Kindness is the greatest gift any parent can teach their child(ren). One way to teach kindness is by volunteering. It is hard to find ways for kids volunteer because many places require background checks or work that is hard for a child to participate. Below are some ways in which your family can get involved.

In light of the holiday season, donating toys to children in need is a wonderful way for children to learn about charity. Toys for Tots is a Christmas project dedicated to making sure every child in our community receives a toy on Christmas morning. Last year alone over 18,000 children in the Pikes Peak Region were served. Explain to your child about the need then take them shopping so they can experience the joy of picking out a toy for someone less fortunate. If you know of a family in need you can request a toy a toy through their website. Toys can be donated at one of many donation sites. For a list of donation sites or to apply to become an official donation site, please visit Marine Toys

There are many people in our city without homes. The homeless need food and goods all year round, not just during the holidays. Many food pantries and shelters collect non-perishable goods such as canned goods (tuna, salmon, chicken, vegetables, fruit), boxed /bagged goods (potatoes, rice, pasta, oatmeal, cream of wheat), and seasonings, hygiene products (razors, tooth brushes, toothpaste, pads, tampons, deodorant), blankets, clothing, and so much more. Food and monetary donations, while always accepted, are not the only ways to give back. You can volunteer your time by sorting/organizing, preparing, or serving food. For a comprehensive list of food assistance programs and how you and your family can get involved, please visit https://www.foodpantries.org/ci/co-colorado\_springs

Did you know that the children’s hospital accepts donations of books, toys, crafts, games, and electronics? They are always in need of items, especially for adolescents, toddlers, and infants. Due to risk of infection, the hospital only accepts new products in original packaging. They also cannot accept plants, latex balloons, and food products including candy. Your family can organize a drive to collect items in which to donate. The link provided gives a complete wishlist and most needed items for four Colorado Springs Children’s Hospital locations. https://www.childrenscolorado.org/…/donate-vo…/wish-list.pdf

Your family can also give back to your friends. A fun and exciting way is to host a slumber party or game night for your child’s friends. The kids get a night of fun while their parents receive a much needed date night. While it is not the same as volunteering/donating to local charities, it is still a great way to give back.

Another way that your family can give back to the community is by picking up trash. Take an hour or two on a weekend once a month, or more often depending on your family’s schedule to clean as a family. This is some quality time with the kids as well as a way to help keep our beautiful city clean. Please take precautions though. Wear gloves, weather appropriate attire, sunscreen, and keep your kids at a safe distance from you.

While there are many more ways for you and your family to give back to your community, these are some great ways to spend time as a family. Enjoy your time together.

-Ms. Blair
Wellness Coordinator
Lead Preschool Teacher

Can you imagine cooking with your children in the kitchen? Flour everywhere, multiple dirty dishes and bumping into each other making a twenty-minute recipe take forty-five minutes or more. Is it worth it? Simply put…YES.

Having your children help in the kitchen builds amazing memories and helps build on multiple skills your child needs. Cooking is an adventure of the senses that explores math, science and self- help skills. I loved having my son help me in the kitchen. When he grew up and was on his own, he called me from the dorms of the military to express his surprise at how many in the dorms couldn’t make a simple meal for themselves. Being able to rely on yourself is s huge self-esteem boost. Being able to cook is huge opportunity for independence.

Academic skills play a big part of cooking. Introducing measuring tools such as measuring cups and spoons encourage learning about cups, ounces, teaspoons and tablespoons. Children can learn about fractions when halving or doubling recipes. Yes, even preschoolers. Mixing water with flour and seeing two different substances change is science. Discovering what happens to an egg when you whisk it can be absolutely fascinating to a child. No funnier way to then science! Working with a recipe and following the directions is a great literacy activity. Even if they can’t read the recipe, they are learning to associate actions to the written word. They learn that reading is meaningful beyond bedtime stories. One thing I have learned about cooking with children is how much better the eat (including your picky eaters) when they have spent time preparing the food. They get to see it, smell it and have ownership in what they are eating.

Cooking with children can be a very rewarding experience. Check out this web site to help you get started https://kidshealth.org › parents › cooking-preschool.
Try this simple recipe of an all-time favorite.

Three-Cheese Grilled Cheese

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 8 slices sourdough bread
• 4 slices cheddar cheese (about 3 ounces)
• 4 slices Swiss cheese (about 3 ounces)
• 4 slices American cheese (about 3 ounces)

Directions

Spread the butter on one side of each bread slice. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Put 2 bread slices in the skillet, buttered side down. Layer a slice each of cheddar, Swiss and American cheese on each piece of bread, then cover with another bread slice, buttered side up.
Cook, pressing the sandwiches occasionally with a spatula, until the cheese melts and the bread is golden, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Repeat to make 2 more sandwiches. Slice each sandwich diagonally in half, then return to the hot pan, cut side down, to create a crust on the cheese.
Check for more recipes at https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/packages/recipes-for-kids/cooking-with-kids

Happy cooking!
-Ms. Dotty
NAEYC Coordinator
Lead Pre-Kindergarten teacher

As parents we always want to do for our children and others, holding their needs above our own at times. Making time for that parent teacher conference and PTO meeting. Meeting the requirement for volunteer hours at your child’s school. Going grocery shopping, making sure the laundry gets done and the house stays clean. Doing everything in your power to be the best mom or dad, sometimes both for your child. Yes, making sure their needs are met is what should be done. But what about your needs, lets walk through this and ask yourself some questions.

• Are your needs being met?
• Do you feel tired and run down?
• Do you feel like you never have enough time to complete tasks or feel that it is not being met to full potential?
• Do you wish you had just five minutes to yourself?

