Goddard School Ashburn Named Top Daycare

The Goddard School® Earns Top Honor


Ashburn preschool receives "Top Daycare Centers: 2010"

The Goddard School located at 45091 Research Place (University Center) in Ashburn has recently earned the "Top Daycare Centers: 2010" recognition.

The Northern Virginia Magazine selected the Goddard School “in recognition of going above and beyond what is required for molding the children who walk through your doors”.

"We’re proud to earn this top honor and be recognized for our commitment to reach the highest professional standards," said Madhu Govil, owner of The Goddard School located in Ashburn. "This recognition demonstrates to our community that children in our program receive the best possible care and early learning experiences. Our management and faculty have earned this achievement by performing their very best every day."

Excerpt from the Northern Virginia magazine (January 2010) states: “With so many households having both adults working and placing their bundles of joy in the hands of daycare providers, we here at Northern Virginia Magazine want to help parents make informed choices…The centers on the Top Daycare listing are centers whose staff and facilities go above and beyond both the state’s licensing requirements and the average center in Northern Virginia.” The evaluation was comprehensive and based on the Virginia Star Quality Program and NAEYC standards and the School was graded in five different areas: Teacher certifications, Teacher-to-Student ratios, Parent and Teacher Communication, Curriculum and Facilities. The Goddard School earned one of the highest Grades of all the Loudoun County Centers.


"We are humbled by this recognition and sincerely appreciate confidence and continued support of our parents. We encourage everyone to let their family and friends know about their School's achievement. Thank you" said Mrs. Madhu Govil.

About The Goddard School®:
The Goddard School located at 45091 Research Place in Ashburn, VA 20147 opened in January 2007. The premier preschool accommodates 140 children, ages six weeks to 6 yrs old. On-site owner, Mrs. Madhu Govil, along with her executive director, Ms. Teresa Roberts, and faculty, which includes teachers trained and experienced in early childhood development, are always looking forward to welcome children into this nurturing environment where the curriculum encourages learning for lifetime.

To learn more about The Goddard School, families are encouraged to please contact Mrs. Madhu Govil at 703-724-0601.

Developmental Milestones: 6 month

Many parents worry about their child’s development. Parents hear what other parents are saying about their child’s development and worry that their child is behind. The truth is, although each milestone has an age level, the actual age when a normally developing child reaches that milestone can very quite a bit. Every child is unique.

What are developmental milestones?

Developmental milestones are a set of functional skills or age-specific tasks that are appropriate for most children at a certain age range. Today we are going to talk about developmental milestones from birth to 6 months. Please keep in mind that these are only guidelines and all children develop at their own pace so don’t get too concerned if your child lags in a certain skill.

Developmental Milestones for a One-Month Old

When you first bring you baby home it seems like all the do is eat and sleep. By the end of the first month your baby should become much more alert and responsive. Some milestones might include:

•Bringing hands within range of eyes and mouth
•Moving head from side to side during tummy time
•Flopping head backward if unsupported
•Keeping hands in a tight fist

Developmental Milestones for a Three-Month Old

Around 3 months of age your baby will become much more active and many newborn traits will begin to fade. Babies around this age often have more control over their body and can spend hour entertaining themselves discovering their hands.

Some milestones may include:

•Raising their head and chest during tummy time
•Grasping and shaking hand toys
•Beginning to babble
•Beginning to imitate some sounds
•Turning head toward direction of sound
•Beginning to develop a social smile
•Enjoying playing with other people and crying when playing stops

Developmental Milestones for a Seven-Month Old

Many important changes occur between 4 and 7 months of age. Your baby will learn to coordinate their motor skills and start to develop their senses like vision, touch and hearing.

Some milestones may include

•Rolling both ways (front to back, back to front)
•Sitting with, and then without, support of her hands
•Supporting his or her whole weight on their legs
•Reaching with one hand
•Tracking moving objects
•Responding to own name
•Beginning to respond to “no”
•Distinguishing emotions by tone of voice
•Enjoying social play

If you have any questions or concerns about you child’s development, please contact your pediatrician or for more information please visit the American Academy Pediatrics website

Source: http://www.aap.org

Socialization

Socialization is important to your young child and working on social skills in preschool is an important factor in developing skills that will help children through the rest of their life.
Socialization is the process of interacting with others. Children begin the process of social development at an early age. They learn to interact through play and by mimicking social actions at home and in school.

Early on in life parents and guardians worry about their child’s social development. It’s not uncommon for teachers to hear questions like, does my child have any friends and do they play well with others?

