Being a parent is a tough job. The day to day anxieties and the constant worry about whether you are doing the right things for you children can get overwhelming. And though it may provide you with some time to yourself, when you have to leave your child in the care of someone else, it can be just as stressful. Day care centers constantly advertise about why their day care facility is the best. But are they being truthful? What are some of the ways you can ensure that you are getting the best day care for your child?

Below we help answer some of these questions. Keep reading to get some tips on how to choose the best day care for your child.

Identify Your Priorities

A cookie cutter philosophy on day care is the first step to making a mistake. Not all day care centers provide what you need, and some of them may provide more than you need. Tailor your search to the specific goals and priorities of your family. If education is a priority, search out a child care center that incorporates learning and focused activities into their daycare. If you just need someone to keep an eye on your little one for a few hours a week, a curriculum might be a little overboard.

Do Your Research

When searching for a good daycare provider, a bit of research goes a long way to filtering out the inferior and inadequate centers. Ask friends and family members with children where they take their child to day care and why. Parents of children in daycare are usually not shy when asked their opinion about their child’s care. Often, they will be able to give a better review and may even share your same concerns and priorities.

From there, use the web and other local resources to get a list of day care together for your consideration.

Interview and Visit

Now that you have a good idea of which child care centers are best suited for you and your family, g=o and visit each. Ask the child care provider about what their day care can offer. Ask about things like safety, child to caregiver ratio and accreditations. Ask them about their philosophies on teaching and discipline. Make sure that these philosophies align with yours.

Check References

Ask the day care facility to give you a list of their references. Cal them all and see what other parents are saying. While there may be some bias, hearing from other parents is a great way to get a good idea of what the child care center is like.

Best Day Care in Colorado Springs with Young Scholars Academy

Young Scholars Academy in Colorado Springs is dedicated to providing quality childcare and day care in Colorado Springs. Come check out our programs and contact us today!

 

Fall is a great season to enjoy with the whole family.  It’s not quite as sunny as summer but still bright and cheerful just the same.  The weather and temperature is just right – not to hot and not too cold – to enjoy the outdoors with the kids.  There are a number of fun fall activities for kids that you might want to put in your bonding calendar.  Give these activities a try:

Autumn Collage

Take a stroll with your kids and set out on a mission to collect curiously shaped leaves for an autumn collage. You pick up acorns and small twigs too if you want.  If you have smaller kids, do not let them go off on their own.  You want to make sure that they do not get their hands on anything sharp or dangerous.  When you get back home with your stashes of leaves in an assortment of golden colors, you can start putting together your collage.

You can use ordinary bond paper or you can use a poster board.  Have some paint, glue, scissors, pencils, and coloring materials on-hand.  You can basically make any design or image you want by gluing the leaves you gathered on your choice of paper.  You and your kids can work together in one project or you can each have your own artwork.  You can also make several collages so you can have your own private exhibit at the end of the day (or week if you want more artworks to display).

Stamp Art

Make use of the apples and pumpkins that are abundant in the autumn season. You will have to cut shapes out of pumpkin and apples for your kids to use in their stamp art.  Start by cutting a good sized pumpkin and a couple of apples into slices that are about 2 inches thick. You can use cookie cutters are your guide by tracing the shapes on the pumpkin and apple slices.  Carve out the “flesh” outside of your traced lines to leave a raised area that will serve as the stamp.

When your stamps are done, put different colors of paint in small paper plates, lay out sheets of paper, and your art table is all set.  You and your kids can let your creative juices run and stamp away.

Sugar and Spice Bake Day

Since spices are often associated with the season, among the great fun fall activities for kids is to make sweet treats using spices. Apples and pumpkin are also ingredients that go well with spices like cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.  Recipes for treats like Gingerbread Cookies, Apple Crumble, and Pumpkin Pie are available in child-friendly versions that will be easy for you and your kids to follow.

Fun Fall Activities at Young Scholars Academy

Young Scholars Academy in Colorado Springs provides quality child care no matter the season. But we are especially excited about fall and the new school year. Young Scholars Child Care in Colorado springs offers child care programs for infants to school age children. We also have some exciting childcare enrichment programs! Come check out our programs and contact us today!

Do you remember how you felt when you were getting ready to go back to school? If you do, then you can imagine what it may be like for children. You can help them make this experience a fun and positive memory through these essential back to school tips for parents.

Back to School tips for Parents

 It goes without saying that the teacher is the adult who will be spending many hours with your child during most days of the week. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a positive connection with him or her. Before the start of school, get to know the new teacher – be it through a phone call, an e-mail, or in person – so that you can also help your child ease any fears he or she may have regarding the new teacher.

Choose school supplies with your child.

One of the most exciting parts about going back to school for a child is getting new stuff. As soon as you have acquired the class supply list, spend some quality time with him by getting to know his favorite colors, superheroes or cartoon characters, and other elements that can help you both have a worthwhile shopping experience.

After buying the new supplies, let your child use them even before the start of school, especially when it comes to new tools. That way, he will feel more confident when he starts using them in the classroom.

Help your child start new morning and evening routines for school

Good habits are especially important when it comes to gaining self-confidence and achieving goals, so help your child establish a set of good habits in the form of morning and evening routines. For instance, one important habit is for them to wake up early the same time each day. This habit should be instilled at least two weeks prior to the first day of school.

