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My Favorite Phrase

January 3, 2020 by Young Scholars Academy Leave a Comment

I’ve taught four and five year old children for many many years. I love this age group because I believe that that foundation for learning and the love of learning is firmly established at these ages. Seeing them light up with their accomplishments makes my day. The challenge of a teacher is to keep them challenged. To encourage them to progress without discouraging them. To teach them to keep trying, which can be difficult in a time of instant gratification and giving up is so prevalent. You need to have activities that are challenging yet meaningful and fun.
Most of all you need to present with the right words.

Cutting with scissors is a simple but effective activity. You need to hold them correctly, you need to concentrate. Start with something simple like just cutting paper up. Then move on to cutting lines then shapes. With this activity they build fine motor skills and increased attention span.

Introduce art that isn’t finished in one day. Multiple steps over days increases patience and the level of involvement in the activity.

As you increase the difficulty of the activities you will start to hear the negative inner dialogue of the child verbalized. I can’t do it, I’m bored, It’s to hard. This is the most important part of teaching. Being there to walk and talk them through it.

So what’s my favorite phrase? You can do it.

It doesn’t have to be perfect just try your best. When I have said this it is amazing to see the pressure just melt away and they are re-energized. They push through the frustration and accomplish the goal.

As a teacher and a parent we need to remember it is always about the product but about the process. Allowing then to try without fear of failure always results in a win!

Here’s to a brand new year of growth with our kiddos!

-Ms. Dotty
NAEYC Coordinator
Lead Pre-Kindergarten Teacher

Filed Under: Holidays

Goal Setting with Children

January 3, 2020 by Young Scholars Academy Leave a Comment

It’s a new year! With a new year comes New Year’s Resolutions. A resolution is a promise that you make to yourself. I don’t know about you, but when I make a resolution, I don’t tend to stick with it after a month or two. Instead of making a resolution, why don’t we focus on goals. A goal is an aim for a desired outcome, striving to achieve something great.

Making goals as a family will help to strengthen your family bonds and teach kids to have ambition at an early age. Achieving goals also helps children to feel a sense of accomplishment. A great way to do this is to have your child make one or two goals for themselves at the beginning of a new year, new season, or even when entering a new transition for the family such as moving or changing schools.

For a child to make and achieve their goals the child must first take ownership with their goal. As a parent, we all have aspirations for our child(ren). But telling a child what their goal should be can be discouraging to the child. There is a difference between telling and guiding. This is where a parent can step in and give proper guidance for the child when goal setting. Ask the child questions to help them decide on a meaningful goal. Explain to them what a goal is and how to set them. While guiding your child, you help them have a voice in their decision, giving them a sense of self and self-worth.

Next, decide on a timeline. How long will it take to meet this goal? Having a timeline helps to motivate the child to keeping to a set schedule by creating a sense of urgency. Be sure to guild the child to a realistic timeline. It takes time to build the habits needed to achieve a goal. Change does not happen overnight.

What steps should the child take to attain their goal and how can you as a parent help your child succeed? The key is to come up with steps to follow to reach their goal. Creating steps helps to be sure there is a map to follow to succeed.

It is necessary to understand why the goal is important. When it is important to the child then he or she will work harder meet their goal, build self-confidence, and reach their full potential. Understanding the importance helps children to have a desire to succeed.

It is not enough to say, “I want to do better in school.” Is there a subject or aspect about school in which the child would like to improve? Let’s say math is a subject of struggle. The goal could then be to improve math by a letter grade or certain percentage. Maybe because a new quarter is starting, the child can set two timelines, one for the quarter and one for the semester. Some steps to improve math scores could be to ask more questions during class, study math facts, and take timed tests to improve speed in answering. Improving in math is important because math is a progression building on skills. First the basics are learned then it builds from there. Having mastery of the skill will help the child to progress successfully throughout all of their school years.

Once your child has decided on a goal, write it down and help them succeed by checking in on them and their steps to achieve their goals.

Ms. Blair
Health & Wellness Coordinator
Lead Preschool Teacher

Filed Under: Holidays

5 Benefits of Positive Reinforcement in Raising Children

December 20, 2019 by Young Scholars Academy Leave a Comment

It’s no secret that being a parent is one of the most difficult roles in the world, and if there’s one challenging aspect of parenting, it’s managing your child’s behavior. Behavior management is crucial because we want to raise kids who know how to act and behave appropriately, both at home and in social settings. So how do you manage your child’s behavior? Do you find yourself constantly yelling at your child to call out their misbehavior? Are you often losing your temper and feel like you’re already overwhelmed? If you want to see a change in your child’s behavior, you may want to reconsider your approach. This is where positive reinforcement comes in. 

