Category: Preschool Upper Darby

Helpful Ways To Support a Diversity-Rich Preschool Classroom
The golden hour to cultivate diversity is in preschoolers!

Even in our modern-era, racial and cultural biases are still prevalent which makes teaching diversity and bringing awareness to this issue crucial for the developing preschooler. We know that after the age of nine racial and cultural attitudes tend to stay the same unless they have a life-altering experience. So the time spanning beforehand is a critical time to help children develop positive attitudes towards their own and peers’ racial and cultural identities.

At Darlene’s Wee Care 4 Kids in Upper Darby, a diversity-rich classroom is a vital component to our preschool classroom. Join us in today’s post as we unpack and navigate racial and cultural issues and learn better ways to support a diversity-rich preschool classroom!

The Time For Racial and Cultural Education is Now!

Preschool-aged children are at the perfect time in their development to experience and learn more about their culture and the different cultures around them. Below we’ll touch on why creating positive attitudes and experiences towards diversity in early childhood is crucial for creating both citizens of the world and an inclusive culture all around.

Children between the ages of 2 ½ and 3 years old begin to develop an awareness of feelings, ideas, and stereotypes about people and themselves.

As preschoolers begin to interact with their world through people, the media, and their community it begins to shape their perceptions and judgments of what’s going on around them.

Young children and preschoolers have the cognitive elasticity to un-do pre-shaped and pre-conditioned perceptions of others as they’re exposed to diversity and engage in meaningful cultural experiences.

The three factors listed above make a diversity-rich classroom imperative because distilled, you can help shape, mold, and educate a preschooler to have positive attitudes and actions towards racial and cultural diversity.

So, where do you begin to teach racial and cultural diversity in the classroom?

Begin by addressing diversity!

Almost every aspect of a child’s early years including key aspects of diapering, feeding, and toilet training are influenced by cultural beliefs and values. How we talk to and interact with kids speaks to our cultural behaviors, and kids are keen to pick up on these. Kids absorb traditions, routines, cultures, languages, and racial or national identities.

With this said, there are many ways to go about promoting and educating our children to thrive in an inclusive and diverse world.

How can we approach a sensitivity to different races and cultures to our classrooms and provide an environment that preschoolers can thrive in? Find out below!

To make your classroom more diverse…
- Have a vast and diverse classroom library – Begin to build or add to your classroom library by providing books that are inclusive of all races, religions, and cultures.
- Diversify your crafting – Many teachers love to build bulletin boards and add decoration to their classrooms — ensure you’re creating things that represent multicultural children and reflect, in real time, the preschoolers you have.
- Discuss diversity openly – Preschoolers will be the first ones to identify differences, so have an open conversation with them about both similarities and differences.
It’s also vital to remove any material that promotes racial and cultural stereotypes and to quickly address any racist or culturally insensitive remarks or behaviors.

Cultivate Diversity

Explore racial and cultural diversity in your classroom in real-time. Dive in and explore with your preschoolers everything that makes them who they are — from holidays they celebrate and delicious, traditional foods, to celebrating important historical movements and things unique to who they are.

Learn about a culturally responsive classroom. Oftentimes in a conventional preschool, those who are not native English speakers feel lost, overlooked, and pressured into quickly adapting to their new environment. Find activities that are inclusive and reflective of your classroom. Incorporate sayings or phrases in their native language and design a lesson around it.

Teach preschoolers to be critical thinkers. Language and conversations play heavily into shaping their understanding of the world. So while you’re having circle time, reading time, or doing any activity for that matter — dialogue, talk, and converse with these tiny humans. When you ask questions and talk about things openly and honestly it helps them stay curious and pliable in their perceptions and judgments — nothing is yet solidified.

The best thing as a preschool educator is to be a role model for a culturally diverse classroom by being proactive in choosing activities and books that are inclusive and representative to all your students.

Diversity is important to tackle early on in preschool because, at the root of it, people are different. When we’re able to give them the tools and language skills to empathetically embrace difficult issues, it creates an inclusive environment where we all can thrive!

