Guide Archives - Page 20 of 21

Taking it to the Piggy Bank

March 26, 2014/in Guide/by Shine

There is a lot of discourse as to when to start allowance with children. As an educator, I believe that as soon as a child is old enough to start asking for things at the store, they are old enough to earn an allowance and begin to lean about money management.

There are two different schools of thought on allowance. The first is that children earn a base amount that is handed over each week, on time, no questions asked. It says that you should not make allowance behavior based or use it as a reward or punishment. This school of thought suggests that in addition to the base allowance, each job or chore asked of the child has a price attached to it and this gets accumulated and paid out on a set schedule.

The other side believes that money earned by a child is based on the completion of daily household responsibilities and the maintaining of an appropriate attitude. Allowance is or is not paid out each week based on completion of set rules and responsibilities as denoted on a responsibility calendar. Read more

Literacy in the First Five Years

February 26, 2014/in Guide, Learn, Read/by Shine

We at Shine love books and believe it is never too early to encourage literacy development. As educators, we make sure to create classes rich with books, games, puzzles, and projects all of which promote a strong foundation in literacy skills. It is important, especially during the early years, that these ideas are encouraged in the home as well. This week Kristin Michaelson, M.Ed., president of Advantage Development, provides some very helpful ideas on how to make your home environment more supportive for literacy during your child’s first five years. After all, the greatest gift to give a child is the foundation for the love of reading and learning.

Continue to shine your light and read –
Aaron Goldschmidt, founder & director

Literacy is a process that begins with the simple experiences of hearing language from caregivers and the shared reading and handling of books. To encourage literacy development at home: talk to (and with) your child, create a print-rich environment, sing songs, and read books together. Read on for more specific activities, important milestones, and ideas on how to make your home environment supportive for literacy. Note: although activities are listed in a certain age group, they can be used indefinitely as long as they seem helpful to your child.

Early Infancy (0-8 months):

What can my baby do? Babble, hold books, put books in her mouth, focus on books, sit up on her own.

Activities: Make your home a print-rich environment. The first step is having a lot of books for your baby. Especially at this age, plush, wooden, or board books are almost indestructible and can withstand going in the mouth. Make labels, with both writing and a small picture of the contents, for boxes of toys and post their name in multiple places. Children should see their parents reading and using writing in their daily lives. Read more

Play: Zero to Four Years

January 15, 2014/in Guide, Play/by Shine

It’s only mid-January and so many of our younger students can barely remember what they received as presents over the holidays. While it’s fun to both give and receive gifts we at Shine think the best presents at any age are less about the cost and packaging and more about giving something that lasts far beyond the moment. Whether it’s books and reading together, instruments and music, costumes, art supplies, cooking and baking together, or hitting the town on a City Adventure, the best gifts are the ones that provide experience, community and togetherness.

In our blog article this week, Kristin Michaelson, M.Ed, president of Advantage Development, provides some helpful at home play tips for children under 5. All of her suggestions continue to support ideas of connection and creativity while reinforcing important developmental stages.

Continue to shine your light –
Aaron Goldschmidt, founder & director

After the holidays, parents are faced with an amazing amount of new toys and games in their home. Instead of these new acquisitions causing clutter without sustained periods of play by your children, use the below ideas to inspire your at-home play. Note: while these activities or toys do not stop being helpful to development at the end of the given period, this is when introduction can be most beneficial.

Birth to 12 months: Using new instruments and CDs

Interacting with your child, and acknowledging your child’s attempts at interaction, is essential during this period for development and bonding. One of the ways that parents often choose to play with their baby is by singing. Try leaving a few words out when singing a familiar song, instead pausing for a moment. Even if your child cannot yet speak their little brains are working on figuring out the word that you left out. This exercises their memory and allows your child to participate in the song. Use those new instruments and CDs, along with waving around winter scarves, to sing and move with your child. Repetition of songs and movements will cement them in your little one’s brain. Read more

Finding a Solution for a Healthy Resolution

January 6, 2014/in Celebrate, Guide, Taste/by Shine

Happy New Year! We all want to start the year off on the right foot and many of us do so by changing some of our holiday eating habits. But what about children? How do we tackle the not-so-easy job of getting our children to eat healthier? Here Katie Letts, chef and shine nutrition specialist, provides some tips to 5 major issues parents face. May 2014 be happy, healthy and delicious for your whole family.