If you find yourself answering yes to any of the above, chances are you are not taking time for yourself. Though our may goal will always be our children and work first. You still need time to yourself, otherwise you will become rundown, have loss of energy and often times may come down with a cold.

Setting time aside for yourself should be a weekly goal, sit back with a book and a glass of wine, take a weekly exercise class, watch your favorite show or even just take a nap. Start out small and build it up, make it twice a week instead of once. Start by planning your week out, list any activities that you would normally do in a weeks’ time. Set aside two days for work, two days for children’s activities, two days for family time and a day for yourself. Now even the best laid plans can need to be changed so no worries, switch a family day for a workday if it works better during that particular week, the main goal is to meet your emotional and mental needs.

Now that you have the schedule part figured out find ways to fill your time. It does not have to be the same activity weekly maybe one week you go to get nails down, while another you go shopping by yourself. You may not think it but going shopping without little people throwing everything in sight into the cart can be mentally fulfilling, you may even stick to your shopping list. Take a bubble bath, start a hobby, journal, writing down your thoughts can help in so many ways, even clear your brain fog.

Taking just twenty minutes for yourself a week can help you de-stress, sleep better, and all around just feel better. The day to day things will still be there the next day that will never change. Taking care of yourself so that your there for the people that matter the most to you, now that’s priority. Attached you will find a 30 day self-care challenge, I challenge each of you to do this for yourself , the results at the end of the month will be worth it!

-Ms. Brittani
Lead Preschool Teacher
Health & Wellness Coordinator

Let’s break down academics to know when to freak out and when to just chill out. There is more to education than memorizing letters and numbers. Your young child is not being solely based by these things but being looked at as a whole person.

• Are they kind?
• Can they show compassion?
• Can they work with others?
• Can they cope with their own emotions throughout the day?
• Do they know how to have a conversation? Using eye contact and body language?
• Do they know how to advocate for themselves?

We need to look at the bigger picture: which is the whole child. Can you answer “yes” to all or most of these types of questions about your child? If not, then let’s take a step back. If your child has no grasp on the concept of themselves and others and the needs of themselves and others, then you can just slide those flashcards back into the box for now.

The first steps in education have to be laying a foundation of social and emotional groundwork. You are helping your child so much more by showing them how to be kind, than you would be by forcing them to play with “educational” games at home. Having conversations about what your child thinks about themselves is so empowering for them, and offering up what you love about them too, but more importantly telling them what you like about yourself as well. Teach from experiences you share in public. Allow your child to ask questions about people and what is going on around them. We are the captains of showing our children the ropes of life; the good and the ugly. Being honest with your child sets them up for success.

Once you can honestly say that your child excels at the questions above, then it is time to introduce academics. They are now in a place to receive the learning that you hope for them to absorb.

Mix your social skills and academics together by going to run errands in town with your children. They can help with grocery lists, numbers at the bank, colors at the beauty salon, or money at the laundry mat. At home you could have your child help you prepare meals regularly. Pick one day a week or one mealtime specifically. This is fun and educational for your child.

If you started making bedtime stories a nightly routine from birth that is a huge educational piece that you may not have even realized you were giving your child. They are making huge brain connections with this one activity alone. It’s not too late to start this if it is not currently a part of your bedtime routine.

So, you have put all these suggestions into play, and you sit down to have a parent teacher conference. You are shown that your child is “behind” in their learning. How can this be?? Not every child “clicks” at the same time. Your child is not “behind”. That is why it is called Pre School. It is exactly that; we are preparing them to go to school to learn more educational concepts. Perhaps your child has some more social skills to work on. And that is okay. Learning will come naturally and when you least expect it. One day you will overhear your child reading a book aloud to themselves. Today just may not be that day.

It will come; promise. We have to stop putting so much pressure on ourselves and our little ones just to look good on paper. We know you worry; that’s part of what makes you the great parent that you are. But breathe and think about all the things that you child DOES already know. That is the list to look at.

-Ms. Brooke
Lead Pre-Kindergarten Teacher
Curriculum Coordinator
Literacy Coordinator

​As a parent you pick up your children from childcare and part of the process in taking home any work and art they may have done during the day. Once home you go through it and you wondering…what is that? You gaze at this piece of paper that shows swirls of colors with no shapes or recognizable subject. Your next thought is what are they doing all day besides scribbling? Believe me when I tell you that all those scribbles are very important.

​That page of scribbles has a story. Sit down with your child and talk with them about it. Ask them what that blue mark is. Ask them what is going on in the picture. I guarantee you will be for a trip through their imagination that will be unique and special for your child. Being creative builds up a child’s confidence. It builds up their self-esteem. In process art it is about the freedom to express yourself. Nothing is wrong. Green skies and blue grass allow their thoughts to wander through all kinds of different scenarios which builds upon their ability to be creative thinkers and problem solvers.

​What does process art look like?

The National Association for the Education of Young Children, or NAEYC, describes process-focused art experiments as having some of the following characteristics:

• There are no step-by-step instructions
• There is no sample for children to follow
• There is no right or wrong way to explore and create
• The art is focused on the experience and on exploration of techniques, tools, and materials
• The art is unique and original
• The experience is relaxing or calming
• The art is entirely the children’s own
• The art experience is a child’s choice

​Process art should not have an end goal. Put out the materials and let them go. There is no limit on what you can introduce your children too. What you need is simple: paper, crayons, markers, watercolors, paint, play dough or clay. Be creative throw in pipe cleaners, craft sticks, glue, old CDs, anything that can spark creativity. Join in on the fun for some super quality time with your children. Remember it is not so much what they create but the allowing them to try and be successful.

Ms. Dotty
NAEYC Coordinator
Lead Jr. Kindergarten Teacher