To learn more about our preschool curriculum, connect with us today!
6 Educational Toys That Will Reinforce Learning At Home

If you’re a parent, you’re probably tired of picking up toys. You’re probably also tired of seeing how quickly your child gets bored with their toys. When a toy is new, they’re fascinated for about 5 minutes, and suddenly, it’s old. What’s up with that? Maybe you’re even suspicious of buying toys at all because you just figure they’ll be one more thing to clutter up your space. The fact is, children benefit from free play (including with toys), but some toys bring more learning benefits than others. Here are a few suggestions for educational toys for preschoolers. Maybe you’ll want to put one or more of these onto your wish list for your child’s next birthday.

1. Counting Bears

Sets of counting bears are beloved in classrooms everywhere because of the number of ways that you can use them for developing a child’s math skills. Counting bears come in several different colors, so they can be used for patterns and sorting in addition to counting. Plus, since your child will probably encounter these bears at preschool, they’ll know what to do with them and will have even more fun with them at home.

2. Pattern Blocks

Pattern blocks are blocks that come in geometric shapes that are cut to precise sizes so that their edges are the same length. Your child can rearrange them to create an endless variety of pleasing patterns, and they’ll also begin to get familiar with their shapes. One of the great things about most pattern block sets is that they paint each shape one consistent color (for instance, all the triangles might be green). This provides an extra measure of reinforcement to help your child learn the names of all the shapes.

3. Star Builders

Star builders are chunky blocks that look sort of like a 6-sided asterisk (*). With their larger size and interlocking ability, they are easy for little hands to manipulate. Your preschool child will be able to link them together to create shapes, chains, and towers, developing their motor skills and their spatial awareness.

4. Finger Puppets

Finger puppets (or even full-size puppets) are wonderful toys to boost your child’s imagination. Get your child started with what to do by acting out a mini-drama with finger puppets on your own hands, and let them interact and take the story wherever their imagination leads. Prepare to be amused (and amazed!) at the off-the-wall story plots your preschool child can come up with.

5. Linking Cubes

Linking cubes are little interlocking cubes of different colors that you can use to teach math concepts to young children. When you hear “math,” though, don’t mistake these linking cubes for “boring.” These simple cubes can engage your child’s attention for hours, and in the process, they’ll be learning skills from counting to constructing 3D shapes to developing an awareness of patterns.

6. Dominoes

Dominoes are another great toy for kids, and this is especially true if you get a well-made set that’s made slightly larger (to reduce the risk of choking in case they get put in mouths). Or, try the game of Quirkle for a fun alternative to dominoes that the whole family will enjoy.

Sign up for preschool day care at Darlene’s Wee Care 4 Kids

When you enroll your child in our day care in Upper Darby, you know that your child will be instructed, nurtured, and cared for. Start the enrollment process by contacting us today!
The Benefits of Active Learning for Preschoolers
It’s well known that the right learning environment makes a big difference for preschoolers. In fact, it’s practically inconceivable to think of making a preschooler sit at a desk for hours. It simply wouldn’t work. Research has shown that preschoolers learn best when they engage in active learning that’s very similar to play. But why does this work? And how can you harness this knowledge to get the best learning outcomes for your preschool child? Here are some of the benefits of active learning for preschoolers.

1. Movement helps knowledge stick in the brain

Have you ever suspected your preschool child of being distracted and not paying attention because they are moving around everywhere? Actually, the opposite might be true. For children, moving the body is a critical way to help the brain to absorb new information so that it sticks. This is not just for kinesthetic learners; it’s for everyone. And it’s not just for children; it works for adults, too. Think about the last time that you sat through a long conference or seminar where the presenter didn’t give people enough breaks. It’s hard for the mind to keep learning information when you’re stiff and sore because you just want to walk around.

How to harness this tip:

Combine movement with learning when you work with your child. For example, do jumping jacks while you help them to practice counting, or make silly poses while you review flashcards. You’ll be amazed at how well it works.

2. Movement helps promote brain development

The brain of a preschool child is still developing and learning about the world, and movement is one of the big ways that helps the brain to develop. And it doesn’t just develop motor skills, coordination, and balance. It also helps to develop cognition and thinking.

How to harness this tip:

Guide your child through movements that cross the midline of their bodies. For example, have them touch an elbow to the opposite knee, and then switch. Also, try having them touch their hands to the opposite toe or the opposite shoulder. Crossing the midline helps to coordinate the two different hemispheres of the brain, and can help with auditory processing, writing, and using your eyes to track the words from side to side on a page.

