The Goddard School^® located in Charlotte, NC recommends trying new activities with your child!

Bring the ‘snow’ and fun indoors.

Let your children work on their fine motor skills!

Materials

12 cotton balls per child

1 marker

1 egg carton per child

Instructions

• Label each egg carton cup 1 through 12.
• Hide the cotton balls around the room (12 cotton balls per child).
• Have the children walk around the room, looking for the hidden ‘snowballs’.
• Encourage each child to put the ‘snowballs’ in order when they find them (1 through 12).

Once all the ‘snowballs’ have been found, count them together!

To learn more about The Goddard School, click here.

Whether you live in the snowy northeast or sunny southwest, you and your child can build (and eat!) your own yummy snowman!

Ingredients (for one snowman):
3 Thick slices of banana
1 Pretzel stick (broken in half)
1 Apple wedge
Several mini chocolate chips or small raisins

On a plate, line up the banana pieces to build the body of your snowman. Add one half of the pretzel stick to each side of the second banana slice for arms.  Place the mini chocolate chips or raisins for eyes, a nose and buttons, then top off your snowman with an apple wedge hat! 

Get creative with other pieces of fruits and veggies and decorate your snowman with a scarf, mittens and even boots!

To learn more about The Goddard School, click here.

In thirty plus years of  working with infants, toddlers, preschoolers (and their parents) and with four children and four grandchildren of my own, I’ve seen thousands of pacifiers come and go.  It can be hard to keep perspective when it’s your child who is drooling away on his pacifier. So many parents feel guilty about pacifier use as though it reveals them to be insufficient caretakers or giving in to the demands of the child. I confess readily that I, too, have searched in wee hours to find the nearest all-night convenience store, hoping against hope to find the required make/model of the ‘peacekeeper.’

 So here’s the deal: pacifiers have their place. Once your infant is gaining weight and nursing reliably, a little non-nutritive sucking can be a good thing if your particular child is interested in it (most are). We’ve raised both kinds of children, so it’s worth waiting to find out if yours is interested, rather than giving a pacifier to a baby who doesn’t want it. It should be a joint decision between baby and parents.  However, babies who suck at night seem to have a lower risk of SIDS and tend to sleep more regularly for a bit longer as their sleep habits mature, so it might be worth encouraging, even if your child doesn’t take to it immediately.

Trouble with pacifiers doesn’t usually start until children start to walk. They start dropping the pacifier in the most disgusting places. If they also start to talk soon after, the cork effect seems troubling to parents. One of our early talkers would remove it to fire off a few sentences and then re-plug herself so quickly we had to turn our attention away to keep from laughing.

So when should the child stop? Most pediatricians in the U.S. (standards vary globally) will encourage stopping by age two.  I don’t believe that long-term pacifier use slows speech development.  However, my dental colleagues have stronger science backing up their concerns that ‘extended pacifier use (heavy use beyond 20-24 months)’ leads to crossbites and open bites. When back teeth close during chewing and front teeth don’t, a child has an ‘open bite,’ which can sometimes self-correct. When the upper palate and arch narrow through extensive pacifier use, self-correction is rare and your dental co-pay will get your attention.

If you’re worried that you’re approaching or in the ‘danger-zone’ of extended use, talk to your pediatrician about strategies for weaning your child from the pacifier – you’ll need the pediatrician to support your own resolve since fatigue so regularly erodes parental judgement. Strategies can range from helpful children’s books on pacifier farewells, outright bribery (goods and services in exchange for pacifier pitching), the invocation of magical forces (pacifier fairies) or promoting the joys of giving pacifiers to babies when you are not one anymore (passing down pacifiers). The earlier you start, the easier the process, but prepare for some tears and stress. As you’ve heard in this blog before, manageable stress ending in mastery is emotional nutrition and feels really good – eventually.

To learn more about the Goddard School, click here.

Mothers and fathers care for their children in very unique ways.  Children can recognize the differences between mother and father care, which actually enhances their development.  This article focuses on the critical role fathers play in a child’s development.

 Newborns can differentiate between mom’s voice and touch and dad’s voice and touch.  Although mom may have gotten a head start on the bonding process with the baby, dads have their chance, too.  By six weeks old an infant can distinguish a father’s voice from a mother’s, and while a quiet baby may pay more attention to mom’s voice, an upset baby will calm more readily to his father’s handling.  Mothers usually are very consistent in the way that they handle their children, often picking them up in the same manner, saying the same thing before they handle them, for example, at bath or bedtime.  Dads rarely approach the baby with such consistency.  Each time they pick up the baby, they usually do so in a different manner than before, but this helps the baby recognize that it is dad who is holding him.

