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Open House August 19th

August 3, 2016 by Young Scholars Academy Leave a Comment

The new school year is now underway! Wouldn’t you love the opportunity to get to know your child’s teacher and chat with them about goals you have for the new school year? Here’s your chance!

On August 19th we are hosting our very first Open House! For those who have been with us for many years you know of our famous summer bashes, we are going to have another bash to kick off the school year!

Come by and let the kids play with their friends in the bounce houses, take a splash in the dunk tank, and you can enjoy the music, food and talk with the other families and the teachers!

In order to ensure that every family and teacher is given the opportunity to take advantage of this time, WE WILL BE CLOSING AT 5:30 PM! Please make arrangements so that you will be able to participate at this time.

Before and After School Child Care

June 3, 2016 by Admin 2 Comments

While most child care centers operate during traditional working hours, a lot of childcare needs arise in the evening and after hours too. For many of us, life doesn’t run on a 9 to 5 schedule anymore. Our increasingly 24 hours a day economy requires workers to put in odd hours and overtime. You may work the night shift or have a shift that runs over the strict 5 pm workday cutoff. If you work in the service industry, your hours can vary from season to season, month to month and even day to day. And you need childcare that can accommodate your modern, busy lifestyle. Let’s take a look at how after hours childcare can help you and your family balance your busy life and work needs with you quality after hours child care.

Evening Child Care

After hours child care is designed to help parents care for their children at all hours of the day. Some after hour child care centers offer 24 hour daycare. Others offer extended hours childcare that last long into the night and morning. But the most crucial times for many parents are the hours after normal workday hours, typically around 5pm to midnight. Evening child care is great for parents who have jobs that require them to stay late or work shifts that are non-traditional. A quality evening child care provider will provide the children activities, snack and meals to get them settled into the nighttime hours.

Early Child Care

On the opposite end of the clock, some workdays begin in the wee hours of the morning. If you have to leave for work at an early time, it can be difficult to find someone to watch your child, especially if it is before 6am. That’s where early morning child care comes in. Early child care allows you to get to work on time and ensure that your child is well cared for. A quality early morning child care provider will ensure that your child is rested, nourished and ready for the school day or other activities.

Before and After School Child Care

Before and after school care is a type of extended hours child care for school age children. A before and after school program offers activities, meals and fun for older children. A quality child care center will also provide transportation to and from school for before and after school programs.

After Hours Child Care with Young Scholars Academy

Young Scholars Academy of Colorado Springs offers before and after school programs for children attending public schools. The Young Scholars Academy after school program combines exercise, play and homework time to fully occupy the child’s afternoon. After a day at school, the playground at our daycare provides activities that are fun and stimulating, while helping them develop their large and small muscle groups.

Preschool Music Programs

February 3, 2016 by Young Scholars Academy Leave a Comment

Taken by themselves, the benefits of preschool and early childhood education for children are incredible. Children exposed to a preschool setting are given the opportunity to socialize and learn in ways that many children have to wait until kindergarten to explore. Even more, a preschool education coupled with a music education program is highly beneficial for the children who get to participate in them. Music education helps develop the child’s motor and intellectual skills in ways that far exceed the qualities of normal classroom learning.

What are Early Education Music Programs?

Preschool music programs are designed to give young children their first exposure to music as a way of learning. They are also introduced to music as an object of learning. Your child has no doubt by this stage developed an ear for music and perhaps sings along to their favorite songs on repeat, over and over, much to your enjoyment and exhaustion. The next step is to teach the rudiments of music theory. That is what preschool music programs do.

Some Benefits of Preschool Music Programs

According to research compiled by PBS, music education imparts a number of positive benefits on all age groups. In preschool age groups specifically, music programs have been shown to develop the part of the brain involved in language acquisition and speech. Language development, the article continues, is essential for proper social development as well.

Another benefit of preschool music programs has been revealed in measures of intellect. According to the results of a study conducted by E. Glenn Schellenburg at the University of Toronto at Mississauga, six year olds who were given weekly music lessons showed an increase in IQ test scores over children who did not participate in any music education programs. This should come as no surprise. Neuroscience has discovered that the brain of early musicians works more efficiently than that of a non-musician.