Socialization is critical to developing skills like taking turns, cooperating, respecting others and forming friendships. These skills will be necessary in the classroom, on the job and throughout the rest of their lives. In fact, social skills have been linked to later success in school. Sharing and listening to the teacher's instruction are fundamental building blocks to reading, spelling and counting numbers. School friendships can also have a positive impact on self esteem which can also increase classroom participation and overall performance.

You probably notice teachers playing games with preschool children and you probably dismiss it as just having fun. However, this play is actually designed to build social skills. Playing games that have children work in small groups or even pairs helps them learn one another’s names and promotes a sense of belonging. As the children get older the teacher’s often lead discussions on friendship and what it means to be a friend, this teaches the children how to interact with their peers.

Developing social skills can be a difficult task but teachers and parents make wonderful role models and children learn from example. You can reinforce these skills at home by speaking positively and sharing positive qualities about others.

Read more: http://www.brighthub.com

Part 2 of the Flex Learning Program

Earlier this week we began to outline our Flex Learning Program. This blog will continue to outline the elements of Flex Learning and how it can benefit your child.

Optimal Learning Environment that is Creative and Fun:

An Enriched Learning Environment fosters well-rounded, happy and confident learners. Our extensive resources include the creation of a warm, nurturing environment where children can make many supportable choices, independently explore learning materials and develop socialization skills as they interact with others. Toys and equipment are carefully chosen, first for safety and then for how they stimulate young imaginations and help children develop.

Enrichment programs augment the Goddard School’s core curriculum to expose children to the skills necessary to support their active lives, develop positive self-esteem and set the foundation for a healthy lifestyle. These programs include sign language, yoga, fitness, art history, music, sports, world cultures and foreign languages.
Child Centered Learning and Teachable Moments with a Personalized Approach:
Professional, Highly-Trained Faculty make the most of every teachable moment. Our professional educators are intentional in guiding and extending children’s play to ensure key developmental milestones are achieved across the learning domains. Teachers facilitate learning through responsive interactions with children as they learn and have fun! Our teachers skillfully weave in academic and learning objectives as they build upon what the individual children can do and encourage them to try new things.

Goddard Schools’ educators are professionals. They’re provided ongoing training through Goddard Systems University (GSU), a fully accredited, exclusive professional development program…which assures our teachers are constantly at the forefront of the latest in child development concepts, trends and research.

Child-Centered Learning lays the foundation for continuous discovery, academic success and school readiness “Young children who learn through play are more ready to make their own decisions, advocate for themselves and use creativity to solve problems as they grow,” says Dr. Kyle Pruett, a Yale University child psychiatrist and consultant to The Goddard School. Making learning fun is at the core of The Goddard School FLEX Learning Program and, each day, Goddard School children select activities and materials to discover, explore and invent in their own imaginative and creative way. Child-centered learning is absolutely essential to advancing children’s development and their readiness for school.

The FLEX Learning Domain Chart (below) features the core, academically accepted, learning domains and illustrates how the Goddard core curricular and enrichment programs cover these learning areas. These are the standard learning domains that are included in most state guidelines for quality early childhood education. This aspect of the poster helps to reassure parents that their child will receive a well-rounded program designed to bring out their full potential.

Family Bonding During Winter Break

Winter break can be a rough time for many parents. Being cooped up in the house can make parents and children crazy after only a few days. Here are a few ideas for you and your children to help you survive the winter break.

*Have an indoor picnic with your children. Spread out a blanket and pack a basket of your favorite picnic foods. Take this time to chat about what you miss most about the summer.

* Have a family game night. Chances are many of your family's favorite board and card games reinforce skills such as counting, reading, and drawing. Gather the group to play games you usually don't have time for on school nights.

* Go online and find some fun winter crafts like glitter snowflakes to hang around the house and in the windows. Your children will have a blast making decorations to put up around your home. Do these crafts with your children because they are the types of activities your children will remember for years to come.

*Have a cooking day with your kids. Cooking with your children can teach them valuable skills and also give them precious time with you. Have smaller children help you measure, stir dry ingredients, and count out ingredients with you. Pick out a few simple recipes that the kids can help you with, like sugar cookies or gingerbread men. Once the cookies are baked and cooled, let the kids decorate them with different frostings and sprinkles.

*Your local library is a valuable resource for activates, story hours or special shows. You can also take them to pick out their own books, movies, and music.

*Exercising is the one thing neglected by all members of the family when the colder weather comes around. Pop in an exercise video or some music and exercise with your children. For those who are more creative, let loose and just dance. On a day that is not too cold, bundle up the kids and take a nature hike.

With so many choices you are bound to find a few actives that you can do as a family and make memories for your children and even create family traditions.

