As the new year kicks off, many decide on new year's resolutions. Some of those are health and exercise related, while others are aimed at forming healthy habits. For preschool children, it is important to exercise both mind and body as well as to develop positive healthy habits and routines. A healthy diet, a good night’s sleep, and plenty of exercise aren’t just good for your child’s physical health—they're essential to mental health too. Teach your kids to develop healthy habits that will keep their bodies and their minds in good shape. The following are some ideas to help young children develop strong minds and healthy bodies. Establish Healthy Bedtime Habits Pick and stick to a set bedtime. Make sure it allows your child to get the full amount of sleep they need. Establish a nightly routine that includes three or four soothing activities, such as taking a bath, changing into pajamas, and reading stories. Try to keep the bedtime ritual the same every night, so your child can anticipate each activity. Play Together A child who is healthy both physically and mentally needs to play. Truthfully, adults need play, too! Take time to put aside work, chores, and other obligations and focus solely on your child. Doing so shows your child that they are worth your precious minutes. While playing with your child, you’ll not only strengthen your relationship and bond, but you’ll probably find yourself having fun too. Seeing a parent let go of worries can assure kids that they can do that as well. Physical Activity Physical activity is important for everyone, but it is critical for a growing child. Preschoolers need lots of opportunities for activity, and when they have the chance to blow off some steam, they tend to have more self-control and are better able to learn and actively engage in calmer activities. Minimizing screen time is one way to encourage more active play. Goals: Get 60 minutes of physical activity each day. Get outside everyday, when possible. Nutrition During the preschool years, children’s bodies and brains are developing rapidly and they are laying the foundation for their future growth, development, and even brain pathways! The food toddlers eat now is literally building their body and brain, and will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Making good, healthy food choices sets children up for success in many areas, including academics, self-control, and emotional well-being. Make a new recipe with your child that includes a fruit or veggie your child likes. It’s a great way to bond and encourage cooking habits in the home. Try a new fruit or vegetable and ask your child to pick some to try. Try new healthy snacks. Choose water over sugary drinks. Provide a variety of healthy foods for breakfast. A healthy breakfast can include foods that aren’t traditional breakfast foods. Goals: Include fruits and vegetables with each meal. Eat less sugar. Practice making healthy food choices as a family. Choose water over sugary drinks. Help your child form lifelong healthy habits in the new year!

Transitioning from one activity to another in the early childhood classroom can be challenging, but with a little planning and flexibility, you can minimize the frustrations that can accompany transitions for both yourself and the children in your care. Why are transitions so hard for some children? Being able to independently transition from one activity to the next is a key aspect of getting children ready to start kindergarten. However, many young children struggle stopping one activity and moving to another. This can be for a variety of reasons. For children (and adults too!), it can be extremely frustrating having to leave something they are thoroughly engrossed in, especially if they are enjoying what they are doing or feeling that they have nearly completed the activity. Think about your own life. When you are in the middle of a task, you may not appreciate being interrupted or pulled away from that task, particularly if it is an unexpected interruption. For other children, transitions can lead to confusion or produce worried feelings. This usually stems from a lack of structure or routine. While some children may be flexible and able to adapt to interruptions in their routine, others will have difficulty understanding why they are being asked to do something else, view the situation as unfair, or else, feel unsure of what they should do next. Children respond to uncertainty in different ways. When transitions are unexpected or not clearly communicated, this confusion can lead to frustrated outbursts, increased anxiety, and impact how the child goes through the rest of their day. What can you