Practices of a Nurturing Parent
A child’s education begins at home in a nurturing and loving atmosphere. This type of home allows children to reach their maximum potential. Parents that maintain a warm, inviting, understanding, and happy home tend to have children that grow into a confident human being.
It can be challenging for first-time parents to understand the sensitivity required when nurturing a child. In this article, we will highlight some practices for the wellbeing of your infant.
First and foremost is empowering your child from a very young age and encouraging offspring in everything they do. This approach will boost the confidence of your child. Teaching them to trust in their abilities will help your child to be more confident in decision-making scenarios, and life challenging situations as they grow.
Parents should refrain from pressuring or scolding children or creating a tense atmosphere at home. This behavior hinders in the growth and development of your child and can be a roadblock on your child’s ability to learn and adapt.
Parents should actively take part in their child’s upbringing. Often, due to their busy lives and hectic schedules, parents may miss their child’s milestones and achievements. This behavior can instill the feeling of alienation and lack of attention in the child, invoking a negative mindset. Parents should proactively make efforts to participate in their child’s activity, celebrate their achievements and milestones. This attention makes them realize that their developments are of significance to you. It will encourage them to be enthusiastic about their accomplishments.
Parents should introduce healthy practices, informational activities, and good eating habits in their child’s regime to instill the methods of an ordered and health-focused life.
In addition to creating a healthy environment at home, parents should be on the lookout for good daycare centers for their children. Half of a child’s development and growth will be affected by it. Also, daycare centers play a vital role in securing admission in a good school. This is the reason Heaven’s Elect focuses on academic and curricular activities in its practices, for a well-rounded child.
Heaven’s Elect Christian Learning Center and Daycare is a Non-denominational Christian childcare center fully licensed by the state of Michigan. Our Midland daycare center has been serving the community since 2000. Please contact us at heavenselect.com.
Types of Child Care
Child care is the process of caring for and looking after a child or several children at a time between the ages of six weeks to thirteen years. It covers a large range of institutions, professions, activities, contexts, and cultural and social conventions. It is significant in a child’s proper development. The quality of care given to a child in his or her early years can make an everlasting and substantial impact on their future. There are many types of child care services and methods. In this article we will delve into two types of child care; informal care and family child care.
Informal Care
This form of child care system relies heavily on the services of an unprofessional acquaintance. Informal care does not offer conventional education as compared to a professional child care center. Education and learning occur over a series of interaction between the person watching the child and the child. Informal care also does not offer the interaction between other people and children to promote social skills.
Family Child Care
This child care practice is often family child care and is led by stay-at-home parents who wish to look after their child. Regulations regarding family child care are different from state-to-state, some are more stringent as compared to others. Generally, family child care system can be operated by a single member of the household with the condition that the person is eighteen years or older.
Child care and day care are often interchangeable terms to many people. At Heaven’s Elect we make no distinction. Our day care center provides child care for each of the little people we look after. Our program is state licensed and staffed by trained, loving individuals that focus on the children’s education, growth, safety and happiness while in our care.
Heaven’s Elect Christian Learning Center and Daycare is a Non-denominational Christian childcare center fully licensed by the state of Michigan. Our Midland daycare center has been serving the community since 2000. Please contact us at heavenselect.com.
Practices of a Nurturing Parent
A child’s education begins at home in a nurturing and loving atmosphere. This type of home allows children to reach their maximum potential. Parents that maintain a warm, inviting, understanding, and happy home tend to have children that grow into a confident human being.
It can be challenging for first-time parents to understand the sensitivity required when nurturing a child. In this article, we will highlight some practices for the wellbeing of your infant.
First and foremost is empowering your child from a very young age and encouraging offspring in everything they do. This approach will boost the confidence of your child. Teaching them to trust in their abilities will help your child to be more confident in decision-making scenarios, and life challenging situations as they grow.
Parents should refrain from pressuring or scolding children or creating a tense atmosphere at home. This behavior hinders in the growth and development of your child and can be a roadblock on your child’s ability to learn and adapt.
Parents should actively take part in their child’s upbringing. Often, due to their busy lives and hectic schedules, parents may miss their child’s milestones and achievements. This behavior can instill the feeling of alienation and lack of attention in the child, invoking a negative mindset. Parents should proactively make efforts to participate in their child’s activity, celebrate their achievements and milestones. This attention makes them realize that their developments are of significance to you. It will encourage them to be enthusiastic about their accomplishments.
Parents should introduce healthy practices, informational activities, and good eating habits in their child’s regime to instill the methods of an ordered and health-focused life.
