Win the Bedtime Battles

With school starting soon and the relaxed summer schedule coming to an end, it may mean bedtime battles in your household. Parenthood.com offers advice on taking the stress out of the bedtime battles. Click here to read the article.


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Signs Your Little One Is Ready for Kindergarten

Parents that have never sent a child to Kindergarten before often wonder if their child is truly ready. Here are some simple ways to judge their preparedness. But don’t worry if your child lags behind in one or two skills. They should catch up quickly in this very formative first year of school.


Social Skills

Have you observed your child working in peer groups?

Can your child successfully follow directions?


These are both foundation skills for kindergarten success. They’ll be working in groups frequently and using social skills to interact and to complete activities. From the very first day, they will need to listen and follow directions just to understand the room rules and routines.


If you’re worried your child needs development in any of these skills it’s not too late to make progress before school. Tell your child what appropriate behavior is when working in groups. Have your child focus on following directions and try a reward system for successfully following directions.


Motor Skills

Does your child have developed motor skills (i.e. can they cut with scissors, can they hold pencil correctly)?

Some children are late bloomers when it comes to motor skills. Every child this age colors outside of the lines sometimes, but if your child cannot stay in the lines that could be a sign of late development. Your child should be able to write basic letters and numbers. If your child cannot complete this task, their motor skills may require attention. Resolving these issues may just take some extra practice at home, however if you think your child has a more serious issue consult your kindergarten teacher, that’s what they are there for.


Independent Thinking

Is your child comfortable with independence?


Some children shy away from speaking for themselves or acting on their own. If this is your child, don’t worry. You can work on this skill by giving your child the opportunity to speak and act independently. Allow them to begin to make some simple decisions on their own for example, what to eat for lunch, and what to wear etc. They will begin to understand that decisions and working independently is needed in life.


Not all children are the same. Success in kindergarten will look different for everyone.

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Picking out books for Preschoolers

Parents and caregivers wonder what types of books are best for young children. Today we are going to give you some tips to consider when picking out appropriate books for your child.

Preschoolers love a good storyline. Books with a simple storyline are great. You can even buy a longer chapter book and read one chapter at a time. Your child will anticipate how the story will develop each night.Stories about characters and objects tend to hold the attention of a preschooler. Books about superhero, fairytale, television or comic book characters are great for preschoolers.Let your child express their imagination. Let them make up a story to go with a picture book or photo album. This can be a fun way to get your child interested in books. Find books with subjects that match your child’s interests like trucks, baseball, and dance. You can also choose books about characters they may experience in everyday life like doctors, firefighters, or police officers. Good reading habits can make a big difference in developing your child’s love for learning. Any time you can spare to spend reading with your child is an investment in their future.

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A Big-Kid Bed for Your Toddler

Parents struggle to figure out the right time to move their toddler from a crib to a big kid bed. Toddlers struggle with how to deal with this new freedom the article below offers some advice to make the tradition easier for everyone. Click here to read the article.

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Backyard Fun

Are you looking for fun outdoor activities to do with the kids this summer? Here are a few ideas:

Magical Garden
Head to your local dollar store to find some inexpensive lawn decorations. Then have your child gather other items around the yard like sticks, wood, rocks, leaves, etc., to make a magical garden. This is a great activity that you can add to throughout the summer.

Bugs are always fun
Make a homemade terrarium out of an old shoebox with dirt and rocks with holes punched in the top. Have the little ones search for bugs in the back yard and collect them in their homemade terrarium.

Scavenger hunt in the park

Make a list of things that you find in the park. Determine how simple or difficult the list of items will be based on your children’s ages. Have them find a flower or a type of rock. You can also use this opportunity to teach children about nature, science and history.

Create your own Water Park
Get the sprinklers out, baby pools, water slides, plastic toys and gym sets and have the kids create their own water obstacle course. Through in some water balloons and water toys and your kids can cool off on a hot summer day.

Make sure to supervise your kids activities to keep the safe and happy this summer.

Stopping Tantrums

This time of year brings out the best in our children, their schedules are off because of all the fun and exciting activities associated with the holidays. Parents often try to squeeze in a few more errands before nap time and this can lead to the dreaded public tantrum. Anyone who has ever been a parent or guardian has most likely had to endure the public tantrum. Instead of losing your cool, and your mind, try taking a deep breath, smile at an understanding adult nearby, and then see if one of these tips will work:

1. Distract

Distract your child with something. This a great way to help children calm down. Put a video on, listen to music, read a story, watch television, go outside, or watch animals outside your window. This is often not easy to do, but if you find a distraction that works it might be enough to settle them down.