do to make transitions easier? While transitions can be challenging, there are a number of things that you can do to make moving from one activity to another smoother and minimize disruptions and outbursts. Here are some things to try in your own program: Set up a schedule. This is so important. Children tend to handle expected transitions very differently than unexpected ones. Establish a routine and refer to the schedule throughout the day. It can be helpful to start the day with some sort of morning meeting where you will go over what you have planned. Providing reminders about what comes next in the day can be helpful as well. Post a visual picture schedule for the children so they can look at it throughout the day. Stick to the schedule, but build in transition times. Following your schedule will provide children with a good idea of what to expect and help them develop routines. However, it is okay to be flexible at times. For example, if all children are actively working on an art project and fully engaged, it would probably be a better idea to give them a couple extra minutes to finish up, instead of trying to pull everyone away from the activity. Additionally, remember that transitions take time, even when everything goes smoothly. Building that time into the schedule will allow you to stay on track and not feel rushed or flustered. Think about how long it will take to clean up or get new materials, instead of expecting one activity to start immediately after another. Provide cues that mark the time to transition. To minimize confusion and surprises in the schedule, try to incorporate both verbal and non-verbal cues that signal that it is time, or nearly time, to move to a new activity. For example, providing ten- and five-minute warnings will help make transitions go smoothly. You can, also, incorporate an instrument or bell to signal that it is time for the next activity. Follow this up with a verbal reminder as well (“do we remember what the bell means?”). Another effective strategy is to incorporate some sort of transition song, like the clean-up song. Again, when children hear this song, they will have a better idea of what is expected of them and they will likely join in with the song and be more willing to help prepare for the next activity. Provide clear and consistent instructions. Another important tip for managing transition time is to give your students clear and consistent instructions. This means letting them know what they need to do and how they need to do it. For example, you might say, “It’s time to clean up the blocks and get ready for circle time. Please put all the blocks away and line up at the door.” Giving clear and consistent instructions can help to reduce confusion and ensure that your students are able to move smoothly from one activity to the next. Make it Fun Create a fun and engaging way to move the children from one place to another. Let children be partners in planning a fun and engaging transition activity. For example: Let’s hop like bunnies to the playground. Transition in pairs. For some children who struggle with transitions, they may enjoy moving to a new activity with a partner. This can be done proactively by planning partner activities or reactively by asking a child who does not struggle with transitions to help another child get ready. This should be framed in a way that encourages supporting friends in the classroom and not as a punishment for the child that struggles with transitions. Balance active and calm activities. You have likely seen times in your classroom where it seems like all the children are getting antsy or fidgety. Physical activity and active play are so important for multiple reasons, including helping children make transitions. Try to remember this when you develop your schedule. If there are multiple indoor, quiet activities planned try to break these up with ones that allow children to run around, get exercise, and be louder than they would in the classroom. Similarly, if you are asking children to transition to an activity like getting ready to go home, it might be a good idea to provide them with a short, relaxing activity beforehand as opposed to expecting them to go immediately from something extremely active to something focused and calm. Be positive! Remember to provide positive reinforcement when you see children transitioning to activities appropriately. Acknowledging desirable behaviours when you see them will increase their occurrence. Transitions can be tricky. But with a little preparation and flexibility, you can minimize the challenges that often accompany transitions and help prepare the children to be successful.