In addition to creating a healthy environment at home, parents should be on the lookout for good daycare centers for their children. Half of a child’s development and growth will be affected by it. Also, daycare centers play a vital role in securing admission in a good school. This is the reason Heaven’s Elect focuses on academic and curricular activities in its practices, for a well-rounded child.
Heaven’s Elect Christian Learning Center and Daycare is a Non-denominational Christian childcare center fully licensed by the state of Michigan. Our Midland daycare center has been serving the community since 2000. Please contact us at heavenselect.com.
Top Child Care Trends Parents Should Know
As child care continues to evolve, parents need to consider some of today’s childcare trends.
The Parent-Provider Relationship is More Important Than Ever
Providers will post monthly calendars, as well as menus and lists of special activities to keep parents in the loop. Weekly activities may also be posted outside the door of each classroom, and providers can supply daily take home sheets for parents to peruse. Most facilities also offer special guest visits so parents can observe the place their children will be spending their time.
Increased Safety and Security
It’s true that no system is one hundred percent fail-safe, but today child care providers are raising security measures to protect the children in their care more than ever. The childcare industry is doubling down on surveillance to keep kids safe. A good facility will have staff that’s trained in CPR and first aid. In addition, they are trained to check ID’s of anyone picking up a child, look for intoxicated parents, abuse, and neglect of children.
Parents should be on the lookout for facilities where staff members are fingerprinted, TB tested, and trained to watch for security and safety of the children. There is also an increased focus on training in order to keep children safe while they’re on picnics and field trips. Additionally, the staff is provided with training to deal with a wide range of scenarios, including bomb threats, drive-by shootings, and natural disasters.
Additionally, parents should also consider buildings that are made of cement blocks, since these do not burn, and keep an eye out for safety glass on all the windows and doors. Most good institutions are hard-wired directly to 911 and have fire and burglar alarms. Before you make a child care decision, be sure to read up on all the options you have!
Heaven’s Elect Christian Learning Center and Daycare is a Non-denominational Christian childcare center fully licensed by the state of Michigan. Our Midland daycare center has been serving the community since 2000. Please contact us at heavenselect.com.
Video Games for Children: How much time is OK and how do you evaluate games?
Creators of technology have focused efforts to make downtime and travel more entertaining for children. For instance, when travelling long distance, children have access to entertainment such as; movies, music, and interactive video games. As the video game industry continues to grow, how can parents and caregivers make sure we monitor the type of games our children are exposed to and how long they are playing them? Here is a quick general guide for the amount of time and type of game play is appropriate for certain age groups.
- 0-2 years: Children in this age range should not play video games. The young brain is still developing, so exposure to overwhelming amounts of information on screens is difficult for babies to process, and it could lead to attention problems later in life.
- 2-6 years: Even though children in this age range have probably figured out how to use the television by now and are capable of playing simple, basic video games, it is still recommended that they don’t start playing video games quite yet. There are too many other things that children this age need to focus their brain energy on, such as learning to read, playing with other children, and playing outside.
- 7 and up: Children 7 years and older can play, but they shouldn’t play more than 5-10 hours a week. Time over 10 hours a week should start having parents and caregivers ask, “What is this child really learning?” If children start playing more than that, it might cut into other healthy activities, like being active and forming friendships.
Heaven’s Elect Policies on Electronics:
- Electronics are not allowed for children under two
- Electronic devices are not allowed from home
- Small personal iPads are available on a limited basis for teachers/students starting in the three year old preschool
- TV is available on special occasions for a Disney® movie and educational purposes
Is A Well-Prepared Breakfast That Important for Children?
If you want to perform at your best level, then your body needs the best fuel to energize fully. It is the same for your children. Your children will be able to learn and participate at their best when a well-prepared breakfast is the start of their day. Here are a few reasons why breakfast is so important:
Eating breakfast helps control appetite
With a healthy appetite, children can better focus on learning throughout the day. Additionally, it’s believed children’s smaller stature causes them to be more susceptible to the effects of overnight fasting than adults, such as decreases in mental acuity.
Eating breakfast in the morning has beneficial effects on memory and attention
A good breakfast allows children to more quickly and accurately retrieve information. In a learning environment, children who eat breakfast perform better on reading, arithmetic, and problem-solving tests. Eating breakfast also positively affects endurance and creativity in the classroom.
Eating breakfast impacts behaviors surrounding learning in the classroom environment Consistent breakfast consumption is linked to better attendance, classroom behavior, and vigilance, which facilitates learning. Children who go hungry are more inclined to become distracted from learning at school or give up more easily when faced with challenges.
Eating breakfast helps children get essential nutrients they should be consuming every day
Children who skip breakfast every day are less likely to get enough iron, calcium, iodine, and folate when compared to children who eat breakfast daily. This daily nutrient intake plays a pivotal role in growth and development, especially the rapid growth and development of children.
