12 Days of Fun (and Cheap!) Christmas Activities for Families

With the holidays quickly approaching there are plenty of family fun activities to help create wonderful memories that can last a lifetime. Family Education offers 12 ideas on celebrating the holidays with the kids without spending a small fortune. Click here to read more.



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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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Making the Holiday’s Safe

The holidays can be an enjoyable and fun time for your family, but there are also hazards every parent should be aware of. KidsHealth.org offers tips to help keep children safe and avoid a trip to the emergency room this holiday season. Click here to read the article.

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Take Home an iPad Mini for the Holidays!

From now through December 21, we are giving away an iPad Mini to those who:

• Refer a qualifying family that enrolls a child and pays the first month's tuition; OR
• Schedule a visit with us, enroll a child (or children) and pay the registration fee + first month's tuition.

To qualify for the giveaway all you need to do is call us at (703) 724-0601 with your referral or, if you are a new family, schedule a tour to learn more about our programs for children ages six weeks to six years old. If you are scheduling a tour, then you must be a parent or legal guardian of an infant, toddler or preschool-aged child to qualify for the giveaway. See offer details below.

 

Call us at (703) 724-0601 today.

Offer Details:

• The iPad mini giveaway offer is valid until December 21 and applicable only for the full-time program enrollment.
• The new family must enroll and start by January 5.
• The new family must pay the registration fee + first month's tuition in full.
• The iPad mini will be given after the full tuition payment is received.
• This offer cannot be combined with any other offer.

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Preschool Cliques

It is not unusual for preschool children to form cliques. They tend to pick a few children that are similar to themselves to be friends with rather than the whole class. Because preschoolers are still learning the concept of friendship it’s important that parents and teachers help children navigate their way through this time.

If you are a parent of a new or shy student, it may be difficult for them to break into existing cliques in the class. If you are concerned about your child making new friends, you should work with your teacher on ways your child can foster friendships and break through cliques. Talk to your child’s teacher to find out how they are behaving around other children. They may be shy or acting out which can cause other children to shy away.

Here are a few tactics your child’s teacher might use to help them develop new friendships:

• Grouping your child with a variety of children during small group activities
• Working with a "buddy" to complete a task (e.g., handing out snack)
• Making suggestions about fun things to do with different children during free play

Here are a few ways you can help:

• Try role playing situations and ways your child can approach other children during school to make them comfortable with the act of making friends.
• Approach a parent of an outgoing child. See if they are open to a play date or other ways your child can be paired up with their child inside and outside of class. This may help your child learn from a peer how to make new friends.

Keep in mind that your child might simply be shy and don’t expect them to develop friendships overnight. Teaching them the skills to make friends over time will benefit them as they experience cliques throughout their lifetime.

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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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Developing Literacy

How does your child develop literacy?
Literacy skills (reading and writing) start to develop in preschool when teachers begin to expose children to spoken and written language.

During this time you’ll find a teacher using a combination of pictures, printed letters and words, and speaking. Through this process your child will begin to make the connection that objects or pictures represent words that have meaning.

There are many ways this occurs in the classroom including:

• Nursery Rhymes: Children love the sing song cadence of nursery rhymes. In many cases children have heard these rhymes since they were babies, and a common classroom activity is to have them fill-in-the-blanks on favorite nursery rhymes and stories.

• Scribbling: as we spoke about in a previous blog, scribbling is the start of writing and scribbling on paper should be encouraged as much as possible.

• Printed Letters and Words: Classrooms that are full of pictures and words are the best environment for children to learn the basics of literacy.

There is no better way to develop literacy than reading with your child. The time you invest in reading to your child will be paid back as your child becomes a strong reader. Let your child guess the words as you read. Let them understand that pictures often give clues to the words on the pages.

Here are some other ways that you can reinforce literacy at home:
• Make books available
• Label objects around their room
• Read in front of your child. When they see you read they will want to read too.
• Encourage your child’s creativity. Writing, drawing and even finger painting all encourage literacy.

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