If you haven’t already, it’s time to start planning the end-of-year celebrations for your early childhood center! Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing. You might like to use a couple of these ideas, together or one for each age group — the options are endless. Make sure you consider your guests’ comfort and safety at these events. Do you need to provide adult sized chairs or tables? It may be worth considering hosting a number of smaller events, rather than one big one. Create a musical extravaganza: Every occasion is a time for music and singing, but this time of year really lends itself to music. Pick out a bunch of the children’s favorite songs and perform a musical for families. You can incorporate instruments and dance moves along with singing loud and proud. Perform a cherished story: Choose a favorite story, or one that children can’t get enough of, and put together a performance of the story. Educators can narrate the story and the children can act it out. Add in some dialogue for children who feel confident too! Have the children create the scenery, costumes and props. Revisit the year’s favorite activities: Get children and educators to vote on the best activities you explored throughout the past year. Base your end-of-year celebration around one or more of those exciting activities. They can be extended into your decorations, songs, stories, outfits, and even your snacks! Record a movie: Another option is to pre-record a bunch of your ideas – songs, performances, artwork progress – and edit it together into a keepsake movie for families to cherish. If you choose to host a number of smaller events, you could play the movie for everyone to enjoy. Live stream your event: We’ve all become accustomed to celebrating a variety of occasions online and can now navigate streaming platforms with ease. Grandparents, relatives and people that are unable to attend your in-person event will appreciate the opportunity to be a part of the Holiday Season with the children. Include Everyone: When working with young children, it’s important to create an understanding that all families have their own traditions, beliefs and cultures and we should treat each other with respect and dignity, regardless of where we come from or what we believe. Get families involved: Sing songs in different languages (ask families to write down the words). Dance to music from different countries (ask families for the music). Learning hello and goodbye in different languages. Cooking foods from around the world (ask families for the recipes). Getting children to dress up in their native costume. Taking photos of each family and adding them to a world map of where they originally came from. Ask families to bring in a plate of food from their cultural background (give a list of prohibited foods). Play group games from around the world. Find where each child’s name comes from and its meaning (these can be displayed). Display posters/images of children and people from different countries.

In the month of November conversations about gratitude, giving back and appreciation take center stage as parents help their children develop an attitude of gratitude. Encourage your child to develop a grateful heart that tells others what they are thankful for from their own perspective. Children that give details of what they are thankful for and why begin to understand the concepts of gratitude and being thankful for people, circumstances and things in their lives. The following ideas are intentional ways to help children of all ages grow in the area of gratitude: Signs of Thankfulness When children are around 6 to 9 months old, start teaching them signs for common words like “milk,” “food,” “more” and “all done.” Don’t forget to teach “please” and “thank you” to establish good manners before they start talking and develop gratitude. Heart of Gratitude Young children can express gratitude in your home before they are old enough to write. Decorate a hanging wooden heart with the words “thank you” in the middle. Explain that the heart would hang on the bedroom door of anyone caught doing good, as a reminder of thankfulness for their act of kindness. You will be amazed how quickly children grasp the concept. They will be thanking you and their siblings for all sorts of acts of kindness. “Thank you, Sophia, for playing blocks with me”. Or “Thank you, Alexa, for helping me pour milk on my cereal.” Reminders of Thanks When children are very young, it’s easy to remind them to say, “Thank you.” Older children may also need verbal reminders to say, “Thank you.” But, as kids grow, the expectation from others and their growing understanding of being thankful changes and matures. A verbal “thank you” may need to be followed up with a written thank you note. A Lesson in Gratitude At the beginning of the school year, when you are shopping for school supplies, buy an extra backpack and fill it with supplies for a child in need. Put in a special note and then drop it off at a local charity that is collecting back-to-school donations. Whiteboard Thanks Mount a whiteboard on the refrigerator or any convenient location around your home. This can be used as a communication board between the family members to remind each other to have a good day or to help kids show more appreciation for things that are often taken for granted. Anyone in the family can write or draw on the board and show gratitude or appreciation and encourage each other. Read books with the message of gratitude Many children's books have the theme of gratitude or thankfulness. Look for books that match your family values.

School newsletters can be of great benefit to your entire community. By providing important details, timely updates, and intriguing news, you are bringing everyone into the dialogue. How can you ensure that these crucial mails don’t get deleted? To grab their attention, start with the following excellent practices: Limit the amount of content you use. Less can be more. Concentrate on the importance of your material and focus on no more than two or three key themes. Adding excessive information to your emails will guarantee that they get archived. Keep it straightforward and to the point. Create for mobile. Since most email opens come from mobile devices, it is essential to optimize your school newsletters for them. Desktop design has suffered as a result of how frequently parents, teachers, and kids are on the move. Staying informed about changes and events in your community requires quick access to information. Pick a time to send out the newsletter. Consider the best times to send an email before choosing when to send one. The goal is to ensure that your school newsletter is reaching your readers at the appropriate time. Personalize your newsletter. Use personalisation techniques in your emails to boost interaction. For example, you can use the parent’s first name in the subject line. Make sure the content you are distributing is relevant. Rethink your goal to redefine the intended strategy and outcome if they don't seem to connect with what you have been giving them in the past.