2. Provide Incentive

A goal for good behavior can do wonders. Something along the lines of, if you stop fussing until we get to the car, I'll let you watch your favorite video tonight”. The child's favorite things are truly wonderful motivators to use. However, be sure to use this tactic sparingly so they don't expect a treat every time they show good or bad behavior.

3. Pick Your Battles

Sometimes you need to step in and stop the tantrum, other times if they are not hurting themselves, or anyone, or anything around them, let your toddler express their feelings. Let them get their anger out and then explain the consequences of their actions.

4. Keeping Your Cool

Do not overwhelm a child that really just needs some peace and calm to settle down. Your child mirrors your response to their tantrum. If you respond by yelling at your child this might just increase the tension and raise the level of your child’s tantrum or make it last longer. Try a calming hug and some kind words instead. Your child may just want to know that you understand their feelings or frustration.

Independence

Children are always striving for more independence. As your toddler moves from preschool to elementary school they are going to want, and need more responsibility and more independence. But as parents you might be apprehensive about how to give them enough freedom without giving them too much.

Here are a few ways that your child can get more responsibility around the house that will help build their confidence and teach responsibility.

Organizing Their Belongings

Kids are always making messes. Now is a great time to teach your child how to take care of their belongings. Have them organize their clothes, books and other belongings into plastics bins. When they come home from school make sure that they put their stuff away and praise them for their organization and responsibility.

Getting Ready for School

Give your child the responsibility to collect their books, pack their book bag and prepare their lunch. Buy pre-packaged fruit, help them make a sandwich, and pour their drink. They can feel proud when they open their lunch at school knowing that they packed it themselves.

Help Set the Table

If you’re lucky enough to still eat dinner together as a family, then you might get your child to set the table, especially if paper plates are involved. This teaches children valuable life skills and pride in the fact that they can contribute to the family’s dinner.

It’s difficult to judge how much responsibility is best for your child. Just make sure that you provide the proper supervision and make certain the task isn’t too difficult for them to handle.

Keeping Kids Healthy During Cold and Flu Season

It’s cold and flu season. Runny noses, coughs, aches, late sleepless nights, crying, it’s all part of cold and flu season. You might not be able to avoid the cold or the flu, but here are a few tips to help you survive the season and maybe avoid a bug or two.

Establish a Germ Fighting Routine

Use the Vampire Cough – Teach your children to cough and sneeze into the crook of their arm. It’s easier to prevent the spread of germs if they are not contaminating their hands when they cough into them.

Wash Your Hands– You have heard it from your mom and now you’re hearing it in public service announcements on TV. Wash your hands. This is the best weapon in your germ fighting arsenal. You should teach children when to wash their hands:
• After using the bathroom
• Before they eat
• After play dates
• When they return to the house after being out

And how they wash their hands makes a difference. Teach the steps below for a proper hand washing:
• Always use warm water and soap
• Sing "Happy Birthday" twice – to make sure your washing for 15 to 20 seconds
• Use hand sanitizing gel if water isn’t available
• When using gel, scrub your hands for about 20 seconds

Lead by Example – Show your kids good habits by following the germ fighting routine above on your own. This way they are much more likely to pick up good habits instead of germs.

Emergency! What to Teach Your Kids About Safety and First-Aid

Have you wondered how your child would respond in an emergency situation if you or another member of your family needed help. Kid’s can’t be expected to respond to an emergency in an adult way, but there are some basic tasks that you can teach them that could turn out to be life-saving. Click here to read the article

Stranger Danger

Stranger, 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?

Here are a few tips to help teach your children about the concept of strangers:

• Try not to scare your child with details on what a stranger can do to harm them. You want to develop a healthy caution not a phobia about strangers. 
• Set ground rules for when you’re out of the home in a public place.
• Work under the rule “if I can’t see you or you can’t see me you are too far away”. This could stop your child from ending up in an isolated place where a stranger can harm them.
• Another good rule is to tell your children to always tell their caregiver where they are or where they are going to.
• Teach your child that they should not talk to strangers especially when you aren’t with them
• Review with your child what a stranger is in simple terms. Someone they have never been introduced to. Someone who is trying to make them leave with them. Explain that you would never send anyone to get them that they don’t already know. 
• Review the tactics a dangerous stranger might try. “Please help me find my lost puppy dog” or “If you go with me to the candy store I will buy you a treat”.

Your goal is to help your child develop a healthy awareness of stranger danger, so they can make decisions that will keep them safe now and in the future.

First Sleepover

This is a true sign that your child is growing up. When your child is ready for their first sleepover it is certainly a milestone. But it can also be an anxious time for both you and your child. Here are a few tips to take the anxiety out of a sleepover.

