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The Nutrition Battle

February 25, 2020 by Young Scholars Academy Leave a Comment

I don’t think anything in parenthood is as greatly debated as much as nutrition.

Breastmilk, formula, purees, table food, how much, how often, the list goes on and on. It all usually starts with some old school advice from well-meaning relatives. Feed the baby more, put cereal in the bottle, give them solids so they sleep longer, babies need bland foods because their taste buds aren’t like ours. It’s nearly impossible to navigate all the information. It’s important to follow the advice of your pediatrician, but I have some quick tips that may help. Don’t worry, we’ll talk about the older kiddos too!

In the early days, breastmilk and/or formula are all a baby needs. Infants fed at the breast will generally take in between 24-30 ounces in a 24 hour period by the time they are a month old and until right around 6 months when solids are introduced. The amount of breastmilk needed won’t increase, because breastmilk changes to meet the baby’s needs. Formula fed babies are similar, but the amounts increase as baby grows. Something I have been working to introduce here at the center is paced feeding. In short, it’s the practice of slowing down the bottle feeding so baby has more time to feel full, rather than gulping the entire thing down.

Introducing solids is where things get tricky. Some recommendations say 4 months is the time to introduce while some say 6 months. A handy list of physical milestones to watch for can help determine if your baby is ready. Sitting unassisted, loss of tongue thrust reflex and the development of a pincer grasp are some great signs to look for.

But wait, WHAT do I feed my baby? Great question! You have several options. My personal favorite is baby led weaning. Baby eats what you eat and it’s a fun, messy experience for the whole family. There are some great resources out there to get started. (I even have a book you can borrow, feel free to stop by my classroom!) Another option is starting with baby cereals and purees. (Tiny side note, we have the ability to puree fresh fruits and veggies when we have them with our school meals!) Whatever you choose, it’s important to follow your baby’s cues. Start slow and see where it takes you. And be sure to take LOTS of pictures.

After a year when breastmilk and formula have tapered out, and even if breastfeeding continues, your kiddo will be eating primarily solid foods. Current guidelines recommend that a child between the ages of 12 months and 36 months needs between 1000 and 1400 calories a day, depending on size, age and activity level. (They’re all pretty active though, amiright?) From a year to 2 years, they need 3 servings of whole grains, 1 serving (1 cup) of fruit and 1 serving of vegetables, 2 servings of protein (1 egg or 1 ounce of cooked meat), and 2 servings of milk. Yogurt, cheese, breastmilk and non-dairy milks meet that recommendation. This increases only slightly from the age of 2-3. 5 servings of whole grains, 1.5 of fruit, 1.5 of vegetables, 2-4 of protein and 2 of milk. From 4 to 5 years of age it goes to 6 servings of grains, 5 fruits & vegetables, 2 protein and 3 milk. In reality though, knowing how much they eat is typically less important that what they’re eating. A variety of healthy foods from each groups is a great way to ensure they get what they need.

Now, what about those busy nights when you forgot to turn on the crockpot, or you had an insane day and just need to grab something quick? No worries! Seriously, a meal from McDonald’s here and a couple of Chic-Fil-A nights there aren’t going to mess your child up for life. Organic? It’s nice for certain foods, but not something you necessarily need to spend all your time stressing about. Those crumbs in the back seat of your car or the snacks your child finds somewhere weeks later? No problem. Take it from me. I breastfed both of my boys for 2 and a half years each, and to my great surprise, my oldest did not die when he found a chocolate donut in his Batmobile about a week after I remember seeing it, and he ate it right in front of me. My brother-in-law was formula fed and he was the cleanest, least disgusting eater ever as a child. I was formula fed and I am completely in love with fruits and veggies as an adult! Feed your child in the way you choose that works best for you and your family. You have the information, be free to do with it what you’d like!

Ms. Amy
Infant Nursery Supervisor
Parent Connection Coordinator

Filed Under: Health & Wellness

My Kid Got Stuck In The Freezer

February 25, 2020 by Young Scholars Academy Leave a Comment

Stress takes many forms in people lives, not everyone has the same stressors. It can be anything from striving to be perfect, self-doubt, even trying to control everything in your life. It can come from any event in your life, sometimes it can be positive like when you need to meet a deadline, other times it can leave you feeling angry, frustrated or nervous. Over time stress can leave you feeling rundown and out of sorts.