In this webinar, Jared Hall, founder and CEO of IntelliKid Systems, introduced IntelliKid Systems’ newest product IntelliForms! IntelliKid Systems knows enrollment. With IntelliForms, the childcare industry will be able to streamline their enrollment and registration process, simplifying it with digital registration forms. Families can complete the forms online and all the information will be automatically updated in their IKS profile. Imagine the time that can be saved on manual entry, uploading the form, trying to decode the parents’ handwriting and chasing down missing information. Imagine streamlining the enrollment and registration process to make it fast, easy to use, and convenient for families and staff. It’s all possible with IntelliForms! Essential information will be captured and parents will have the ability to e-sign documents making the registration and enrollment process smoother and simpler. Many parents nowadays don’t even own printers. No need for parents to own a printer with IntelliForms as the information will automatically get returned to IKS. Instead of printing, filling out forms, or performing manual entry, the parents just complete the information and it will be saved in IKS. Do you require a registration fee for enrollment? With IntelliForms, automated payments can be taken for registration, or other fees. No more back-and-forth phone calls trying to track down payment. Parents will love the time-saving convenience and your staff will love it too! The IntelliForms product will revolutionize the way your childcare registers and enrolls families! Join the IntelliForms revolution for $75.00 per month per location. Contact jared@intelliKidsystems.com for a demo or schedule your demo here.

You can find parent boards in most early childhood classrooms. Traditionally, these boards provide information to parents about classroom activities. This board is a tool to help keep parents informed about the daily happenings in the classroom, upcoming special events or activities, and may house classroom rosters and communication sheets. The board is used in conjunction with other forms of parent communication, such as digital daily reports, digital newsletters and verbal communication. Let me begin by saying that the most important things about a parent board are… Location: The parent board needs to be placed where it can easily be seen and accessed, or your parents will easily overlook it. Keep it in a location where it is at parent’s eye level and within parent reach. Updates: If you want parents to actually look at the parent board, then you have to be committed to keeping the parent board updated with the most recent information. Useful: You have to plan ahead and put things on the board that are useful and informative to the parent like extra copies of newsletters, the menu, or field trip forms. Commitment: This may seem like an odd word choice, but if you throw up a board and title it “Parent Board” without ever thinking about it again, then parents will lose interest and not get into the habit of looking at it. You have to be committed to making the parent board a regular part of your communication strategy. Time: Take the time to remind your parents to view the parent board for the most recent updates and classroom happenings, but make sure you have taken the time to add those updates! What you might include on the parent board: A clear label identifying it as the Parent Board. Food Menu: a copy of your weekly menu outlining meal options for the week and any updates to the menu. A place for the roster to hang when the teacher is in the classroom. This will help the parents know where to consistently find the roster when the class is inside. A copy of the daily schedule. Information related to that age group (for example, in a 2 year old classroom, potty training info could be posted). The lesson plans for the class. Important Announcements. The parent board is a wonderful communication tool. This is a great way to keep parents up-to-date with current classroom happenings such as field trip forms, newsletters, pictures/documentation of students in action, or other special important announcements. Special Classroom Activities or Special Events. Newsletters. Teacher’s Bio with a photo. What we learned today. Make sure that these are dated with the current date. This can be handwritten by the teacher, but spelling, grammar and professionalism must be considered at all times. What We Learned Today will help the parents know what happens daily and give a better understanding about what the children are learning while at school. Another Helpful Tip: Be sure to keep your parent board attractive, well-organized and, most of all, eye-catching and appealing! It must be updated regularly and referenced as a place of communication in all correspondence with parents. Mention the parent board in your newsletter. Reference it in your daily digital communication with parents. Parents will be eager to reference the parent board when it is thoughtfully designed and relevant to what is happening in the classroom.