 Time with dad is typically less structured and more play-oriented than with mom.  Most of mother’s time with her children is dedicated to care-giving tasks or educational play, while dad’s time is less structured and full of impromptu play.  Where mom uses toys, dad tends to use his body.  Dads are typically more physical with the kids and they love it.  Physical play helps to stimulate both physical and brain development.  Dads also have a tendency to make any situation educational, even if they don’t realize it themselves, so that a father’s tasks around the house might be an adventure for the child.

 Fathers challenge their children to learn.  Obviously, both mom and dad want to help their child learn in any way they can, but they do this differently also.  For example, when teaching a frustrated child, a mother tends to assist her in finding the answer; whereas, a father is more likely to guide the child through the frustration and challenge her longer to find the answer on her own.  Fathers also encourage more exploration and boundary pushing than moms do.  A father’s way of teaching his child persistence in the face of adversity results in positive academic and social performance in the long run.  Certainly, one style is not better than the other, and children absolutely benefit from both.

 THE ROLE OF FATHERS

Recent research about the role of fathers and their approach to parenting include the following:

• Fathers tend stylistically to encourage problem-solving skills by letting their kids struggle with frustration a little longer before stepping in to help.  (Of course, there is a huge personal variation here, as there is in mothers.)
• Fathers permit a little more emotional autonomy during learning sequences with their young children, supporting and encouraging but without the same emphasis on intimacy that is more typical among mothers.
• Fathers tend to mix play with learning a little more successfully, from the child’s point of view, allowing longer work periods.
• Fathers’ more functional (‘do it because it needs to be done,’ rather than ‘do it because it will go better between us if you do’) approach to academic work builds in the child a larger range of problem-solving skills over time that probably contributes to more lasting self-esteem.

Kyle D. Pruett, M.D., is an advisor forTheGoddardSchool®.  Dr. Pruett is an authority on child development who has been practicing child and family psychiatry for over twenty-five years.  He is a clinical professor of child psychiatry atYaleUniversity’sChildStudyCenter.

To learn more about The Goddard School in Charlotte, NC click here

By Dr. Kyle Pruett

Excerpt from Me, Myself and I

 Your own ideas about how to integrating emotion and learning in everyday moments with your child are probably better than anything I could advise for you personally.  But here are some ideas and suggestions that might help you customize those ideas.

•  Young children do not need to be taught how to think.  Science is careening ahead pursuing fascinating findings and ideas about how, even whether, children this age actually do think.  But our ignorance dominates our knowledge embarrassingly.  We are still understanding why they even want to think in the first place.  It is like walking or talking, unfolding in due course when the maturational timekeeper tells the mind-body duality, “Johnny: it’s time?”
• The five-second check-in.  Since most of us don’t spend our days staring endlessly at our toddlers and preschoolers, it is important that you take a few seconds to assess the mood, or state your child is in before you join in his doings, ask him to do something or simply interrupt him.  This is the feeling state that will determine his ability to understand or comply with whatever you might need, no matter how small.  If you are not tuned in, he probably won’t hear (i.e. learn).
• Join your child.  Follow her lead in activities she is already involved in.  Don’t take over – it will turn her off.  But if you want her to learn, become a partner in the exploration she has begun.  Add a ball to hide in the pots and pans scene, or move close and take her hand if she is wary of a dog on a walk.  Don’t instantly rescue (unless safety is an immediate concern) because you will lose one of those interesting moments of tension that could be mastered, leading a child to a wider, more complex understanding of the world.
• If your child balks at a “learning” moment with you, it could mean you didn’t read the five-second check-in right.  Back up and let your child know you know what she is feeling first.  (“I guess you weren’t quite through,” or “It’s hard to have to stop when you are having fun doing X.”)  When the feeling domain feels appreciated, then the learning domain is less burdened.
• If your child needs redirection after you have connected with his mood or feeling, ask softly what he might enjoy doing.  If you still have no luck make two suggestions of things he might do and help him choose.  He will probably need some pump-priming from you, since you can manage your own mood apart from his.  Remember, how you are in such moments, is as important as what you do.
• If it’s important for you to initiate an activity that will bring you pleasure and you know it could be good for your child, like reading or going for a walk, stabilize your own mood first.  Only then can you help your child regulate hers.  Once done, then she can crawl up on your lap or get out the door and learn.  For some kids, it’s the other way around.  But for the majority, in the feeling and learning dance, it isn’t always possible to say who is leading.

