After Christmas there seems to always be an enormous amount of clutter! No matter how much you clean up and remove before hand it just seems inevitable. Clutter for me causes stress and just makes everything ten times harder. Don’t give up hope though because there is always a solution. After a couple days and the holidays wrap up, go through the house again with a fresh pair of eyes. Start a checklist to help organize your thoughts on how you want to accomplish the task at hand.

My checklist is split up within a week’s span, each day covering a new area, so it doesn’t seem so overwhelming. Monday: toys, Tuesday: clothes, Wednesday: living room, Thursday: family area, Friday: bedroom/selfcare. Obviously lists will differ depending on needs, but the end goal will be the same.

Toys: I separate out broken toys, as well as items that just have not been played with for a while. I make two piles trash and goodwill and sort from there. If your OCD like me, you can label or have a color-coding system for organization. I went with colored bins, Red: Legos, Blue: Action figures, Orange: Cars, Green: Sports equipment and Pink: Dolls. Now for the smaller Legos, I did find a bin with a lid to try and eliminate any lost pieces.

Clothes: separate out by season and then sort into your piles for trash or goodwill. From there I will sort and put away what is not needed for current weather conditions. My system for clothes will be to assign a drawer per clothing item, one for shirts, pants, pajamas, socks and underwear. For my school kiddo I also have a drawer for uniforms. To help keep this organization each drawer has a picture label to identify which item belongs in each one.

Living room: This space should not be so tough it is simply going through picking up any extra items that have not made it to their new home. If I need to add some organization to this area it would be a hook for coats and a shoe rack.

Family area: Ours is used as a play room/ Library. Each shelf is organized by book size, now for the younger kiddos this will be hard but as long as it is kept up with it won’t get out of hand as far as pick up goes. The toy shelf is organized by kiddo, each having one shelf for toys they would like to keep on there. I let them pick and switch out whenever they choose.

Bedroom: Keep this simple and just go through your items like you have done for the kids, organization does not need to be the same just whatever works for you. You should also focus on a little self-care that day, such as a face mask or painting your nails. Just take a little down time for yourself and soak in the work you have just accomplished.

It may seem like a lot of work at first however, if you take it a day at a time you will get through it in a breeze!

-Ms. Brittani
Health & Wellness Coordinator
Lead Preschool Teacher

I’ve taught four and five year old children for many many years. I love this age group because I believe that that foundation for learning and the love of learning is firmly established at these ages. Seeing them light up with their accomplishments makes my day. The challenge of a teacher is to keep them challenged. To encourage them to progress without discouraging them. To teach them to keep trying, which can be difficult in a time of instant gratification and giving up is so prevalent. You need to have activities that are challenging yet meaningful and fun.
Most of all you need to present with the right words.

Cutting with scissors is a simple but effective activity. You need to hold them correctly, you need to concentrate. Start with something simple like just cutting paper up. Then move on to cutting lines then shapes. With this activity they build fine motor skills and increased attention span.

Introduce art that isn’t finished in one day. Multiple steps over days increases patience and the level of involvement in the activity.

As you increase the difficulty of the activities you will start to hear the negative inner dialogue of the child verbalized. I can’t do it, I’m bored, It’s to hard. This is the most important part of teaching. Being there to walk and talk them through it.

So what’s my favorite phrase? You can do it.

It doesn’t have to be perfect just try your best. When I have said this it is amazing to see the pressure just melt away and they are re-energized. They push through the frustration and accomplish the goal.

As a teacher and a parent we need to remember it is always about the product but about the process. Allowing then to try without fear of failure always results in a win!

Here’s to a brand new year of growth with our kiddos!

-Ms. Dotty
NAEYC Coordinator
Lead Pre-Kindergarten Teacher

It’s a new year! With a new year comes New Year’s Resolutions. A resolution is a promise that you make to yourself. I don’t know about you, but when I make a resolution, I don’t tend to stick with it after a month or two. Instead of making a resolution, why don’t we focus on goals. A goal is an aim for a desired outcome, striving to achieve something great.

Making goals as a family will help to strengthen your family bonds and teach kids to have ambition at an early age. Achieving goals also helps children to feel a sense of accomplishment. A great way to do this is to have your child make one or two goals for themselves at the beginning of a new year, new season, or even when entering a new transition for the family such as moving or changing schools.

For a child to make and achieve their goals the child must first take ownership with their goal. As a parent, we all have aspirations for our child(ren). But telling a child what their goal should be can be discouraging to the child. There is a difference between telling and guiding. This is where a parent can step in and give proper guidance for the child when goal setting. Ask the child questions to help them decide on a meaningful goal. Explain to them what a goal is and how to set them. While guiding your child, you help them have a voice in their decision, giving them a sense of self and self-worth.

Next, decide on a timeline. How long will it take to meet this goal? Having a timeline helps to motivate the child to keeping to a set schedule by creating a sense of urgency. Be sure to guild the child to a realistic timeline. It takes time to build the habits needed to achieve a goal. Change does not happen overnight.

What steps should the child take to attain their goal and how can you as a parent help your child succeed? The key is to come up with steps to follow to reach their goal. Creating steps helps to be sure there is a map to follow to succeed.

It is necessary to understand why the goal is important. When it is important to the child then he or she will work harder meet their goal, build self-confidence, and reach their full potential. Understanding the importance helps children to have a desire to succeed.

It is not enough to say, “I want to do better in school.” Is there a subject or aspect about school in which the child would like to improve? Let’s say math is a subject of struggle. The goal could then be to improve math by a letter grade or certain percentage. Maybe because a new quarter is starting, the child can set two timelines, one for the quarter and one for the semester. Some steps to improve math scores could be to ask more questions during class, study math facts, and take timed tests to improve speed in answering. Improving in math is important because math is a progression building on skills. First the basics are learned then it builds from there. Having mastery of the skill will help the child to progress successfully throughout all of their school years.

Once your child has decided on a goal, write it down and help them succeed by checking in on them and their steps to achieve their goals.

Ms. Blair
Health & Wellness Coordinator
Lead Preschool Teacher