Here are a few simple ideas that can help build awareness in your community. 1. Host an Event If you are a new school in the area, you might try an event that is open to the public, no RSVP required. The goal here is to let folks see your facility and just know you are there. Event ideas might include an open house, a BBQ or an arts fair. The idea is a low-pressure way for families to see your school while spending quality time with their family. If your school has been around for a while, you may want to focus on events that build your credentials in early education. That might be a workshop on some aspect of parenting or a guest speaker on some early education topic that appeals to parents — dealing with tantrums, ideas to improve eating habits, biting etc. In all cases, be sure to have materials parents can take away, such as brochures and registration forms. Give a special gift to the children, such as playdough, flubber or a small plant. Also, you can use the events to collect emails, so that you can touch base in the future. You can use a page on a clipboard or have parents enter their own emails directly into IntelliKid Systems to save time. 2. Promote Your Business Whenever You Communicate Parents are everywhere. And so, every communication is an opportunity. Is your school name, contact details and either logo or brief description on all of your correspondence? Your email signatures should include your school logo or description, including a link to your website. 3. Engage on Social Media Another effective child care marketing tactic is to contribute to online conversations in social networks that reach parents. Social media is powerful. An absolute must-have for early learning centers is a Facebook page. At a minimum, use it to keep your community informed on your key dates and events — when your school year starts, etc. It is also an easy way to be found, should one of your clients recommend you — if they have “liked” your page, they can simply share it with others. Beyond that, social media offers a chance for you to create a brand and a voice. Communicate this through the articles you might share or like, and through how you interact on your page. For instance, it could be a professional tone, a warm and nurturing tone, or a lighthearted and cheerful tone. Your community can learn a lot about you and your school from your online presence. 4. Encourage Referrals Word-of-mouth is a powerful marketing tool for most child care services but how do you get parents to talk about you? A motivator can be a parent referral program. Offer a free week for referring families and a free registration fee for new families. Make sure that you are promoting your referral programs to all your enrolled families.

We all want to create high-performing email campaigns. Performance suffers, however, when emails are delivered to the SPAM folder. WHAT IS EMAIL DELIVERABILITY? Email deliverability refers to the ability of your messages to reach the inbox. It doesn't matter if your emails are beautifully designed and perfectly optimized if no one receives them. Many factors influence whether or not your emails are delivered to the inbox, including the reputation of your FROM address (the email address from which the message was sent), the reputation of the sending platform, and further technicalities, such as email authentication. All of these are critical, and should be discussed with your email service providers. Even if you're not a “techie”, the choices you make can impact email deliverability. HOW EMAIL DESIGN AFFECTS DELIVERABILITY The choices you make from a design point of view can impact your ability to deliver emails to the inbox over time. Make sure that you: Don’t make it difficult for people to unsubscribe. Have a good balance between text and images. Have your messages be easily recognizable by your customers. With our Drag and Drop editor, you can quickly design emails that perform well. 1. Keep the Unsubscribe link visible. While it may seem paradoxical, the best method to ensure that your audience is engaged is to make it simple for them to opt-out. Emailing people, not email addresses, is what you do. There will be people who no longer want to receive your messages, even if you segment your audience well and deliver them content they care about. Make it simple for them to cancel. There are two fundamental reasons to have a visible unsubscribe link: Spam complaints. Your messages are more likely to be marked as SPAM if you make it difficult for recipients to unsubscribe. That tells the mailbox provider unequivocally that individuals do not wish to receive your emails. Your chances of being placed in the SPAM folder increase as spam complaints rise. Additionally, your ESP could decide to completely stop sending your campaigns. Engagement score. Your overall engagement score increases if everyone on your list is genuinely interested in some sort of interaction. A 20% engagement score is achieved if 200 out of 1000 recipients click on a link in your email. Engagement would drop to 2% if you delivered the same message to 10,000 people and the number of clicks stayed the same. You get the idea. Clicks are merely one engagement indicator that mailbox providers consider when determining whether customers care about that message. 