Written by Sherri Meyer, Coordinator
Children of all ages need parents to be involved with their lives, including their child care, elementary school, sports, and recreational activities. The Search Institute has identified 40 developmental assets or building blocks that will help children succeed. For example, children are more likely to grow up healthy when their parents are involved in their education.
Parents need to stay involved with their children’s school and child care by ensuring that communication stays open between teachers and parents. Parents need to feel that they are a part of the classroom. Volunteering in even very small ways can make a difference. Parents also need to talk with their children at the beginning and end of the day to see how their day went. Parents could recap with the children before they leave for the day so that they are prepared to answer the question, "What did you do today?" The most common answer given by children is, "Nothing." A review of the activities of the day will remind the children and better enable them to share their daily experiences.
Search Institute has found that when parents are involved with their children’s early care and education, children are more likely to be motivated and do well in school, to continue their education past high school, and, in general, to be involved in positive school activities.
We, as early care and education providers, have a responsibility to provide activities and ideas for parents to encourage them to be involved with their children’s daily activities.
Building assets in young children is not difficult, but it does require time. Spending even a small amount of time increasing children’s developmental assets is well worth the effort. So the next time that a child wants to share something with you, take a moment and listen. Encourage parents to be involved right now. The learning experiences that young children have with their parents and providers every day build a foundation for their future.
For more information about asset building and building healthy communities and healthy youth, please contact the Search Institute at 1-800-888-7828.
Information gathered from the Search Institute Newsletter #8 Ideas for Parents: Practical Suggestions for Building Assets in Your Child
How many times a day do you hear "What’s that?" or "Why?" Children have an innate curiosity. That’s why children should have a safe and nurturing environment to explore their surroundings. As parents and teachers, we can encourage curiosity in children of all ages.
Curiosity for many children fades or is never encouraged. Encouraging children to practice skills and concepts that they find to be interesting will lead to mastery of a concept, however, it will be messy along the way. How we react to the messiness will determine the amount of curiosity that children will retain and the amount of growth that will take place.
Parents and teachers have to realize that not all children learn and explore in the same way. Some children explore with their minds, while others need to explore physically by touching, smelling, and climbing. Be careful not to crush curiosity in children. It can stifle their development that is so heavily connected with exploration.
We also have to be careful not to always say, "Don’t touch that! Don’t climb on that! Don’t take that apart!" Children will react to our negative statements and will no longer explore their environment.
Children need our support to enhance their natural curiosity. It is our responsibility as teachers and parents to do this in a safe environment in order to allow children to develop to their fullest potential.
Diminishing children’s curiosity may stunt their future development. Children’s growth and development are enhanced by the quantity and quality of their life experiences. After all, if children continue to explore and discover new things, they will continue to learn.
Information gathered from Curiosity, The Fuel of Development Helping Children Remain Curious and Inspired, written by Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D. Early Childhood Today, March 2001
WKU Child Care Resource & Referral
Written By Sherri Meyer, Coordinator
Young children need to be exposed to music of all genres. We play music for young children every day throughout the day. Bowling Green is presenting the "22nd Annual Concert in the Park Series" every Wednesday in June and every Friday in July. (The concerts will begin officially on Wednesday, May 30 and will conclude on Friday, August 3.)
These concerts will offer a variety of music and will take place in Fountain Square Park in downtown Bowling Green. The concerts will be performed on Wednesdays in June from noon until 1:00 p.m. Friday evening’s concerts in July will offer special events for children and their families from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Please share this information with parents to encourage them to take advantage of the special concerts for their children on Friday evenings in July.
Make plans to attend and enjoy the wonderful music and atmosphere!
Want to borrow toys or activity books from the resource library? That’s easy! Just call the CCR&R office. We will be happy to mail them to you, bring them to your facility, or to the next training that you will be attending. That’s all there is to it! So give us a call or come by today!
Interested in child and infant product recall information? Then visit Consumer Affairs.com at http:www.consumeraffairs.com/recalls/arecalls_child.htm. All of the information is organized alphabetically.
Information shared by Robin Hanks at the Bowling Green Public Library
Don’t forget to help enroll a child in free health insurance! For more information call 1-877-KCHIP-18.
The Child Care Resource & Referral will sponsor training for new and experienced child care providers on Saturday, June 16, 2001 in Bowling Green at Tate Page Hall located on the campus of Western Kentucky University.
The New Employee Orientation workshop is the required training that all employees must have during the first three months of employment.
Both workshops will be worth six clock hours of training. Registration forms for June have been mailed separately. Registration is limited. If you have any questions about registration or any of the workshops, please feel free to contact the CCR&R office and ask for Lesley.
The Bowling Green Enterprise Community is offering temporary assistance for child care in Bowling Green. This assistance is available to residents of the EC (Enterprise Community), which is the census tracks 101, 102, and 103 only. Assistance is available to qualified residents for up to six months. The parent/guardian must be employed or enrolled in a training program. If you would like more information, contact the Enterprise Community office at (270) 393-3658.
Please share this information with parents/guardians who may be eligible.
Following is a list of upcoming conference and workshop opportunities that will be held in Kentucky:
The 15th Annual Early Childhood Summer Conference, "Early Childhood: Leading the Way Into the 21st Century," will be held in Louisville, KY. For more information, call the Anderson County RTC at (502) 839-2513.
"A Weekend of Fun and Learning" for families of young children who are deaf or hard of hearing will be held in Danville, KY. For more information, call Christi Bailey at (859) 426-8036.
The 9th Annual Infant/Toddler Conference, "The Vote is in . . . Quality is the Key," will take place in Lexington, KY. This conference is specific for infant and toddler teachers. For more information, call Linda Wainscott or Jo Comley at (502) 564-7722. The registration deadline is June 22, 2001.
A Child Development Institute, "Beginning with the End in Mind," is developed for child care directors and staff, family child care providers, KERA preschool teachers, and Head Start employees. This institute will focus on Core Content, Outcome Measures, and Literacy. The institute will take place in Owensboro, KY. Registration information is enclosed.
The 2nd Annual Bowling Green Women’s Club Early Childhood Conference, co-sponsored by the WKU CCR&R, will have workshops available for infant/toddler, preschool, and school-age teachers. Watch your mail for more information.
Friday, June 8 is the day to plan a field trip to participate in the Stand for Children Day activities that will be held at Kereiakes Park in Bowling Green. The activities will begin at 10:00 a.m. and will conclude at 12:00 p.m. There will be many children’s activities available for children of all ages.
Plan to attend! You won’t want to miss it!
www.wku.edu/TTAS