Ask yourself the following questions:

Are you feeling overly tired?

Do you have low energy or get frequent headaches?

Do you find yourself getting sick more often or even not sleeping?

Chances are you are stressed over some obstacle in your life. The challenge then comes to figure out your stressors and find ways to work through them. Yes, I said work through them as just avoiding them is never a long-term answer. Everyone has their breaking point that one thing that sends you so far over the edge you feel like you can’t breathe or even think straight. Now anyone that knows me knows that I have to have as much control as possible, everything has to be neat and tidy, and if something doesn’t go how I planned it I literally panic and feel as if I have done something wrong. Now are these normal feelings to a degree yes, have they caused major stress in my life yes!

My breaking point was when I literally had a breakdown in the grocery store yes, I said it the grocery store. I was grocery shopping with my children. Like many other parents this isn’t my most favorite chore to do with my kids, so I tried to make a game out of it.

They were not into it so I told my son to hold onto the basket while I grabbed something from the freezer. Did he listen? No, but that’s not even the best part.
Why hold onto the basket when you can climb into the freezer which is EXACTLY what he did, he climbed in and the door shut behind him, and LOCKED HIMSELF IN THE FREEZER!

Now any other parent would have taken a picture and thought that this was hilarious right. Yeah, no it terrified me I literally thought I had lost him. You may be thinking geez, stop being dramatic. Some people can panic for a moment and then laugh.

Here’s a little back story to my marketplace meltdown.

The entire week had been nonstop fighting with my kiddos. I am right now juggling a full time job, 3 kids and a household by myself as my fiancé is in another state right now for work. When my littlest, who is 15 months old started to join in, I was literally ready to throw in the towel and call it a night. Oh, wait I had to feed the children, hence why I was at the grocery store.

So again, instead of laughing when my son was literally standing behind the glass down in the freezer section, I freaked out. I quickly finished up with what groceries I did have in the cart, get three kids in their car seats, called my fiancé and broke down. I was ugly crying, the kids in the back looking at me like “Mom can you pull yourself together any time soon please?” After walking myself through what was wrong I got some very clear and apparent advice. “Go drop the kids off at the gym child care and go work out.” Duh.

Elle Woods said it best, “exercising releases endorphins, endorphins make you happy” (I hope you all know the rest!)

It was important for me to say out loud everything that was bothering me. Then more important to be able to separate for a second and take some time for me. I needed the hour to myself at the gym to just be able to catch my breath. Which an hour earlier I couldn’t feel like I could do.

Now your next meltdown may not be when your locks himself in the freezer, it could be any where but it will happen. My hope that when the next event happens, you’ll be able to fully embrace the stress. Ugly cry, be mad, be sad whatever it is so that you can fully work out your stress.

Ms. Brittani
Lead Preschool Teacher
Health & Wellness Coordinator

Filed Under: Family Tips

Sanctimommies

February 20, 2020 by Young Scholars Academy Leave a Comment

We all know the type. Perfect hair, perfect makeup, impeccable house, above average children who could do no wrong. She’s the perfect mom and has made all the right choices leading to this. Underneath? She’s a mess. She’s doing her best just like the rest of us, but chooses what to put forth as an indicator of how her life is going. And while so many of those moms convey these perfect lives on social media, they do a fair amount of judging right along with it. Sanctimommies. Mom-shaming.

Here’s the thing: social media traps so many of us into thinking we need to strive to be just like her when the fact is that we’re all going to do the very best with the information and tools we have. You know the stuff I’m talking about. Breastfeeding versus formula feeding, birthing, sleeping arrangements, discipline, the list goes on and on. All these “experts” who think they know what’s best for everyone.

Don’t get me wrong, I have my own preferences as a mom and I’m not shy about them. Some of those preferences shape who I am as a teacher. I do things a certain way with my own boys. But, my preferences simply CAN’T be the preferences for every mom and every child. And let’s be real, I’m not perfect and in most of my own social media posts you’ll see messy faces, toys all over, and some spectacularly wonky hair.

So what can be done when these perfect social media sanctimommies attack? First, remember that social media isn’t real life. Sure you can find a wealth of information, recipes you’ll never make and craft ideas you’ll never complete, but not all that information is helpful, correct, or inline with your situation. You can’t convince anyone who doesn’t want to learn anything new, so don’t stress it.

