February 2013 The K State Center for Child Development 2013 Parent Newsletter.pdf · 2013-02-07 · Family Traditions & Rituals H onoring Children’s A rt BIRTH TO FIVE Early Childhood

1

February 2013

Parent

The K-State Center for Child Development Center Mission Statement: The K-State Center for Child Development

provides a family-centered early childhood program in a professional and

nurturing environment that meets the developmental and educational

needs of children, incorporates the experiences and values of all families,

and encourages children to explore their diverse world.

Important Dates

The CCD will have Parent Teacher

Conferences March 4-8

The CCD will be CLOSED

March 8: from 12:45– 5:30 for Parent Teacher Conferences

March 20-22: Teacher Inservice training & Facility Maintenance

In This Issue

Important CCD Dates

Honoring Children’s Art

Childhood Screening

Health Curriculum

Family Traditions & Rituals

Honoring Children’s Art

BIRTH TO FIVE Early Childhood Screening

February 1, 2013 from 9:00-11:00 a.m.

Peace Lutheran Church 785-776-6363 Please call in advance to make an

appointment.

Would you like information on your child’s development? The screening

will include vision, hearing, general health and developmental milestones.

Transportation can be arranged if needed. Sponsored by: Manhattan-Ogden

Public Schools, Infant-Toddler Services, Parents As Teachers, and Riley

County Health Department.

Share it: When children bring home lots of art, it may start feeling

overwhelming and not as much like a treasure to you, but it might

brighten the day of a grandma, friend, or neighbor.

Display it: You can’t get another refrigerator, but you can

create special places for children’s art. Hang a string or

yarn on a wall and clip the art to it with clothespins.

Frame it: Frame the really special pieces and hang them

on the wall. You can always change out what is in the frame quarterly.

Store it: Put all the special art work in a big box. At the end of the

year, have children choose which ones to keep in another container. As

children grow older, they enjoy looking back at their earliest art efforts

over the years..

“I finally realized I had painting down to perfec-tion when I could imitate what children drew.” Pablo Picasso

It may take a little time,

but sharing children’s

art, finding a place to

display it, or storing it

away as a keepsake

is well worth the effort.

2

Please remember our

holiday policy. We do not

celebrate holidays in our

classrooms, including

Valentine’s Day. If you would like a copy of our full holiday policy,

please let a mem-ber of management know. Thank you.

KSU CCD

Website

Our website will

be updated

monthly with

events,

newsletters,

important dates,

& announce-

ments. Visit

k-state.edu/ccd

Dental Health Facts for Parents of Young Children

February is National Children’s Dental Heath Month. As a part of our “MyGarden To MyPlate” health and nutrition curriculum we will have a lesson on dental care. We’d like to answer common dental care questions asked by parents.

When Should I Start Cleaning My Child’s Mouth?

Clean your baby’s mouth by wiping the gums with a clean washcloth after feedings. This will get your baby used to oral hygiene activities.

Brush baby teeth as they appear, gently with a child-size toothbrush and water, this will continue to make brushing a familiar activity.

At 2yrs old, brush your child’s teeth with a pea-sized amount of non-fluoride toothpaste. Teach them to spit out the toothpaste and rinse thoroughly.

Continue to brush your child's teeth twice a day until they are able to do it properly – you will need to monitor their tooth-brushing until they are 6 or 7 years old.

What if My Child Doesn’t Like Brushing?

Books such as the “Brush, Brush, Brush” board book by Scholastic or “The Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist” will be read at the CCD as a part of the “MyTeeth” lesson. Consider purchasing these books for use at home. Often when children see their favorite characters doing an activity they are likely to want to do it themselves.

Let your child pick out their own tooth brush.

After you are finished, allow your child to “brush their own teeth” for a while.

Download the free app, “Time2Brush”, on your smartphone. It has a 2 minute timer, a fun song and each session earns items for the tooth brush character.

Have your child brush their teeth while you brush your teeth so that they understand that it’s a part of everyone’s daily routine.

When Should I Start Taking My Child to the Dentist?

The American Dental Assoc. recommends that parents take children to a dentist no later than their first birthday and then at intervals recommended by their dentist. Although the first visit is mainly for the dentist to examine your child’s mouth and to check growth and development, it’s also about your child being familiar and comfortable. If you don’t have dental insurance you can contact Konza Prairie Community Dental Clinic in Manhattan at (785)320-7291 which is an organization that uses income guidelines to set fees and care cost can be reduced by 25-100%.

3

What’s so Important About Family Rituals and Traditions?

More and more families are recognizing the importance of family traditions.

Childhoods zoom by in a flash. All of a sudden, Carla no longer needs her beloved teddy

bear to hold when she goes down for a nap. Riley has outgrown being rocked in the rocking

chair or snuggling first thing in the morning. Meg does not believe in the tooth fairy, and

Connor no longer paints the walls of the bathtub with charming sudsy pictures, nor does he

insist on drinking out of his boot-shaped cup.

Meg Cox, author of The Book of New Family Traditions:

How to Create Great Rituals for Holidays and Every Day,

says, “If parents make an effort to create traditions, and

then routinely, reliably practice those traditions, they

are sending a message very loudly that their kids aren’t

just a bothersome distraction from plowing through

the to-do list but are the central focus of life.”

We often think of holidays when we think of family

traditions. We may fly from faraway places in our efforts to be

together. The preparations for these festive

occasions can take a lot of planning. Presents may be part of the

celebration, and we cook special meals or foods. These are special

times, but it’s good to remember that family rituals can also

celebrate the simple things—such as stopping by the park after

every piano recital or flying a kite every spring.

Bring on the family rituals and

traditions! Celebrate the everyday

moments as well as the once-a-year

holidays. It translates to close families

and even more happy memories!

Ten Good Things Rituals Do for

Children

Impart a sense of identity

Provide comfort and security

Help to navigate change

Teach values

Pass on ethnic or religious heritage

Teach practical skills

Solve problems

Keep alive a sense of depart-ed family members

Help heal from loss or trauma

Generate wonderful memo-ries

Cox describes a ritual as a “series of actions we parents perform

intentionally, in a particular order with prescribed words and actions.”

This might be reading a bedtime story every night or always kissing a boo

-boo. Ellen Galinsky, cofounder of the Families and Work Institute, and

author of Ask the Children, found through extensive research that what

children remembered most about their childhoods weren’t the family

feasts, or gifts or the huge celebrations, but simple gestures of affection or

made-up stories. These are the things that make children feel like a

cherished member of the family.