Positive reinforcement is a parenting technique used to encourage obedience and inculcate desired behavior without the use of punishment, threat, abuse, shame, or humiliation. If you haven’t given positive reinforcement a try, here are some of the reasons why it’s time you should. 

Positive reinforcement provides long term benefits

While it’s important that children receive the right amount of discipline that doesn’t mean that discipline should involve punitive measures. If you want to encourage a better response from your little one, use positive reinforcement when asking them to perform certain tasks. Positive reinforcement can provide more long-term benefits because it positively impacts a child’s long term behavior. On the other hand, trying to change a child’s behavior by instilling anxiety or fear may result in negative feelings that they may carry as they grow up.

Positive reinforcement develops a child’s character

Young children who are encouraged to behave appropriately by means of positive reinforcement tend to show more positive results in terms of character development than children who are motivated out of fear of punishment. In fact, imposing discipline by using a positive approach even compels children to exceed expectations. Children who are motivated by fear of punishment on the other hand, only comply with minimum effort; they only do the bare minimum so that they can avoid being punished.

Under a system of positive reinforcement, children understand that their good behavior results in positive consequences such as rewards or even mere recognition. This teaches them the value of personal responsibility and self-discipline.

Positive reinforcement makes a child feel loved

Not all children understand the concept of discipline, and they don’t grasp why their parents try to make them behave in certain ways. This is the reason why, when children get punished or reprimanded, they mistake it as a sign that they are not loved, and that their parents simply just want to hurt them for misbehaving. That’s the last thing we as parents want to make our children feel.

Responding to your child’s behavior using a positive approach will make them feel that they are loved and cared for. 

Positive reinforcement helps develop a child’s self-esteem

Children who are confident and have healthy self-esteem are the ones who are more likely to find success later in life. By using positive reinforcement, we are making our children feel good about themselves; especially when they have done something right. Instead of feeling terrible and focusing on the things they did wrong, they will realize that they are inherently good and that they can even do better.  

Positive reinforcement also teaches children to feel good about their accomplishments and successes – no matter how small they are. Punishment on the other hand, instills in young children a feeling of shame and sense of inferiority, which aren’t helpful in contributing to their happy and healthy growth and development.

Positive reinforcement makes you feel good as a parent

Using punishment or harsh words when disciplining a child can make a parent feel guilty, but you won’t have to feel any guilt when you opt to use a positive approach when instilling discipline. You will see a change in your child’s behavior and attitude without making them feel bad or feeling bad yourself for using force or painful words.

It’s not always easy to find an approach or technique that will be both rewarding for children and parents alike. If you haven’t tried positive reinforcement yet, it’s about time that you do to see how it works wonders for you.

For more helpful parenting tips, or if you’re looking for a good quality preschool, please visit Young Scholars Academy. 

 

Filed Under: Family Tips

5 Ways to Make Studying Fun for Kids

November 22, 2019 by Young Scholars Academy Leave a Comment

Does studying come naturally to your child or does he or she need a little encouragement when it comes to academics? Studying may come easy to kids who love school, but not every child can is into it. Sitting around reading books and reviewing notes quietly for an extended period of time can get boring. If given the choice between studying and spending time on the internet, most children would be inclined to pick the latter any day. This is where it can be helpful to find creative ways and interesting activities to make study-time more appealing. Just like the saying “Out with the old, in with the new”, when it comes to matters of studying, breaking out of the old routine may give you the answers you need. Help your child look forward to studying by making it a fun activity that he or she will enjoy. One powerful trick parents and teachers use to encourage their children to study more is by mixing things up. Here are a few ways to get you started.

Get out of the routine

It can be difficult to combat a child’s fleeting attention span. One way to help sustain attention is to let your child get up and take a break every 15 to 20 minutes, depending on his or her attention span during tasks. Aside from letting them take care of their usual business of going to the toilet or drinking water, make study time more fun for kids by planning activities that they can engage in during those quick breaks. Singing action songs or dancing to get them out of their seats can help your kids relax and refocus for the next session.

Incorporate games during study time

Incorporating games during study time can take any form. Alternatively, this can also work the other way around by incorporating learning during play time. Encourage learning by letting your child play some digital-based interactive learning games on a phone or tablet in their free time. You may also consider bringing your kids outside. If they are playing with other kids, have them take turns by answering questions relevant to the topic they are studying. Trivia games can also be a fun way to test your child’s knowledge. Just be prepared with a reward if they do well! Reward systems can be quite effective when encouraging kids to study.

 

 

Illustrate important points with visuals

Visual aids can vastly improve a child’s learning experience because most children are wired to process information visually. They are more inclined to read when text is accompanied by a photo or picture, as it helps to give them context. Colors will also help to capture your child’s attention. There’s a reason why children’s toys are always colorful, as children tend to pay more attention to bold and bright colors.The more colorful visual aids you use, the more engaged in the lesson a child will be.