To learn more about The Goddard School-Ballantyne click here

By Dr. Kyle Pruett

Excerpt from Me, Myself and I

Your own ideas about how to integrating emotion and learning in everyday moments with your child are probably better than anything I could advise for you personally.  But here are some ideas and suggestions that might help you customize those ideas.

• Talk with your child.  Hopefully, you have been doing that since the moment she was born.  Chat with her about what you and she are doing.  She’ll become part of the conversation sooner if you express to her what you love about being a parent.
• Encourage curiosity and understand that repetition is a good thing for him, boring though it might be for you.  The neurological basis for the insistence on the familiar lies in the fact that when synaptic connections are repeatedly activated by the same stimulation, they become immune from elimination during the brain’s pruning process.  They survive to become permanent neural connections that enhance learning.  So go ahead and do what your child likes – over and over.  This is a good rut to be in.
• Simply being nearby and available while your child plays on his own is so important, as is your willingness to interact.  So get down on the floor and stay awhile.  Of course, this is hard for working parents, but the effort is worth it.
• Nothing beats reading.  Children don’t learn interactive, conversational language from TV because it does not respond to them.  Language and eventually reading are learned from being actively engaged in speaking and reading with others – hearing parents and caregivers talk to each other and waiting for the child to respond.
• Children learn best in the context of their daily lives and when the amount and kind of stimulation fits their temperament, level of development, interests or preferences, and mood.  Pressure to perform or conform to high expectations can lead to stress that can sabotage learning through burnout and confusion.

Part 2 of this will post on the blog Thursday 10/13/11

To learn more about GoddardSchools click here

               This is a fun activity that you can do at home with your child!

Materials:

Apples

Paint (Use washable poster paint for paper prints and fabric paints for clothes)

Paper plates

Something to print on

Newspaper to protect table

Art smocks

Knife to cut the apple

*Children should have adult supervision throughout this activity.

How To:

1. Cover your working area with newspaper, and make sure everyone is wearing old clothes or a smock!
2. Pour paint on to paper plates (one color per plate).
3. Cut the apples in half.  Create an apple silhouette by cutting the apple from top to bottom, or create a circle with a star by cutting the apple horizontally.  Have your child guess what each shape will look like before you cut the apple, or brainstorm different ways to create different shapes with the apple.
4. Have your child dip the flat side of the apple in the paint, thoroughly covering the apple, and then place it on the printing surface.
5. Have fun creating fun designs and pictures with your homemade stamps!

 To learn more about The Goddard School click here

Excerpt from Me, Myself and I

By Dr. Kyle Pruett

The best way to know what your child thinks about his world before he can tell you directly in words is through playing with him.  It is right there, in their play sequences and manipulations that we see and hear what they understand and think about the world we share.

Remember, however, that this is his play, not yours.  You are a partner and a facilitator, occasionally a “go-fer,” but you are not playwright, producer or director.

• When you play make-believe with your child using simple dress-up (hats alone are great), narrate her play: “And now you get on your hat.”  Describe what you think she is feeling: “Don’t you feel fancy (snazzy, cool…)?”  And listen for when you are not quite on track: “So, then what?”  Children often love to have you with them in these imaginary explorations of role and role-play and usually will do their best to keep you from getting lost along the way.
• Use reflecting surfaces (mirrors, windows) as you play peek-a-boo with your child’s image and then yours, or add a little face paint or make-up as he explores what happens to his face as he, or you, add a dot here or a line there.  It helps him define who he is by enjoying the reflection of his face and feelings back and forth between you.  Doing this together just feels different and better and usually more important.
• Sit together in the dark with a flashlight and give your child a sense that he has some control over what appears, reappears, and disappears into the darkness.  Narrate the experience with him, and match his level of emotional interest, as you share the job of turning the flashlight on and off together.  Sara, at 22 months, loved this game and called it the “good-bye light game.”  She seemed to be sorting out the comings and goings of important things and people as the lights went off and on.

 There are countless other ideas available from books and magazines.  Borrow, invent, and reinvent games just for the two of you.

For more information on why The Goddard School located in Charlotte is the place for fun and learning, please contact Susan Monbarren at 704-544-1998.

