Safety Checklist

We have developed a new Site Safety Checklist to be used in addition to the Licensing Rule Book.  It’s a handy little tool if anyone would like one give Mary a call at Child Care Connections.  941-7767

Baby Bloopers!

My 3 year old daughter, Jill, showed me a picture she was coloring of Elmo.  I told her to be sure to color all of him.  She looked up at me and said, “I can’t color all of him.  he won’t turn around!”  —Janet Brooks, Ala.

I kept my maiden name when I got married, but after two kids, I decided to use my husband’s surname.  As we were on our way to the Social Security office, Max, our 5 year old, asked where we were going.  I told him I had to change my name and he asked, “Can I still call you Mom?” — Jean Nielson, MI.

Provider Tidbits

If there is anything you want us to know about you please post it here!  For example; do you have an excess of children’s books you want to share with other providers? Or perhaps you have training in a particular area and would like to be a mentor to another provider.  The possibilities are endless!

Support Group’s

We would like to know if there are any providers who are interested in starting or being involved in a support group?

This would be  great way to meet face-to-face and bounce ideas off each other.  We can offer the use of our conference room as a meeting play in Traverse City.  For those in our outlying counties you can get with your 4C On-Site Coordinator to discuss possible locations.  Perhaps we could also offer a person to come in and discuss a “hot” topic such as biting or childhood anxiety etc. 

Please give us feedback!  We want to help you be the best you can be.  We know that  providers can be very valuable resources to each other!

Recycling Fun!

Young children can begin to understand and appreciate the concept of recycling.  Here are a few ideas to recycle clear plastic bottles into toys and science experiments!

Toddler Play – Fill a bottle with table salt about 3/4 full.  Drop several small objects in the bottle.  Hot glue the lid on.  Little ones enjoy turning the bottle to find the hidden “treasures” inside!

Preschool Fun – Place several magnetic marbles in a bottle.  Add metal objects (paper clips, screws, hooks etc).  Hot glue lid on.  Use strong magnets to move the objects inside the bottle!

Draw a picture on a small piece of paper.  Place picture facing in against a bottle filled with water.  Hot glue lid.  Look through the water at the picture; it will appear larger!

School-Age Science Fun – Pour 2 cups of vinegar into a 2-liter bottle.  Fill a helium-quality balloon with baking soda.  Place ballon over the rim, be careful not to spill the contents into the bottle.  Have child life balloon and shake slightly.  The gas created will inflate the balloon!

Announcing Child Care Connections Chat!

We are pleased to announce that we now have this blog, Child Care Connections Chat!  It is a place for day care providers and parents to come together to share resources and ideas.  We encourage everyone to post comments and to ask the staff at Child Care Connections questions concerning your day care and your children.  We will do our best to respond within 48 hours.  Please keep all content appropriate.  We will be monitoring daily and will delete anything that is not appropriate or child care related. 

We hope you find this blog helpful and we look forward to chatting with you!

Biting

We have been asked a lot of questions lately about how to handle biting.  This is a tough one but certainly one that is of concern for many parents and providers.  First, keep in mind that many children go through a biting phase.  It is important to understand why children bite and the reasons that underlie it.  Here are some reasons children bite:

• Curiosity – This is the biggest reason!  Children are curious about the world around them.  This is very common in younger children.  At this age biting may be curved by explaining why we don’t bite.  Discuss alternatives to biting which will still allow them to explore.
• Frustration – As children get a bit older but still lack the verbal skills they need to communicate how they are feeling they may also bite.  (Hitting is also another big way children strike out when they are feeling frustrated).  Communication and consequences are vital here.  Redirection is a useful tool.  Redirect the child to another task. 
• Attention – Mostly common at preschool age.  Children know that biting gets your attention!  Here are some pointers:  minimize the amount of attention you give to biting, issue a consequence and stick with it, use a reward system for not biting, praise non-biting behavior, and consider the reason for the need of attention.  Is there a new baby at home?  Maybe there needs to be “mom and me dates”. 
• Aggression – More common in older children.  The above hints are tools which you can use here as well but the real key is to find the reason for the aggressive behavior.  Consider positive ways for handling aggression such as enrolling your child in karate.  It is also a good rule of thumb to speak with your child’s doctor.  There may even be some chemical imbalance that needs to be treated. 

Just remember:  There is a reason behind the behavior and you are not alone!