Continue to shine your light –
Aaron Goldschmidt, founder & director

The holiday goodies have been consumed, the champagne has been toasted, and the start of a new year means one thing above all else: New Year’s resolutions! Making it a priority to improve the eating habits and overall health of your little one is an honorable goal, albeit a challenging one. Let’s face it; most small mouths come with an assortment of not-so-small obstacles. Every-day issues, from picky eaters to the lack of time to cook can make preparing nutritious family meals and snacks a battle!

Recently, I asked several moms and dads to share the greatest challenges they’ve faced with providing a well-balanced diet for their children. Some of them provided me with their solutions for said challenges, as well. Not so surprisingly, many of the food issues were quite common among most of the families! The parents who generously contributed their thoughts range from professional chefs to folks who would much rather “take-out” than tournée… After all, children will eat like children (even if their parent heads a TV network kitchen). If you would like to resolve to keep your family happy and healthy, feel free to use these tips, as needed… Let’s put the solution back into “resolution!” Read more

Simple Tips for Getting Out of a Holidaze

December 2, 2013/in Celebrate, Guide, Make/by Shine

The holidays can be overwhelming for children and their parents. Between all of the sugary treats, abundance of presents, and focus on the commercial aspect, the true meaning of the season can be lost. At Shine, we make sure to remind our students and their families that a little effort and some simple crafts can go a long way. Here are some of our favorite holiday crafts and tips. They are all sure to emphasize important skills and lessons as well as provide some good old-fashioned family bonding while serving as a reminder about the importance of doing for others.

A homemade card means a lot to the recipient. Paper supply stores sell plain white cardstock cards and envelopes. Have children decorate them with holiday stickers, ink stamps, a paint handprint or any other creative idea you can come up with. Tape them to presents or have children help to address or stamp the envelope and bring them to the post office together.
Old art work makes fabulous one-of-a-kind wrapping paper. Not every piece of art your child brings home can be archived and saved forever so use some of them as wrapping paper for gifts. If you don’t want to part with any of your child’s masterpieces, then have them decorate a large piece of easel paper with crayons, markers, stamps and stickers. Read more

The Art of Giving Back

November 13, 2013/in Guide, Make/by Shine

The holidays are an exciting and overwhelming time for children. Candy, cookies, parties, presents. That’s why during this season we at Shine feel compelled to share with our families the importance of giving back and teaching children how to strike that balance between selfish and selfless. However, introducing children to public service in a meaningful way can be daunting. We value community building, especially for those in need. Through our Lighthouse Project, our experienced educators introduce kids to the idea of charity in a safe and age-appropriate manner. Children have fun but also learn the value of giving back.

Art of Giving Back You don’t need to go far to participate in some easy ways to give back to your community. Even very busy families and children can use some of the ideas below to create charitable opportunities at home (and have fun too)!

Decorate a piggy bank and use it to collect charity. We love the idea of ordering plain piggy banks and having children decorate them with acrylic paints and rhinestones. We use these special banks to collect money for charity. When the bank is full, take the money out, count it together and donate it to a charity of your choice. Read more

Hello Halloween, Goodbye Candy

October 23, 2013/in Celebrate, Guide/by Shine

We’re one week away from Halloween and most children’s dreams, to get obscene amounts of candy, can be a parent’s nightmare. We at Shine love the holiday and the creativity it brings out in children – one of my 3 year-old students is set on being an orange dinosaur, another, not even 3, a musketeer. We encourage families to dress-up together, go trick-or-treating, and allow children to eat a lot of candy. But how do we deal with the sugar-mania that follows such a frenzy? What do we do with the leftover candy? Halloween can actually be a great time to teach children about good oral health habits. In this week’s article, Dr. Shirley Molina, a pediatric dentist at Dental Associates for Kids Only, gives some advice on how how to handle the post-Halloween candy crash and what to do with the pounds of leftover candy. We’re big fans of buy-back programs. Whatever you do, make sure to have fun and let your children really get in the spirit, candy and all!