About The Goddard School

The Goddard School (www.goddardschools.com) is a nationwide franchise of Goddard Systems, Inc. headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. With over 330 franchised schools nationwide and 42,000 children enrolled, Goddard is the fastest growing preschool in the United States. Goddard was recently recognized by Entrepreneur magazine as the “#1 Childcare Franchise” for the eighth consecutive year (January 2009) and Franchise Times magazine as one of the Top 200 Franchise Systems (in worldwide sales) for the second consecutive year (October 2008).

To learn more about The Goddard School click here.

1. Limit the initial invitation to one or two friends at your home.
2. Schedule the playdate for one to two hours to avoid overstimulating the children.
3. Plan games and activities your child enjoys and provide enough materials so the children don’t have to share immediately.
4. Guide the children as they make a craft, play a game or splash in a wading pool rather than letting them manage themselves.
5. Schedule playdates with the same children on a weekly basis.   
6. Periodically play one-on-one with your child to develop familiarity with their playing style and stimulate their social interaction.
7. If your child is struggling socially with their peers consider adopting a pet, which is usually nonthreatening.
8. Reading books and watching shows about friendship also reinforces the positive aspects of socialization.
9. Model friendship by inviting friends to meet, especially when your friends have children compatible with your own.
10.   Limit your expectations and pressure to prevent your child developing insecurity about developing friends.

For information about The Goddard School located in Charlotte, NC click here  

By Dr. Kyle Pruett

Words do more than communicate thoughts and facts.  They allow us to organize and categorize those thoughts and facts – just as numbering systems allow us to do arithmetic after we’ve run out of fingers and toes to count on, or file names let us access previous work on a particular topic.

Children weeks old begin to bubble and coo, then move to squeals and squeaks, then repetitive tongue and lip movements, all in a fairly predictable sequence.  As children age, they spend a fair amount of time experimenting and playing with sounds.

They play with giggles, cooing, wailing, grunting, moaning, bubble blowing on their way to their first word, just as they play with their feet or body parts on their way to sitting up, crawling, and walking.  The pleasure gained in the mastery of sounds helps drive development forward.  Be honest.  You know those sounds are fun to make because you mimic them just to see that little face light up.

While infants begin uttering sounds for the sheer delight of doing so, they won’t attach meaning to those sounds until around 12 months.  Once this happens, children discover the power of words to cause action – saying “Mama” is likely to bring Mom to the scene.  Children also discover that words can call forth mental images of the people or things the words mean – saying or thinking “Mama” will bring up a mental picture of Mom.  Such images can be very comforting to a child when Mom isn’t physically present, such as at bedtime.  Most parents are familiar with children’s nighttime chants, a mix of words, syllables that call up images of the child’s world that are temporarily out of sight when the lights go out.  While the uttered name may not magically or instantly produce Mom, the mental image or picture attached to the name provides important comfort until she actually appears.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Susan Monbarren 
The Goddard School® located in Charlotte   
704-544-1998
charlotte2nc@goddardschools.com

FALL FESTIVAL at The Goddard School® located in Charlotte

Charlotte, NC (Grassroots Newswire) 9/15/2010 — The Goddard School located at 13820 Ballantyne Corporate Place in Charlottewill be the host to Fall Festival on 10/15/2010 from 4:00 to 7:00pm.

The Goddard School located in Charlotte opened in October 2005 and is owned and operated by Susan Monbarren.  The school accommodates 150 children, ages six weeks to 5 years old. 

We will have games, food, bounce house, pony rides, face painting and so much more!

“We are all excited to have the fall festival at our school,” says Monbarren. “The teachers and children are anticipating a lot of fun and a great learning experience.” 

The Goddard School offers a program that focuses on building a strong and balanced foundation of emotional, social, cognitive and physical skills for each child.  Goddard provides children with a nurturing environment and a curriculum that encourages learning through play.  Families have the convenience of extended hours from 7:00 am – 6:00 pm, the flexibility of either half or full-day schedules and Quality Assurance standards that are monitored corporately.
Parents are encouraged to drop in for a tour or call The Goddard School directly to arrange a personal appointment at 704-544-1998.