3. Movement helps increase a student’s interest

When you’re interested in a subject, you can usually get much farther than when you’re bored. Interest and enthusiasm for a topic help your child to pay attention longer and focus more deeply. Looking for ways to increase their love of learning? Incorporate movement!

How to harness this tip:
- Dance to a silly song with your child
- Incorporate hand movements and actions that go along with what you’re saying.
- Create a drama or a skit to act out a story.
When a child is getting too much screen time, they won’t naturally move around enough, and this could rob them from vital brain development and learning experiences, so do what’s available to limit their screen time and encourage active play.

Enroll in Darlene’s Wee Care 4 Kids today

Our day care for preschoolers is committed to providing high-quality learning experiences that make it fun to learn new things. Start the enrollment process by contacting us.
6 Alternatives to Screen Time For Your Preschooler

There’s no question about it: it’s tempting to let screen time be your preschool child’s babysitter. Whether it’s time on TV, YouTube, a tablet, or your phone, screen time is a mesmerising and all-absorbing thing for children, and it can be a method to allow you to get some much-needed rest, peace, and quiet. However, since too much screen time can hurt your child’s brain development, you need some alternatives of things that you can do with your child to engage their attention, teach them about the world, and build memories of time you’ve spent together. Here are a few ideas from our preschool daycare in Upper Darby.

1. Bake cookies

Preschoolers are not at the age where they can follow a recipe, but they absolutely love to dump the ingredients in the bowl and stir them up. Talk to them while you’re letting them help bake, explaining what you’re about to do at every step before it happens. Give them a heads up of things they won’t know, like “stir gently so that the dough doesn’t come out of the bowl” or “flour will make a mess if it spills, so dump this carefully.” Your child will most likely love the interaction and attention and aim to please. If you do get a few spills, have a moist paper towel handy and don’t make a big deal of the accident.

2. Go outside

Whether you can go to your own backyard or a neighborhood park, taking your child outside is crucial for their development. You will be giving your child fresh air and sunshine as well as a whole host of opportunities to build their motor skills, increase their understanding of cause and effect, and improve their imaginations through exploration.

3. Do puzzles or board games

Doing simple puzzles together helps your preschooler to develop their problem skills, and playing board games helps to develop social skills like turn-taking, how to handle winning and losing, and patience. Age appropriate activities like these are fun for your child, and they’ll probably ask to repeat them again and again.

4. Color

Coloring is a simple activity, but it’s amazing how long a child can remain absorbed in it, especially after you’ve invested a little bit of time in teaching them to color. Provide a little bit of guidance and praise them for the beautiful picture they’ve colored, and you’ll find that coloring can become a staple activity in your repertoire.

5. Read aloud

Reading aloud will boost your child’s vocabulary and language comprehension, and it will also teach them vital skills they’ll need in school, such as page turning and holding their attention through the whole story. Try to make it a practice to read aloud to your toddler or preschooler on a daily basis.

6. Involve them in what you’re doing

This may be one of the very simplest ways to give your child something to do without derailing yourself from your tasks. Whether you’re folding laundry, dusting, picking up clutter, or doing yard work, give your child an age-appropriate opportunity to help, whether it’s holding two socks or following you with their own personal dust cloth.

Enroll in Darlene’s Wee Care 4 Kids Today

For all the times that you can’t be there to give your child hands-on care and attention, enroll them in the daycare center in Upper Darby that cares about their well-being. Contact us today to get started.
5 Nutrition Tips for Toddlers

Getting a toddler to eat is easier said than done. Often, even before a child hits the age of two, they develop strong preferences for foods, and these likes and dislikes can be extremely hard to overcome. However, the value of a nutritious, well-balanced diet can hardly be overstated, and it brings immense benefits to the developing mind and growing body of your young child. Here are a few nutrition-based tips to help your child to get a great start in life.

1. Introduce foods with a positive attitude

Toddlers are masters at reading body language, and they are excellent at mimicking or mirroring the nonverbal signals you’re giving off. If you offer your child a broccoli sprout while your facial is a dead giveaway that says, “I bet my kid is not going to like this,” but you offer them a popsicle with a face that says, “Oh, they’ll be excited about this,” your child may reject the healthier snack purely based on what they’re reading from you. When you introduce healthy snacks to your child, try doing it in a way that conveys excitement, delight, and an upbeat attitude. If your facial expression and body language is saying, “This is going to be absolutely magical,” then your excitement may be contagious and your child may end up loving that broccoli or celery.

