Weathering the Cold: Tips for Keeping Children Healthy This Fall
As temperatures drop and the air turns crisp, you and your children are likely soaking in all the fall festivities you can this autumn! However, chillier weather also brings with it seasonal allergies and colds, so it’s essential to be proactive about keeping your children safe, warm, and healthy. Here are some essential tips to help your little ones enjoy a cozy, safe, and illness-free fall:
Prioritize Hand Hygiene
Doctors report that consistent hand hygiene is one of the best practices for preventing seasonal colds. Ensuring your child washes their hands regularly, especially before meals and after playing outside, helps to reduce their risk of catching any seasonal illnesses. For younger children, you can even try making handwashing fun by singing a song or counting to 20. Having hand sanitizer for on-the-go situations is also helpful for promoting hand hygiene throughout the day if handwashing isn’t possible.
Dressing for the Weather
Fall weather can be unpredictable, and it’s always better to be over prepared than underprepared when dressing for chillier temperatures. Dressing your children in layers that can easily be added or removed is a good strategy for making sure they’re prepared for whatever weather changes may be in store. Gloves, hats, and scarves are also a good move on colder days, especially if you know your child will be walking or playing outside.
Boost Immune Health
Another strategy for keeping your child safe and healthy this fall is boosting their immune health with nutrient-rich food full of vitamins and minerals. Yogurts, fruits high in vitamin C, and nuts or seeds can be great additions to your child’s diet to keep colds at bay and keep your child feeling strong and energized.
Maintaining A Healthy Sleep Routine
As the temperatures get colder, the days also get shorter, which can sometimes impact children’s sleep schedules. Prioritizing sleep can be a key way to proactively prevent colds and seasonal illnesses, so it’s critical to maintain a consistent sleep routine with set bedtimes and wake-up times to keep your child on track and well-rested.
With a little extra care and planning, fall can be a wonderful, worry-free season for your family. Prioritizing hand hygiene, weather-appropriate clothing, immune health, and consistent sleep schedules help ensure that you and your children can enjoy your beautiful fall traditions safely and comfortably.
Heaven’s Elect Christian Learning Center is a Non-denominational Christian childcare center fully licensed by the state of Michigan. Our Midland childcare center has been serving the community since 2000. Please contact us at heavenselect.com.
Read MoreSetting the Stage for Kindergarten: How Preschool Sets Your Child Up for Success
Kindergarten is a major milestone in many children’s lives and marks the beginning of their elementary school journey. For parents, this transition from preschool to kindergarten can feel scary and overwhelming, and it’s natural to wonder how prepared and well-equipped your child will be to make this leap. Here are a few key ways the preschool programs at Heaven’s Elect Christian Learning Center set your child up for success as they transition to kindergarten classes:
Social Skills
One of the key components of kindergarten readiness is a child’s ability to interact with peers and teachers with developmentally appropriate social skills. Preschool is an excellent “trial run” for the social expectations of kindergarten, offering your child the opportunity to learn essential social skills like sharing, taking turns, working in groups, and problem-solving. Learning these skills early on sets your child up for healthier and more beneficial social relationships as they grow older!
Cognitive Development
Many consider kindergarten to be a child’s first introduction to formal academic learning, and preschool is an essential time to begin developing early childhood learning skills to make this transition a bit easier. During preschool programs, children are introduced to play-based learning, early literacy skills, and vocabulary comprehension to set them up to excel in the more formal academic environment of kindergarten.
Structure & Routine
Having a regular routine is crucial for your child’s early childhood development, and as they transition into kindergarten being well-adjusted to structure can be massively beneficial. During preschool programs, the team at Heaven’s Elect ensure that children are introduced to regular and scheduled mealtimes, play times, and activities to help them begin adjusting to the concept of time management and consistency, ensuring they are better equipped to handle the schedule expectations of kindergarten.
Independence
Fostering age-appropriate independence is a core element of your child’s childcare journey, and it starts early! In preschool, children are encouraged to make their own choices, solve problems, and take control of their own personal needs (washing hands, cleaning up after themselves, etc.). These early introductions to independence help your child to develop confidence and a stronger sense of self that benefits them in their kindergarten year and beyond.
Preschool is more than simply a steppingstone in your child’s early development – it’s a crucial phase of development that teaches core concepts, skills, and competencies that set your child up for success for their entire academic journey. Choosing the passionate and experienced preschool team at Heaven’s Elect ensures both you and your child are well-equipped to handle the challenges and transitions of moving from preschool to kindergarten.
Heaven’s Elect Christian Learning Center is a Non-denominational Christian childcare center fully licensed by the state of Michigan. Our Midland childcare center has been serving the community since 2000. Please contact us at heavenselect.com.