2. Don't send emails with only images. Emails with images solely should not be sent for a variety of reasons. Among them are the following: they are not visible when photos are disabled, they download slowly when an inadequate internet connection is available, and they frequently display poorly on mobile devices. In addition, because spammers frequently attempt to hide text by using graphics, they are frequently marked as SPAM by mailbox providers. Such messages are often classified as high-risk by spam filters and placed in the SPAM folder. The same holds true for messages with little text (i.e. a very low text-to-image ratio). 3. Be instantly recognizable. When you're going through your inbox, how quickly do you decide whether or not to read an email? In an age when we have an 8-second attention span, we take even less time to glance at an email and decide whether or not to read it. It's critical that your messages are easily identifiable so that your readers don't waste time figuring out who is sending them the message. Using a recognizable, consistent FROM name and email address is one way to accomplish this. Not only will this help your recipients recognize you, but it will also help you build a reputation with mailbox providers. The alternative is problematic: the more you change things, the more uncertainty there is and the more difficult it is for Gmail and the company to decide whether or not an incoming message can be trusted. It is also critical to use a clean, brand-focused, consistent design, especially for transactional emails (those are emails that you would never want your customers to flag as SPAM and not receive.) Google, for example, uses a clean, minimalistic, on-brand design for security alerts: font, colors, logo, links...everything is easily identifiable.

When evaluating published curriculum or developing your own, consider these features: 1. How does the curriculum define the roles of the teacher and the child in the learning process? 2. What domains of learning are addressed? Are they integrated or treated separately? Will the curriculum lead to the achievement of state early learning standards? 3. Does the curriculum provide guidance for differentiating teaching for students with special behavior? Linguistic or learning needs? 4. Do the curriculum’s developers provide an assessment system that is consistent with the teaching philosophy and learning content? 5. What research evidence exists to support the value or effectiveness of the curriculum? 6. Is the curriculum appropriate for all teachers, regardless of the qualifications? What kind of professional development is provided? 7. Are specific materials required to implement the curriculum? 8. Does the curriculum model provide guidance for such services as parent involvement and the transition to kindergarten? Copple, C. & Bredekamp, S.Developmentally Appropriate Practice, 3rd Ed., N

A leader is someone who inspires passion and motivation in followers. In a childcare setting, there are many types of leaders. Teachers are leaders of the children. Administrators are leaders for the teachers. Regardless of what type of leader you are or who you are leading, one of a leader's most powerful tools is communication and conversation. Effective communication is vital to gain trust, align efforts in the pursuit of goals, and inspire positive change. When communication is lacking, important information can be misinterpreted, causing relationships to suffer and, ultimately, creating barriers that hinder progress. Remember, one of the most important motivators for people is that they feel they are being listened to, that they feel valued, and that their ideas are heard and appreciated. This type of leadership requires being out of your office and in your environment. In childcare, this can be challenging. Schedule times out of your office during crucial drop-off and pick-up times so you are easily accessible to your parents for conversations. Be involved with your staff by being accessible and demonstrating your interest in knowing how they are doing, their goals, their opinions, their families, and their interests. During your daily walkarounds, greet your staff and ask questions about events that are important to them. Important steps to great communication are: Be genuine Be in the conversation and nowhere else Ask open-ended questions to continue the conversation Listen more than you talk Let silence do the heavy lifting Thank the person for their time, suggestions, or ideas. Some individuals are naturals at effective communication. For those of us who are not, we must commit to it to know its importance, to allow ourselves to be vulnerable and accept ideas and help, and to seek continuous improvement. Continuing to improve your communication will lead to continuing to significantly improve your leadership!