2. Limit the availability of junk foods

When you feed a child who is a picky eater, it’s sometimes hard to get them to eat anything but junk food. One simple method that works for adults might work for your child, too: Just refuse to buy it. If you don’t have it in the house, you can’t succumb to taking the easy way out when they are putting up a fuss over eating healthier options.

3. Let your child eat with you

One of the mistakes that parents make is having children eat at a separate table or at separate times from when you’re eating. Like we said, children are masters of imitation, and if your toddler or preschooler sees you eating carrots, they’ll be more likely to want to do it themselves. Your good example can only go so far at getting a young child to eat the right things, but it can play a part.

4. Don’t overlook the power of play

Our grandparents’ generation tended to frown on letting children play with their food, but this is how they interact with everything in the world. Watch how your young child explores almost every toy by putting it into their mouth. Why shouldn’t they explore new foods the same way? If you give a child the opportunity to play with the foods they are supposed to eat, they may just unconsciously start tasting them. You can even increase this propensity by playing with the food with your child.

5. Start at as young an age as possible

The younger your child is, the more they will have a palate that doesn’t discriminate between different-tasting foods. Introduce them to a wide variety of nutritious treats early. And to make it easier on yourself, don’t introduce them to the things that you’ll have to struggle to limit later on, such as ice cream, soda, and candy.

We hope these tips have been helpful to you. Choose our preschool in Upper Darby for a day care program that’s fun, affordable, and nurturing to kids of all ages. Contact us today to start the enrollment process.
How Going Outside Boosts Your Preschool Child’s Development

Most of us lead indoor lives. We go from the house to the car to the store or the office. The brief moments when we breathe fresh air and feel outdoor temperatures are vastly outweighed by the amount of time we spend in our climate-controlled buildings and cars. We walk on perfectly flat floors, encounter predictable objects, and encounter a relatively low number of unusual things. All this is also true for our children. But going outside boosts your child’s development in ways that you can’t easily get any other way. Here are some of the thoughts from our preschool in Upper Darby on how lots of outside time helps your child’s development.

Going outside boosts gross and fine motor coordination

When your child walks on perfectly flat floors all the time indoors, their brains don’t learn about all the micro adjustments that they need to make to keep their balance. Outside, even a flat, grassy lawn has slight bumps and dips. These promote the brain’s ability to integrate the visual information from your child’s eyes with the gross motor muscle movements that they need to make to stay upright. This is even more true when your child is walking on a hill or navigating ground that has large stones.

Fine motor coordination also happens naturally outside. It takes a lot of fine motor skill to pick a blade of grass, pluck a delicate flower, or pick up a tiny ant. If you see your child doing these things, encourage them! In the preschool years, if they develop the ability to pick up that tiny shiny rock, they’ll be ahead when they get to school and need to hold a pencil.

Going outside provides sensory development

When a child is indoors all the time, the only things they encounter are manufactured items. This limits the range of textures, temperatures, and smells that they will have the chance to touch, feel, and smell. Think about the materials that you can find in your home. Wood, plastic, carpet, glass, and metal don’t have the textures that you automatically find when you go outside. Your child needs the sensory development provided by shaggy grass, rough tree bark, gritty sand, a wet dog’s nose, and all the other things they’ll find outside.

Going outside promotes your child’s imagination

Have you ever watched a child pick up a stick and play with it endlessly, while that battery-powered singing toy only holds their attention for two seconds? What is it about the simple things you find outdoors that children love? Whatever it is, playing with a simple thing like a stick means that your child is using their imagination to make the object interesting. Developing your child’s imagination will help them all through their lives, increase their problem-solving ability, and improve their ability to play independently.

If you’re not in the regular habit of taking your kids outside, why not start? Their brains will love it!

Enroll in Darlene’s Wee Care 4 Kids

Here at Darlene’s Wee Care 4 Kids, we believe in stimulating children in all the areas of their educational and physical development. Learn more about our day care and enroll your child today.