Sources: http://www2.scholastic.com/
http://www.essortment.com
http://www.stretcher.com

The Power of the Nutritional Snack

Toddlers and young children grow rapidly, are ever active, and require good nutrition and plenty of healthy meals and snacks. Many toddlers are picky, or don’t want to spend time sitting at a meal. Making sure their diet is adequate is a challenge that all parents and guardians face. Here are a few basic tips that might help you establish healthy eating habits from the start.

Balance Is Important
Making sure a meal contains a balance of fruits, vegetables, protein, dairy and grains. Try to balance your nutritional needs based on the USDA’s Food Guide Pyramid of at least six servings of foods from the grain section daily, three servings of vegetables daily, two servings of fruits daily, three servings of meats daily, and three servings of dairy products daily.

Snacks Can Help
Many parents find it difficult to prepare and serve complete balanced meals all the time. Snacks are very important for growing children, especially those picky eaters who don’t eat much at meal times. This is why it’s very important to pick snacks for your child that are nutritious like fruits and vegetables. Vegetables, especially green vegetables, are high in iron and fiber, Vitamin C and potassium.

Keep healthy good tasting snacks readily available around the house. Foods that can make for nutritional snacks include microwave popcorn, graham crackers, fruits, frozen fruit juice on a stick, trail mix, pretzels, low-fat yogurt, and low-fat milk. Encourage plenty of milk and water rather than sodas and empty calorie fruit drinks.

Eat a Rainbow
Part of the strategy for having a balanced diet is to try to include foods of every color throughout the day. This means foods that are naturally that color, not processed or artificially colored foods. An example of a breakfast with color variation is cereal with milk and banana slices (white/ yellow), strawberries (red) and orange juice (orange). Snack on blueberries (blue) mid-morning, and a graham cracker (brown). Lunch could include a tuna sandwich and some cucumber slices (green). Snack on purple grapes or fruit spread on whole-wheat bread. Already the day’s menu has been full of color balance, which delivers a good variety of the vitamins and protein a person needs.

If your child is an overly picky eater or their diet continues to cause you concern, seek out the assistance of a registered dietician who specializes in working with children to develop strategies to provide for the good nutritional health of your child.

Introducing Art to Young Children

At Goddard we often make art the focus of activities and creativity in the classroom. Since art can be a great way to introduce and facilitate learning in children. Art offers opportunity for teaching beyond just the art itself. In a trip to the museum or time spent paging through a calendar or old art history book you can begin to reinforce the following concepts.

Shapes – it’s fun for you and your child to point out different shapes that can be found hidden in the masterpieces of the great painters.
Colors – shades of colors abound in oil paintings and water colors. Point out and name each color to reinforce the lessons being taught to your preschooler.
Counting – if your child is learning to count, painting and other works of art make for a fun counting activity that will keep your child’s interest.
Observation – play a game of I spy with my little eye with your child using pictures of great masterpieces.

It’s easy to access to some of the most cherished artistic masterpieces. You just need to check your local library or bookstore for children’s books on the subject of art. Calendars often feature works by the great masters, so you may already have examples of fine art hanging right in your kitchen.

Of course the best place to find art is at your local museum, a gallery, or a place with lots of outdoor sculptures. Plan to just stroll through the rooms, letting your child decide which rooms to spend more time in. Pause often to talk about what you see. If possible, try to find a museum that specializes in tours for children. Sometimes they may have exhibits that are especially geared towards the little ones.

About Goddard Ashburn

One of the tenants of the Goddard educational philosophy is family communication. The purpose of the Goddard, Ashburn blog is to educate families and potential families on the great things happening at our school. This blog will be updated twice a week with information about what’s happening in our classrooms, from curriculum to projects to art activities we’ll highlight why we are the best choice for your child’s education.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Goddard School, Ashburn, VA, here is a little information on our philosophy

The Goddard School® is dedicated to providing the foundation to encourage each child’s lifelong love of learning in a safe and nurturing environment by:

• offering a wide range of enriching activities to meet the needs of each child focusing on building each child's emotional, social, cognitive and physical skills
• offering multi-cultural and developmentally appropriate materials and equipment
• complying with Quality Assurance Reviews and parent surveys conducted by GSI
• supporting the professional development of teachers through GSU
• offering open communication with families in an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect

Our Programs

Whether gently holding an infant, encouraging toddlers to share, or providing preschoolers with a variety of enriching activities, caring teachers support the healthy development of children from six weeks to six years.
We’ll be providing a lot more detail in future blog entries about our programs for Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers, Pre-K and Junior-K and School Age children. So check back on a regular basis to see what we’re up to.