* Make sure your child knows the family they will be spending the night with pretty well. The best situation would be for your child to have several play dates and maybe even a meal with the family prior to sleeping over. This will help acclimate your child to the particular habits of the family they are staying with.

* Make sure that you feel comfortable with the family that will be hosting the sleepover. If your child knows that you are uncomfortable, they might sense your discomfort. This can lead to your child feeling uncomfortable.

* Set expectations with your child for what a sleepover will be like. Tell them what activities they will do and how much fun they will have.
* Pack some of your children’s favorite items to take with them. This will remind them of home and comfort them.

* Anticipate the midnight call. Don’t be disappointed if your child calls and wants to come home. This is not a failure on their or your part. Take some time and try again once you feel they are ready.

Easy School Mornings

Do you suffer from morning madness? I am talking about the mad rush to get out of the house before school. Getting dressed, eating breakfast, making lunch and getting on the bus or in the car. It sounds simple but, it’s not an easy task. I don’t have all the answers to make your morning run smoothly but, here are a few tips that might help.

Your morning will go better with a little preparation at night

• Make lunches the night before and stick them in the fridge.
• Select, iron and lay clothes out at night. This is also a way to make older children more responsible for selecting which clothes they want to wear.
• Make your children pack their book bag to save time in the morning.

Everything works better when you are in a routine

• Make a checklist to keep track of morning tasks.
• Establish times for the completion of each task and stick to them.
• Find a routine that works for the family and try not to deviate from it.

Organize your morning

• Establish a place for shoes, hats and coats so that in the morning you know where they are.
• Have your children organize their books and supplies and keep them by the door.

It’s a hectic life but these tips might help you get back a little control of the morning madness.

Thumb Sucking

Parents worry if it is normal if their toddler is still sucking their thumb. In fact, it is generally considered normal until a child is 2 ½ years old.

Why do kids suck their thumb?
Thumb sucking often begins in the womb, as a natural reflex. For babies, they learn about their bodies and the world around them through sucking. Everything goes in their mouth. They suck on their fingers, clothing, and toys.
Thumb sucking can also be a comfort mechanism for young children. It can induce a child to sleep and it can be a signal to parents that their child is tired.

However, most dentists discourage thumb sucking after a child's permanent teeth come in because it can cause problems with teeth alignment, and cause changes to the roof of the mouth.
Here's how you can get your child on track.
Link giving up the habit to growing up
Reinforce that giving up the habit is part of growing up. Point out that they never see big kids sucking their thumb. But don’t embarrass them or scold them as a way to discourage them.
Keep their mind off of the habit
Children often suck their thumbs at around the same time of day everyday. Give them something to hold to keep their hands busy. Try to distract them with another bedtime ritual. Let them look through a picture book to help keep their minds and hands busy.

Point out the issue
Sometimes kids aren’t aware of that they are sucking their thumb in public. Develop a verbal signal to help them recognize when they are thumb sucking. This will help not to embarrass them but it will get the point across.

Let nature take it’s course
In most cases peer pressure will kick in and your child will stop publicly sucking their thumb in school and around friends. If the habit starts to have real dental and medical consequences you can always consult your child’s doctor for advice and guidance.

7 Everyday Ways to Stimulate Development and Learning

Scholistic.com talks about 7 great ways to stimulate development and learning in your young child.  I like the easy everyday ways they suggest.  For instance reading, singing and dancing are great ways to stimulate your baby’s mind and interact with them. Click here to read the whole article.

Potty Training

Yes, that's right, June is National Potty Training Awareness Month, as if we need more incentive to potty train our children. So in honor of the momentous occasion, we are going to talk about potty training and give some advice for success.

First, it’s important to recognize that there is no magic solution for potty training. It’s a trial and error process. The second fact to remember is that it’s not fashionable for teenagers to walk around in diapers so chances are you’ll be successful.

That said, there are proven potty training strategies that have worked for parents over the years.

1. It’s important for you to wait until your child’s ready for potty training. Parents sometimes rush into potty training because the idea of no diapers is appealing to your budget. Your child must be mentally and physically prepared to learn to use a bathroom, otherwise the process will be frustrating for both of you.

Here are some signs that your child is ready to begin:

* Curiosity about the toilet
* Recognition - a child tells you just made or have to pee.
• Keep a diaper dry for two hours or more
• Physically sitting on and then get off the potty
• Pulling down diapers, or throwing away training pants or underpants
• Curiosity about wearing underpants

2. Make sure you have the proper training aids.

• A small portable potty – maybe even keep one in the car for emergencies.
• Floating objects can be placed in the toilet to peak your child’s interest.
• Pullup diapers

3. Buy clothing that’s easy to put on and take off. There is nothing more frustrating than a child wetting their pants because they took too long to get their clothes off. Slip on pants are the easiest and, of course, skirts and dresses make it easy for girls.

