Our Blog

By Nicole Spain, Registered Dietitian Last week, I discussed how we create our menus at our schools and today, I’m going to show you how to develop well-balanced and delicious meals at home!  Here are some simple tips to help you get started: Checkout the MyPlate menu planner to help you along the way! Many […]

This month, let’s take a closer look at the Social-Emotional Domain, focusing specifically on the emotional development. Emotional development begins with learning to identify and express our own feelings. When we can acknowledge and accept our feelings, we can learn to manage them and to recognize what other people may be feeling. This is the […]

By Nicole Spain, Registered Dietitian The planning that our team does for your child’s menu at school has requirements that are laid out by the USDA and state licensing agencies.  By following the USDA guidelines, we are ensuring your child has foods that provide a variety of vitamins and minerals as well as fiber, while […]

Observing children as they grow is one of life’s great joys. Supporting children as they grow is our most important responsibility. As children grow, they acquire skills in five general domains, or areas, of development:  Approaches to Learning Social & Emotional Development Physical Development Language Development Cognitive Development (which includes math, science, and creative arts) […]

On September 16, we celebrate National Play-Doh Day. To praise the clay that we love to play with, here are five fun things to do. Though combining different kinds of Play-Doh can sometimes be trouble, it can also be a teaching opportunity to show your kiddo which colors combine to make new colors. Download our […]

By Stephanie Seneker Going back to school after the summer is always exciting as kids prepare for their new classroom and meeting new friends. However, keeping that excitement and energy alive a couple months into the school year can be difficult. It’s important to keep up that motivation throughout the year, so we came up […]

Exercise is a critical component of our Grow Fit initiative, and it serves so many purposes in addition to helping us stay fit. The right exercises can help us wake up in the morning, as well as relax us at the end of the day. Here are 8 exercises for your kiddos to help them […]

Sleep is an important element in any person’s life, particularly a child. A good amount of sleep is necessary for healthy physical, emotional, and mental growth. However, bedtime can also be an ongoing battle. Questions such as, “How do I get my child to sleep on time?” or “How do I make sure they get […]

A public temper tantrum—it’s every parent’s worst nightmare. They can be frustrating, embarrassing, unexpected… and are completely normal. In order to manage a tantrum, it is important to try to understand the cause. This can be difficult because they can be caused by many different things, such as frustration, hunger, fear, anger, stress, sensory overload, […]

Even we like to have a little more fun in the summer, but there are definitely some cool ways for your family to incorporate a little education into your summertime experiences. Of course you want your children to play and enjoy themselves in the summer. But even when they’re not in school, they can still […]

Challenging behavior and positive behavior are actually two sides of the same coin. Children exhibit what we call challenging behavior because they do not yet have the social, emotional, language, and cognitive skills to behave in more positive ways. As early childhood educators, we see challenging behavior as a learning opportunity. Through our responses to […]

Earth Day is April 22. This day was created to spread awareness, information, and support of environmental protection across the world. It is the perfect chance for you to talk about recycling, saving water and energy, protecting plants and animals, and reducing pollution. It is important to teach our children how to care for the […]