feel comfortable and can enjoy the season!

7 Ways to Keep Cool with Preschoolers

Your child may be well adjusted and easy going in school, but when you bring them home after a long day of school, the transition may not be so easy.  We found 7 tips to help you and your child to have a smooth transition between school and home.  Click here to read the tips

Teaching Kids About Fire Safety

October is Fire Prevention Month and Goddard Ashburn is reviewing fire safety with the kids at school, but you can help at home too.

Here are a few tips for teaching fire safety to kids.

• Practice fire drills at home – rehearse different emergency scenarios with your family. This can avoid wasting valuable time when you’re dealing with an emergency in your home.

• Talk about escape routes for each room of your home.

• Designate a meeting place outside your home that is a safe distance away

• Test your plan

It’s always good to introduce scary topics to your children through games. Here are a few games that teach valuable safety lessons.

Feel Your Way to Safety – have your kids close their eyes and feel their way out of the home. This can also help your kids get some exercise. Just make sure you watch your kids closely so they don’t fall and get hurt.

Stop, Drop and Roll – press your fire alarm test button or simply say go and have your kids see how fast they can stop, drop and roll.

Teach your kids about fire safety

Explain what smoke detectors, escape ladders and fire extinguishers are – explain to your kids how they work, why they are installed in the house and what they will do when you use them.

Explain that getting out of the house is most important in a fire. And once you’re out, stay out.

These rules can go a long way to protecting and even saving the lives of your family.

Naptime Tips

We know that naptime is important for babies. To get the most benefits out of sleep, it’s also important to reduce stress leading up to naptime. We found some common ways you can help reduce stress and promote peaceful napping. Click here to read the article.

Reading Consistently to Your Kids

Good reading habits are a big factor in your child’s academic success. It’s very important to start off on the right foot by reading consistently with your kids each week, even during the summer. Here are some tips you can use to encourage your child to be a good reader.

1. Build time for reading into your daily routine

Reading with your child is a good way to let them know that you think reading is important. It can also help parents judge the reading level of a child. If you are reading to your children on a regular basis you will be the first to recognize their areas for improvement.

2. Make reading fun

Kids are much more likely to enjoy reading when they perceive it as fun. Here are some tips to keep reading fun.

· Pick books that they will enjoy

· Try using props to help tell the story. This works great with young children.

· Switch up the surroundings. Try reading all around the house and when that gets boring, try reading at the library or in the park.

· Make reading interactive. Ask questions or tell them about your experiences that relate to the story.


4. Read by example

Let your child see you reading on a regular basis. Tell them what you are reading. Show them that reading is important, interesting and enjoyable. Let them use your tablet or eReader. Support their reading habit as much as possible. Money spent now on books will be paid back later in success in school.


Have fun reading!

Storytime Strategies to Boost Early Literacy

We found 7 storytime strategies you can uses when reading to your little one to help boost their early literacy. By sneaking in some of these strategies you can help to build literacy in your toddler. Click here to read the article.