Each child learns differently it’s true in school and it’s just as true with potty training. Be patient, be positive and be prepared! Next week we will offer some tips to help with potty training.

Teaching Kids To Learn From Failure

No one wants to see their child fail at something but you need to remember that kids can learn from failure. This article from Parenting magazine gives some great tips to help your child along this bumpy road. Click here to read more

Travel With Kids

With the unofficial start of summer starting today, many families are planning summer trips. Your family may choose a long trip or a day trip. As parents we all dread the question "Are we there yet?" With a little preparing you can make traveling with your little ones enjoyable and stress-free by following these simple tips:

1. Travel at night or get a very early morning start to your trip and let the kids sleep.

2. When traveling during the day, it helps to plan several short stops.. Find kid-friendly places to stop such as parks with playgrounds, historic monuments to give the kids a short break to work off their energy.

3. 1,000 bottles of root beer on the wall or B-I-N-G-O can really help to pass the time, and create some happy or sad memories depending on how good of a singer you are.

4. Bring a goodie-bag. Toys, games, bubbles, coloring books can all help pass the time during a long trip. Bring footballs, frisbees or soccer balls, to help gd the energy out during short stops.

5. Have your children write a journal to document where you’re going or where you have been on your trip. They can also practice the lost art of letter writing to friends they miss at home.

6. Of course, if you need to, you can always fall back on the hand-held games, tablet, CD and portable DVD players with earphones.

Let each child pack their own box or backpack of activities that way you can make sure they will like what they brought and it will keep their things organized and accessible.

Gardening With Kids

Last week Goddard’s lessons focused on Mother Earth and plants. We are celebrating spring and it would be a good opportunity to plant a garden with your little ones. Here are some of the many skills and knowledge your child will experience in the garden.

• Your child will learn about the environment, plants and what plants need to grow
• Your child will build confidence and a sense of accomplishment when they see their garden grow.
• They will learn responsibility, planting seeds, watering, weeding and finally harvesting their plants, or vegetables.

Where to start:

Let your child pick out their own seeds or plants at their local garden center. If you really want to get your child into gardening buy them their own tools, gloves and watering can. Establish a little area of the yard, or your existing garden, just for your child.

Next comes the fun, show your child how to plant the flower or seeds in their garden. Kids love this part because they get a chance to play in dirt! When they are done planting, it’s time to play with water by watering the new plants. Watering is sure to be a favorite for most children.

What to plant

1. Sunflowers are a great choice because of their height
2. If your child really likes to help out in the kitchen how about an herb garden
3. If you decide to grow vegetables, pick vegetables they already like to eat. Also carrots and strawberries always peek a child’s interest.
4. Plant a Pizza Garden – grow tomatoes, herbs, peppers etc. and then make a pizza with all the ingredients.

Always supervise your child in the garden so they stay safe. Happy gardening from Goddard!

Benefits of Teaching a Second Language to Young Children

It may seem that your toddler is still working on their language skills and that attempting to teach them an additional language would be wasted. But, recent research shows that many preschoolers are in fact able to learn multiple languages. Children can often learn a second language quicker than adults because they are not bogged down trying to learn verb tenses and grammar, they learn naturally through play and their brains are more open to absorbing new languages.

What are the benefits of learning a second language?

• Statistics show that students who study a second language perform better academically in verbal skills, logic and math.

• Students gain respect and understanding of family history and diversity.

• They will also become more tolerant of differences in people, they way they speak and where they are from.

• Students will have a better understanding of the English language. For example, since many of our words have origins in other languages, students will have a better chance to make sense of a new vocabulary word.

At The Goddard School Ashburn, we offer Spanish and American Sign Language to our children. We feel that it is very important for children to learn a second language at an early age.

The Benefits of Eating Meals Together

Dining together as a family has become rare in today’s hectic life.  School activities and career demands can make dining together impossible. But, if you can squeeze out time twice a week to sit down together for dinner or any meal, you and your family can benefit in several ways. Eating meals together can help:

• Develop and maintain open lines of communication
• Build stronger relationships
• You share the events of the day and discuss news and ideas
• Reduce teen rates of addiction and lessen teen depression (several studies have shown)
• Show children how they are the priority in their parent’s lives
• You find out more about your children’s likes and dislikes, which can form the basis for meaningful conversation
• Parents to direct their kids toward positive activities and behaviors.
• Children get higher grades on average (several studies have shown)

Sitting down for every family meal simply isn’t possible today, but trying to sit down together a few nights a week can help your children even when you’re not there.