Second, know that absolutely no one can make you feel shame or guilt except yourself. If someone is telling you something about your parenting choices and you know that you made the right decision for you and your family with the information and tools you had, that’s all you need to know. You owe the internet trolls nothing.

Last, it’s not about what your life looks like to everyone else on the outside, but about how it feels to you and your children. I promise you I don’t look back at my childhood picture albums and focus on the stuff in the background. I look at the smiles and the experiences that were captured. That’s what matters.

Filed Under: Family Tips

Black History Month In Preschool

February 20, 2020 by Young Scholars Academy Leave a Comment

Putting new ideas in front of our children can be scary, but why are we afraid of diversity and seeing other’s points of view past and present?

This February I challenge each of you to teach your children some history; specifically, Black History. From this I hope that you feel like expanding your children’s (and possibly you own) minds to be open to learning about many different cultures, races/ethnicities, and ways of life.

It is easy to think that teaching history to children younger than five years old is way over their heads, but it’s not. Just like all concepts you find ways to teach your children in ways that they will understand; same thing applies here.

The best way to start off would be by reading some age appropriate books; that will give you an idea of where to start, some vocabulary to use, and figure out what you want to focus on. Reading a book first will give children visuals; which most need because they have not learned any other ways of learning yet. They need the visuals and hands on learning. Which is not what you think of when you think of teaching history. You’re going to have to stretch out of your box. Buy some of these books and music to make a part of your permanent collections. Here are some fun ways to experience Black History and diversity:

Crank up some tunes by:

  • Michael Jackson
  • Stevie wonder
  • Ray Charles
  • Beyoncé
  • Whitney Houston

Talk about famous icons like:

  • Harriet Tubman
  • Martin Luther King Jr.
  • The Obamas

A couple of great books and authors for young children:

  • Vashti Harrison has written Dream Big Little One, Little Legends, and Little Dreamers
  • All the Colors We Are by Kate Kissinger
  • Black is Brown is Tan by Arnold Adoff
  • How my Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R. Friedman

While having these experiences and learning allow your children to ask any questions that they have and give them answers. Explain how people were once separated from one another by the color of their skin. Tell them about the people that had the courage to stand up and say it was not fair. How strong women and men have fought hate to make equal rights for all people. The more you open your hearts to all people into your homes the less drastic conversations will have to be about diversity. Making it a normal part of your daily lives will grow kind and loving adults in the future.

Filed Under: Activities

Making Toothbrushing Fun!

February 20, 2020 by Young Scholars Academy Leave a Comment

Since February is dental health month, I wanted to share some tips on how to help your preschooler do a great job at brushing their teeth. Sometimes preschoolers will get into a phase of not wanting to brush their teeth or are one who rushes the task. Getting children excited to brush their teeth and take care of them correctly is important for their dental health. Here are a few tips that may come in handy when trying to complete the daily task.

In order to make sure that the appropriate amount of time is being spent brushing, using some sort of a timer system will be very helpful. The recommended two minutes that kids should be brushing can seem to be an eternity to them. Grasping the actual amount of 2 minutes is a more advanced concept. So, using some sort of timer will help distract them and keep them brushing for the entire two minutes. We use a smiley face kitchen timer at my house! I wanted something kind of silly so he would be interested in the countdown process. We set the timer together and he likes to watch it spin and loves to keep brushing until the bell goes off! So far his interest has stayed, if it were to fade I would try using a sand timer instead to change it up. Amazon carries different sized sand timers which are engaging to kiddos. Using a larger sand timer would be such a great thing to have to make the passing time go by faster for them.

Aside from using a countdown you could also sing a song to your child while they brush. As they are learning to brush, there are a few fun toothbrushing songs out there that kids really seem to love. You can find them online with a quick search, one of our favorites is the Elmo brushing teeth song. As your kiddo is brushing, you acting silly and singing will keep their mind off what they are doing. Another way is to brush your own teeth with you preschooler. Make it into a copy-cat game, both brushing the same way at the same time.

I think the biggest way to encourage great dental care is simply by making the task of brushing teeth fun! Get your child excited about brushing their teeth. Make them feel like it’s a fun treat to pick out a new toothbrush (I mean, I’m still jazzed a little when I get to pick out a new one). Make it a fun part of the routine at bedtime and in the morning. Connect with them, sing, and be silly! If you make their dental health a fun time to connect, they will have a better chance at being cavity free!

Filed Under: Health & Wellness

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