Read MoreFostering Healthy Screen Time Balance
In today’s digital world, screen time often feels inevitable for parents. However, too much screen time, especially for young children, can often lead to negative consequences like poor sleep schedules, minimized focus or attention span, and a lack of physical activity. Here are a few tips for fostering a healthy screen time balance with your children:
Schedule Screen Time
One of the best ways to minimize excess screen time and encourage children to engage in other productive activities is to schedule time in advance. For example, allowing your child a set amount of time for watching TV per day, or setting a timer when they are on a tablet or phone. This helps to create routines where screen time is allowed, but not excessive.
Learning-Based Screen Time
One of the benefits of technology is the amount of educational and learning-based options that you can utilize. Finding productive and purposeful activities, such as interactive games, informational television channels, etc. can provide learning opportunities for your child even when they engage in screen time.
Establish No Screen Zones
Finding a healthy balance for technology usage looks different in every home, but establishing strict screen-free zones, such as at the dinner table or in bedrooms, can help minimize over-usage. Additionally, this helps to encourage healthier activities like face-to-face conversations, outdoor play, etc.
Set a Positive Example
Leading by example is one of the most effective ways of teaching healthy screen usage to your children. Modeling healthy technology usage and partaking in screen-free activities yourself often helps children to imitate this behavior as well.
Fostering and enforcing healthy screen time habits can be difficult, especially as children get older and may see differing expectations in their friends’ and classmates’ homes. However, establishing routine structures within your home that embrace screen time while encouraging limitations is possible! Ultimately, balance is key and finding a healthy balance between technology usage and educational or play-based activities leads to healthy growth and development for your child.
Read MoreBuilding Healthy Eating Habits from a Young Age
As a parent, promoting healthy and nutritious eating habits can sometimes be challenging with young children. However, these developmental years are crucial for building healthy eating habits that set children up for success later in life by encouraging balanced eating while also influencing their cognitive growth. Here are a few strategies for supporting healthy eating habits with your little one:
Be A Positive Role Model
Children often replicate what they see, even when it comes to daily habits and routines like choosing what to eat! As a parent or caregiver, modeling healthy, balanced eating habits helps to encourage children to follow suit. If they see you enjoying nutritious foods and moderating your intake of unhealthier options, they are much more likely to do the same.
Involve Children in Food Decisions
Enforcing healthy eating is often challenging for parents, but children can sometimes be more receptive when they’re offered choices and independence regarding what they want to eat. Having numerous healthy snack options or deciding together which healthy recipes to make for dinner gives them some control over their eating habits while still encouraging nutritious choices. Likewise, allowing children to be involved in food preparation, like cooking dinner or packing a lunch together, can spark an interest in healthy eating.
Balance Healthy Eating with Balanced Treats
It’s unrealistic to think that your child will eat 100% nutritious and healthy food all of the time. In fact, balancing nourishing food with occasional treats encourages children to make good food choices a majority of the time while allowing themselves completely normal indulgences on occasion. This helps to create life-long habits that are good for children without promoting restrictive or disordered eating.
Structure Meal and Snack Times
Children need regular meals and snacks to maintain their energy and focus throughout the day, and creating these structured times for eating can help to minimize the risk of over or under eating between meals. Having healthy and filling snacks on-hand can help moderate eating habits in younger children, while still providing proper nutrition to function throughout the day.
Building healthy eating habits early in life can be an important foundation for cultivating long-lasting wellness. Modeling a positive relationship with food while empowering children to make nutritious eating choices themselves can help your child to grow up making consistently balanced meal choices throughout the rest of their lives.
Read MoreStaying Safe in the Summer Sun
As summer temperatures rise, it’s important to always keep skin safety in mind during your and your child’s outdoor adventures. The sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays, while one of the best parts of this season, can also be harmful to your child if proper precautions aren’t taken. Here are a few simple ways to beat the summer heat and stay safe out in the sun:
Sunscreen
No matter your child’s skin tone or pigmentation, sunscreen is an absolute must! Pediatric experts recommend using a sunscreen lotion with a SPF of at least 30 and applying it 30 minutes before direct sun exposure. It’s important also to remember to reapply throughout the day, especially if your child has gone swimming, as it may break down the sunscreen more quickly!
Hydrate
Outside of the dangers of burning and skin damage, summer heat can also cause dehydration. Make sure your child stays hydrated throughout the day with regular water breaks, particularly during active play, to ensure they stay energized and healthy.
Wear Appropriate Apparel
Light, breathable clothing is the best choice during hot summer as it reduces your child’s risk of overheating while protecting against harsh UV rays. Sunglasses, wide-brimmed hats, or even long-sleeved t-shirts are also appropriate if you’re concerned about prolonged sun exposure or your child’s complexion is more prone to sunburn.