Even further, because of the more efficiently functioning brain and neural network of the child exposed to music programs, these children also exhibit improvements in fine motor skills, sound discrimination and spatial temporal skills.

All these subtle benefits of preschool music programs are also displayed academically. According to a 2007 study, students who were involved in music education programs scored 22 points higher in English and 20 percent higher in math scores on standardized tests.

Music Education Programs at Young Scholars Academy

At Young Scholars Academy of Colorado, we are proud to offer quality preschool and school age programs in the Colorado Springs area. The mighty moves program emphasizes the importance of both exercise and music. Our children become active while dancing to music, learning spatial awareness, how to incorporate your 5 senses, stability, loco-motor skills, object manipulation, all while Learning from our Food Friends how to eat healthy! Come check out all our programs and contact us today!

Keeping Kids Cool Through The Dog Days Of Summer

June 15, 2015 by Young Scholars Academy Leave a Comment

Summer is the time of year for running around, playing outdoors, and staying active in the beautiful weather.

However, all this running and physical activity in the heat of the day can put children, and adults, at risk for heat stroke and related types of complications.

Heat stroke is not just a slight problem; it can be extremely harmful and even fatal if not treated immediately once it reaches a severe stage.

The good news is that parents can teach their children to recognize when they are getting too warm and take the right steps to cool off and enjoy the rest of the day.

The earliest signs of heat stroke, sometimes known as heat exhaustion, include symptoms such as:

Weakness, fatigue and muscle cramps
Feelings or nausea or even vomiting
Dizziness and headaches

If the child is not cooled off at this point the symptoms progress to full heat stroke and include elevated body temperature, hot dry skin, lack of sweat production, rapid pulse, difficulty in breathing and agitation and confusion.

To help you child avoid heat exhaustion or the more serious heat stroke teach them to:

Always ensure that children bring water with them and hydrate regularly throughout the activity. Children should be limited to water or sports drinks but not sodas, energy drinks or drinks containing caffeine.
Wear a hat to help keep direct sun of the head, also wear lighter colored, loose fitting clothing to allow perspiration to evaporate and cool the body.
Limit any intensive activity or competitive events in the hottest parts of the day or when humidity levels are high.
Encourage kids to find games that can be played in shady areas of the yard or playground area.

Last, and most important, parents need to focus on never leaving a child in a car or leaving a vehicle unlocked so that children can get into the hot interior.

The greatest cause of injury and death due to heat stroke is related to children being left in vehicles, often for as little as five minutes, resulting in a tragedy that could have easily been prevented.

Thank you for reading!

Tips and Tricks for Camping with Small Children

May 18, 2015 by Young Scholars Academy Leave a Comment

Let's go camping! — Let’s all go camping!

Camping with small children – even infants and toddlers doesn’t have to be the nightmarish experience you might think it would be. After all – you haven’t lived until you warmed a bottle over a campfire at 3:00 am!

If camping is something you enjoy doing then there’s no reason that you shouldn’t enjoy it even when your children are small – with a few changes to accommodate your young family.

Obviously, the younger your children the more “stuff” you will need to bring along to make the trip enjoyable. You’ll be taking your car with you to the campsite so you have the luxury of making the car as full as you need without having to worry about the extra luggage.

Keep in mind that no matter how much you pack, you will likely forget something or even run short so try to pick a campground with at least a convenience store nearby.

Another thing to consider is the trip itself. You know better than anyone how long your child will remain happy on a car ride – if necessary, choose a campground closer to home to keep everyone happy along the way. You also want to make sure that you can get to your campsite before dark in order to set up everything you need and can find everything easily.

If you have a crawler or young one just learning to walk, you’ll want to make sure you have a pack ‘n’ play that can be used for a crib and a play pen and let your baby move around while you’re setting up camp or hanging around the campfire.

You may also want to choose a campsite with flushing toilets and potable running water if you are in the potty-training phase. You can also decide to rent a cabin – there are plenty of kid-friendly campgrounds that can help you plan.

Camping with your young children can be very enjoyable with these few little tips. And don’t forget to keep your children on their same eating and sleeping schedules as much as possible – doing so will keep everyone in their happy place!