Work with your children in establishing their routine rather than you making it for them. Doing so will help them gain a sense of responsibility and make them more likely to follow the routine.

Back to School with Young Scholars Academy

Young Scholars Academy in Colorado Springs wants to help you make the transition back to school as smooth as possible. We offer quality before and after school programs for all ages. Come check out all our programs and contact us today! We look forward to hearing from you!

Is your little one about to start kindergarten? If so, then you must be feeling both excited and nervous. There’s no need to worry, though, for this is an all-natural part of being a parent.

Nevertheless, you can help your child experience kindergarten for the first time in a positive way with these essential starting kindergarten tips

Become involved in the school

A parent’s involvement is necessary for the child to feel more secure, thus, allowing him to perform better in school. This is important in all levels, but especially so in kindergarten.

Teachers would want you to stay in touch with them so that you can collaborate with them to help your child have an enriching learning experience. Get to know your child’s teacher and exchange contact information with him or her.

Also, it helps to do a bit of inspection on the school grounds. For instance, you must ensure that the playground is certified safe for kindergarteners.

Teach your child proper etiquette

Gradually, instill proper manners in your child so that he can interact well with both the kids and adults that he is about to meet. Proper bathroom etiquette such as how to wash hands and flush must not be overlooked as well. That way, your child will know how to use the bathroom with minimal supervision.

Let them practice basic skills ahead of time

Empower your child by equipping him with some basic skills even before he starts kindergarten. This will not only motivate him to want to learn more, but also let him gain the confidence he needs to tackle the tasks in store for him in the classroom.

Here is a list of some of the basic kindergarten readiness skills that you and your little one can bond over for a couple of minutes each day:

Shapes and Color Recognition. Your child will learn how to identify basic shapes and colors. It helps to hang posters of shapes and colors on his bedroom wall and playing several games to help enhance his ability to recognize them.

Letter and Sound Recognition. In most kindergartens, children are taught to recognize the letters of the alphabet, especially the sounds associated with each letter. Aside from singing the Alphabet song, you can also try games such as by playing with alphabet magnets on the refrigerator with your child. A poster with pictures, each of which has a name that starts with a letter in the alphabet, is also useful.

Number recognition. Basic counting skills are taught to kindergarteners, including recognition of the common numeral system (which is Arabic numerals, in most cases). You can recite the numbers with your child and play with number refrigerator magnets, or hang a poster with the numbers and pictures to represent the different numbers.

Fine motor skills. Give your child some crayons, markers and some age-appropriate activity sheets to practice his drawing, coloring and writing skills ahead of time. By letting your child practice early on, he can perform more confidently in the classroom.

Hopefully, these tips have also inspired you to think of even more ways to help your child start kindergarten confidently. Feel free to share these starting kindergarten tips to other parents as well.

Starting Kindergarten with Young Scholars Academy of Colorado Springs

Young Scholars Academy is dedicated to helping you and your child transition into kindergarten. Our Preschool and Junior Kindergarten programs can help your child prepare for the big step into kindergarten. Come check out our programs and contact us today. We look forward to hearing from you!

Like many things in life, childcare programs are not all made equal. Childcare comes in a variety of types. From simple in home babysitting, to educational childcare programs like preschool, to school age programs, childcare is as diverse as the children who benefit from it. But just because they are different doesn’t mean that one is better than the other. A babysitter is fine if you just need to get away for an evening. But if you want childcare with purpose, childcare that is more than supervision, childcare that exercises your little one’s mind and ignites their creativity, educational childcare with childcare enrichment programs is what you are looking for. Let’s take a look.

What are Childcare Enrichment Programs?

Childcare enrichment programs are programs that focus on the mental and creative development of your child. From art to music, STEM programs to dance, childcare enrichment programs both supplement and enrich a child’s educational development.

Music Childcare Enrichment Programs

The importance of music education cannot be overstated.  Music education has been shown to give children a number of cognitive benefits as well. Early music education is linked to higher test scores and contributes to ease of language acquisition and reasoning skills in young children.

The memorization techniques that are required to keep time, beat and melody all coming together into one boosts the parts of the brain associated with recall and memory. Keeping time and beat also contribute to the development of fluid intelligence and control.

Art Enrichment Programs

Before written language, there was art. Cave paintings scribbled by our Neolithic ancestors make clear the natural tendency for human beings to represent their lives in picture and story. Unfortunately, art education programs have suffered years of cutbacks and limited budgets. But that is starting to change. More and more education experts are acknowledging that art is an important element of a child’s education. And it’s never too early to start. In fact, many early childhood education centers are incorporating art programs for young children into their curriculum.

Foreign Languages

With foreign language programs, the younger the student the better. A young child’s mind is primed for language acquisition. It is important to realize that to a young child the language of their parents is just as foreign as Swahili is to an adult English speaker. The difference is the fact that the child does not have the limiting brain structures that develop as we age. They can absorb new words as concepts, while us adults absorb them as equivalencies between words, requiring the dreaded memorization techniques that made foreign language a bore in highschool. If you get them started early with a childcare enrichment programs that focuses on foreign languages, they will learn it with the same ease as they learn their native language.

Childcare Enrichment Programs with Young Scholars Academy

Young Scholars Academy of Colorado Springs has a number of childcare enrichment programs. From sign language to music and dance, Young Scholars Academy is dedicated to diversifying your child’s learning experience. Come check out our child care programs and contact us today.