Another visual learning tool you can use is drawing. Drawing doesn’t have to be treated as a pastime. It can be helpful to illustrate some important points when studying, especially when it comes to concepts that are difficult for children to grasp. Take visual learning a step further and make studying fun for kids by asking them to draw what they understood from the lesson. You can test their comprehension this way, while keeping them busy with this fun activity.

Incorporate role-play into reading

Sitting silently while reading non-illustrated text can be boring for some kids. Most children who are not used to reading long texts may have difficulty staying on track as their attention can drift.Encourage your child to enjoy reading more by asking them to read the text out loud. Ask your child to them play around with his or her delivery, intonation and voice inflection. Have children pay attention to the rise and fall of their speech while reading instead of reading in monotone. Not only does this help keep your child focused on reading the text, but it also enhances their long-term speaking skills.

Have your child take practice tests

Tests and exams can cause a lot of stress and anxiety for kids. This can be because they haven’t studied and are cramming for the big day, or because they feel pressure to get a high score. Help your child avoid staying up all night cramming for the exam day by taking each lesson bit by bit. Help your child out by making study aids or practice tests to measure their understanding of the subject area. This can be an effective method to ease your child’s anxiety. It also provides a great opportunity to point out areas where your child needs improvement as he or she prepares for the real exam.

Studying may take a bit of getting used to and can be a challenge to incorporate into a child’s life. Being a supportive parent and involving your kids in fun activities during study time can be significantly helpful to inspire good study habits. Help your child gain a better taste for learning by using these 5 simple strategies.

Preparing for your child’s early education in the Colorado Springs area? Young Scholars Academy’s preschool programs create an engaging learning environment with fun activities and unique scenarios that create lasting memories for young kids. Our family takes care of your family with the best child care! Please feel free to call 719-522-9099 to schedule your tour of the classrooms or visit https://youngscholarsacademycolorado.com for more details.

Filed Under: Family Tips

Shopping for Siblings

November 19, 2019 by Young Scholars Academy Leave a Comment

The holidays are quickly approaching and I am very excited to begin our families holiday shopping. This year, my youngest who is in preschool, is at that age where he truly understands how holidays work. In a sense this will be his first Christmas where he can fully comprehend the act of giving gifts. As we have had a few birthdays recently, he understands the process of picking out a gift and giving it to that person. It is an exciting responsibility that he has really become interested in, especially when shopping for siblings. I feel like this is a great time to introduce him into the process of spending money on a budget to pick out gifts for his sister this Christmas.

kid carrying money
Establish a budget for shopping

The first thing we did was establish a budget. I felt that explaining to him the reasons why we CAN’T buy every pony and electronic gadget out there was important. I told him that we only have a certain amount that we would be spending and we have to stay at that amount. I pulled $25 out in cash and showed it to him. I explained it as we have $25 like 25 points. He understands the concept of how points work in a game, you could correlate it to something of another value your child would understand better as well. Points is just what worked for us. So, he had 25 points to spend and that is all.

Next, we talked about the act of giving gifts. I reminded him that when we are choosing gifts for others, its not about what WE want or how that item makes us feel. It is all about the other person. Will it excite them? Make them feel happy? Is it something that they will use and enjoy? I wanted to really get him to comprehend the act of giving, its hard for a preschooler to not want to buy toys for themselves when shopping for others. Explaining the ‘why’ behind giving really helped.

We then talked about how to spend the money at the store. I clarified that every toy or item is going to be a certain dollar amount or points, so we have to pay attention and keep track. He understood somewhat, and then we ventured to the store. At the store I showed him the numbers and reminded him we can only spend $25. He started to shop around for his sister, picking out different toys, and really trying to keep up with the math. We took our time and counted, I showed him different combinations of toys he could choose from. Overall, he really did enjoy trying to figure out what to buy his sister while staying in budget. There were also bouts of frustration in the middle of our shopping expedition. It was hard a few times when he wanted to choose 3 items that were more than our budget and one big item that was way over. But, by calmly reexplaining to him our budget and the purpose of the shopping trip, he soon was able to see past it. He was able to narrow down a few items that he really thought she would enjoy, and he successfully bought gifts for his sister!

The joy that he felt picking out his gifts may be greater than when she actually opens them. He really felt in control, proud, and successful through this entire process. I am so proud of him for being able to problem solve and really try his best staying on budget and picking out something his sister will love. Keeping it simple and finding a way for him to connect to understand the process of using money was key. I am glad he was able to pick something out for her all on his own, it will make giving it to her that much more meaningful. Fingers crossed he can keep it a surprise until Christmas!

-Ms. Whitney
Lead Pre-Kindergarten Teacher
Curriculum Coordinator

Filed Under: Family Tips, Holidays

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