At Heaven’s Elect, we understand the importance of a healthy diet to learning. We provide daily snacks and lunch to keep our children fueled for their daily activities. Please feel free to ask us any time about our healthy and great-tasting meals if you have any questions.
Heaven’s Elect Christian Learning Center and Daycare is a Non-denominational Christian childcare center fully licensed by the state of Michigan. Our Midland daycare center has been serving the community since 2000. Please contact us at heavenselect.com.
And Baby Makes Three! How to Keep Marriage Solid After a Newborn
The house is a mess, and so is the new family. Making the leap from coupledom to baby-makes-three status is exciting, exhilarating, and wonderful. It’s also exhausting, exasperating, and worrisome. This combination can be toxic to the romantic relationship that made you parents in the first place. Maintaining a marriage post-baby takes a lot of time and energy, exactly what you’ve have the least of now. Here are some ideas that will help your family during this transition period.
Never stop communicating
As the domestic duties suddenly become more than you can handle at any given moment, the nagging and bickering will inevitably increase. It is helpful to keep a list visible of what needs to be done. However, keeping score and continually reminding your partner, “well I’ve done this, so you do that,” is not exactly positive communication. Both of your nerves are on edge due to lack of rest and increased worry. You can communicate positively by simply saying “please” and “thank you” to each other. Even though your partner has been with you through thick and thin, politeness goes a long way – even when you’re feeling drained.
Juggle “you” and “us” time as best as you can
You’re always together, but no longer alone. Whether you’ve been a couple for years or just met and wanted to have a baby quickly, the transition to a family is challenging. Try and schedule time for only the two of you and avoid baby topics. You don’t want all your time together to be spent talking about the upcoming doctor appointment or what laundry detergent you should use. In this way, your dates won’t be baby talk. You can share the stuff you used to, like current global issues or the latest neighborhood news.
Overcome new and challenging financial choices
While there are many new stressors for new parents, money is top most of the time. Often, the decision centralizes around whether or not you can afford childcare so both partners can keep working full time. Whatever your financial choices happen to be, decide them together. Keep in mind, that you’re probably spending less money in some areas, such as on movies, eating out, clothes, and vacations. Work together to come up with reasonable solutions that allow both of you to have a life outside of parenting.
Remember, it’s the love you have for each other that created this new family. It is that love and working together patiently and considerately.
Heaven’s Elect Christian Learning Center and Daycare is a Non-denominational Christian childcare center fully licensed by the state of Michigan. Our Midland daycare center has been serving the community since 2000. Please contact us at heavenselect.com.
Why Children Need Play and Recess at School
Breaks are a welcome downtime for both children and teachers. A structured, rigorous academic schedule is necessary for teachers to teach and children to learn. However, a good source of learning also takes place during recess, allowing children to do what they want (to an extent) in an unstructured, safe environment. Here’s why:
Hard work in short stretches is better
Work that includes breaks and downtime proves more effective than working in long stretches. Children tend to be less able to process information the longer they are held to a task. It’s not enough to switch from math to English. You have to take a mental break.
Recess reduces stress
Playing is a great way for children to take a break and let go of negative feelings and regain control. Recess is a way for children to focus on creative thinking, which allows them to forget what is troubling them. They are much happier after unstructured play, which helps to improve their behavior, increasing participation in the classroom, and be a better listener.
Recess develops social skills
A recess may be the only time during the day when children have an opportunity to experience socialization and real communication. Playtime’s benefits extend beyond the physical. It helps children practice conflict resolution through unstructured play.
Exercise is healthy
While many children suffer from obesity, children at healthy weight levels benefit from physical activity as well. Outside is the best place for children to burn calories, practice emerging physical skills, and experience the pure joy of movement. Additionally, natural light improves wellness, which is vital to the immune system and makes us feel better.
Gym class is not recess
There needs to be a distinction between the two. While gym class offers children a chance to stretch their legs and get their heart rate up, it is still considered instructional time. It is a class with very different goals from those of the unstructured downtime of a recess. Likewise, it’s important to let children play what they want. Playground monitors shouldn’t try to organize groups to play a structured game. When it’s structured, it’s not a break in the day.
At Heaven’s Elect, we practice fun and safe recess time outdoors when the weather is cooperative. When it’s not cooperating, we take breaks indoors and still manage to have a good time.
Heaven’s Elect Christian Learning Center and Daycare is a Non-denominational Christian childcare center fully licensed by the state of Michigan. Our Midland daycare center has been serving the community since 2000. Please contact us at heavenselect.com.