Take Breaks in the Shade
While you and your child likely want to enjoy the sunshine as much as possible this summer, it’s important to also take breaks in the shade to reduce direct sunlight exposure. 10 AM until 4 PM are usually considered the hottest parts of the day when the sun’s rays are strongest, so consider encouraging play in shaded areas during these times!
Staying safe in the summer sun is important for everyone, regardless of age. By preparing for outdoor time with plenty of water, sunscreen, and protective clothing options, you and your child can enjoy the sunny outdoors carefree all summer long!
Read MoreBalancing Discipline and Compassion During Tantrums
Children experience stress, fear, and anger just like adults do, but they often don’t yet have the tools to manage these tough emotions in healthy and constructive ways. As a result, tantrums or meltdowns often occur, and can cause stress in home environments. Here are a few practical tips for practicing kind firmness with children during these moments to help them build their problem-solving skills while navigating difficult emotions.
Validate their feelings, not their actions
Acknowledging your child’s feelings can go a long way in making them feel understood and heard, and therefore less likely to lash out or meltdown. Simple phrases like, “I can understand why that made you upset” can help build rapport with your child and help them to talk through their emotions in more mature ways. It’s important to remember that validating their feelings doesn’t have to mean affirming their reactions to those feelings.
Practice positive reinforcement
Research shows that children respond best to positive rather than negative reinforcement in most cases. While discipline is important, particularly when dealing with tantrums, using positive reinforcement can often minimize the recurrence of these difficult behaviors. For example, praising positive behaviors or thanking your child when they do something kind or compassionate can build your child’s self-esteem and encourage them to handle stressful feelings in more productive ways.
Model problem-solving skills
Children often pick up on behaviors from their parents, siblings, and peers. For this reason, it’s important to make sure you exhibit healthy problem-solving skills, even during tantrums. Remaining calm and communicating with your child, even when you are angry or frustrated, will teach them to behave the same when faced with conflict.
Explain punishments
Time-outs or other forms of consequences can be useful when managing a child prone to tantrums. However, it’s important to communicate the reasoning behind these punishments to your child so that they understand that it is a direct consequence of unacceptable behavior. Punishment without explanation can sometimes make children feel targeted, unheard, or unloved, while open communication helps your child understand how they can avoid these consequences in the future.
As a parent, managing tantrums or meltdowns can often be stressful and overwhelming, but it can also be a learning opportunity for your child. Navigating these conflicts with patience, compassion, and understanding can help your child develop the problem-solving skills, resilience, and emotional intelligence necessary to minimize the occurrence of unacceptable behaviors in the future.
Heaven’s Elect Christian Learning Center is a Non-denominational Christian childcare center fully licensed by the state of Michigan. Our Midland childcare center has been serving the community since 2000. Please contact us at heavenselect.com.
Read MoreCultivating Resilience through Childcare
Children experience challenges, obstacles, and barriers just like adults do. The difference is that little ones often don’t have years of experience learning how to cope with tough emotions, problem-solve, or heal from these adversities. Childcare is one key way that children can begin to learn how to build resiliency and face life’s challenges head-on!
Creating a Safe Space
One of the first steps to building resiliency is creating a safe space for children to be open and vulnerable about their emotions and what they might be feeling. Choosing a childcare center where children’s emotions are considered and even encouraged can go a long way in building the foundations of resiliency. When children are allowed to fully feel their feelings, they are better able to communicate them to adults and, with time, process them.
Teaching Conflict Resolution Skills
Conflict is an inevitable part of life at any age, and instilling problem-solving and conflict resolution skills early in life helps set children up to handle disagreements calmly and respectfully. Encouraging children to work through their problems with their peers, rather than avoiding conflict or solving problems for them, empowers them to make their own decisions and handle their relationships independently in an age-appropriate way.
Cultivating Coping Skills
Regulating emotions can be tough for children, and this process often takes time, but teaching coping skills early in life helps children to become stronger and more emotionally mature adults. In order to cope with stress, disappointment, and other complex emotions on a daily basis, children must develop skills to cope with these tough feelings, thus building emotional resilience.
Encouraging Healthy Relationships
Healthy, and unhealthy, relationships are possible at every age. One of the many benefits of daycare is that your child is encouraged to form bonds with their peers and learn how to work through the challenges and benefits of these social relationships. Building connections and identifying connections that don’t make a child feel safe or valued, is a critical component of resiliency, and often carries on later into life.
At Heaven’s Elect, your child’s wellbeing, physical and emotional, is our top priority. Here, your little ones can build crucial and long-lasting resiliency skills that lead to healthier relationships, more positive interactions among peers, higher self-esteem and confidence, and a greater ability to handle any challenges that may come their way.
Heaven’s Elect Christian Learning Center is a Non-denominational Christian childcare center fully licensed by the state of Michigan. Our Midland childcare center has been serving the community since 2000. Please contact us at heavenselect.com.
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