About Goddard Systems, Inc. www.goddardschool.com
Recently named #1 Childcare Franchise in the United States by Entrepreneur magazine, for the ninth consecutive year (January 2010) and one of the Top 200 Franchise Systems (in worldwide sales), by Franchise Times for the third consecutive year (October 2009), Goddard Systems, Inc. (GSI) is expanding The Goddard School® network throughout the United States.  Headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, GSI currently licenses 360+ franchised schools with more than 43,000 students in 34 states. With a successful system in place and dedicated franchisees, GSI is the acknowledged leader in franchised childcare and a premier childcare provider in the United States.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Susan Monbarren
The Goddard School® located in Charlotte 
704-544-1998
charlotte2nc@goddardschools.com

The Goddard School located in Charlotte is having A Meet And Greet for 3-5 year olds!
Local preschool offers event for community

Charlotte, North Carolina (Grassroots Newswire) July 21, 2009 — The Goddard School®, the premier preschool for children from six weeks to 5yrs, located at 13820 Ballantyne Corporate Place is hosting A Meet And Greet for 3-5 year olds on August 18, 2009 from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm.

Children will enjoy refreshments and fun activities at this special event. Please come and meet our Preschool and Pre-K teachers and tour the school.  Families will also receive one week free when they enroll by August 18th.

On-site owner, Susan Monbarren, along with her Education Director, Cherie Woulfowitz, and faculty which includes teachers trained and experienced in early childhood development, are eager to welcome children into this nurturing environment where the curriculum encourages learning through play. The program offers parents the convenience of extended hours from 7:00 am – 6:00 pm, the flexibility of either half-or full-day schedules and Quality Assurance standards that are monitored corporately.

Parents are encouraged to drop in for a tour or call Susan Monbarren directly to arrange a personal appointment at 704-544-1998.

About Goddard Systems, Inc. www.goddardschool.com

Recently named #1 Childcare Franchise in the United States, by Entrepreneur magazine, for the eighth consecutive year (January 2009) and one of the Top 200 Franchise Systems (in worldwide sales), by Franchise Times, for the second consecutive year (October 2008); Goddard Systems, Inc. (GSI) is expanding The Goddard School network throughout the United States. Headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, GSI currently licenses 320+ franchised schools with more than 40,000 students in 37 states. With a successful system in place and dedicated franchisees, GSI is the acknowledged leader in franchised childcare and a premier childcare provider in the United States.

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Internationally recognized for accrediting top-quality schools within the United States and around the world, AdvancED evaluates quality, continuous improvement and student success. Recognition by the organization is highly coveted and rarely given to child care companies.

As the premier child care provider in the United States with a strong commitment to early childhood development and education, Goddard is pleased to have received this prestigious certification, said Joseph Schumacher, Chief Operating Officer at Goddard Systems, Inc. Parents look to Goddard for quality child care and CITA accreditation further emphasizes to the community that Goddard programs, from infant development to private kindergarten, have been reviewed by the experts and meet or exceed their expectations.

The first individual school to receive AdvancED SACS accreditation is the Goddard School located in Birmingham, Alabama.

Being part of the AdvancED accreditation process shows our willingness to be held accountable to the school community and to educational professionals, said Birmingham owner Kevin Hamby. AdvancED accreditation differentiates us from other early childhood education providers and demonstrates our enthusiasm for providing the best child care and education possible.

Comprising seven regional accrediting agencies, private school agencies and other educational service and regulatory agencies, AdvancED protects the public trust by ensuring schools reach high standards and act in a trustworthy manner. Goddard Systems, Inc. was found to meet all seven of AdvancEDs accreditation quality standards including a research-based curriculum, teaching methods that enhance student learning, and a commitment to continuous improvement.

On March 30, 2009, Goddard Systems, Inc. will be presented with a certificate honoring this prestigious accomplishment at the AdvanceED Annual Conference in Chicago, IL. Goddard Systems, Inc. will continue to work with AdvancED to set up protocol and an approval process for each of the Goddard schools nationwide.

Goddard School owners are committed to providing the best early childhood development experience for the children in their communities. They are available to their teachers and the children’s families every day.

The Goddard School will:

• Offer a wide range of enriching activities to meet the needs of each child.
• Focus on building a strong and balanced foundation of emotional, social, cognitive and physical skills for each child.
• Offer multi-cultural and developmentally appropriate materials and equipment.
• Provide a safe and nurturing environment.
• Comply with Quality Assurance Reviews and parent surveys conducted by GSI.
• Support the professional development of teachers and Directors through Goddard Systems University (GSU).
• Offer open communication with families in an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect.
• Offer curriculum resources to enhance the learning experience.

*Goddard Schools are operated by independent franchisees of Goddard Systems, Inc. – GSI.