Continue to shine your Halloween light –
Aaron Goldschmidt, founder & director

With Halloween right around the corner, parents may start to wonder Hello Halloween, Goodbye Candy what the dentist thinks of the holiday. As a pediatric dentist, I love children and their happiness is paramount. I believe children should dress up as their favorite characters and walk their neighborhood with friends and family. Children should happily fill their bags with candy as they declare “Trick or Treat!”

Once back at home, their parents should check all their candy to make sure it’s safe to eat. After getting the green light, I recommend the kids eat as much candy as they like, of all varieties, up until their bellies ache if they wish. After all, Halloween is the one day when kids get to be kids – dressed up, running around and eating candy to their hearts’ desire. Read more

Halloween Tricks and Treats

October 14, 2013/in Celebrate, Fun, Guide, Make, Party/by Shine

Halloween can be a lot of fun for older children – creepy costumes, spooky stories and copious amounts of candy! But for younger children the holiday can be frightening, over-stimulating and difficult to process. Toddlers and pre-school aged children are not always capable of differentiating the real from the imaginary and Halloween can blur those lines even further. We would never think of taking our 2 year-olds to a haunted house. And how do we explain all the blood, gore and evil the holiday celebrates?

At Shine, we use the creative angle Halloween provides and really get children involved on a level to which they can relate. Here are some of my favorite tips to make Halloween fun for young children while reinforcing important skills, family bonding and the joy the season has to offer. Read more

Preventing Preschool Bullying

October 2, 2013/in Guide, Learn, Read/by Shine

October is National Bullying Prevention Month. While most of us assume bullying occurs with older children, the unfortunate truth is that it can happen as early as preschool or kindergarten. As someone who was on the receiving end of bullying as child, I know firsthand how terrifying and lonely it can feel. One of the most important things we can do to make sure our children are not being bullied is to stay involved. Ask your child questions about school, communicate with the teachers and stay attuned to changes in your child’s behavior. Bullying can create a shift in attitude and if you are aware of changes you might be able to help solve the problem before bullying has long-term effects. This month, Roxanne Taylor, M.Ed. School Counseling, shares some more information on early childhood bullying and suggests some books to help younger children identify their feelings about being bullied.

Continue to stand up to bullying and shine your light –
Aaron Goldschmidt, founder & director

In the second week of the new school year, a teacher friend of mine called to tell me about a problem she was having with two of her students. She said that a boy went up to another boy who recently had his hair shaved very short and said, “Your haircut is f&$%ing ugly.” As a school counselor, I’ve heard kids use a lot of insults on one another, but what surprised me the most about this incident is that my friend teaches kindergarten.

Quick and Healthy Afterschool Snacks

September 25, 2013/in Guide, Taste/by Shine

Back to school usually means less time for everyone. Whether you’re rushing out the door in the morning or running to after-school activities in the afternoon, time is a commodity and preparing meals and snacks can sometimes feel like a chore. The quickest and easiest snack isn’t always the healthiest. At Shine, we prefer to give children whole foods as opposed to anything in a bag or out of a box. Penny Tylor, a RN and BSN, shares some of her favorite quick and healthy snacks. For more ideas, our cooking classes not only teaches children about making healthy eating choices but also provides families with easy, delicious and fun recipes. To set up a mobile cooking class, contact us at info@shinenyc.net.

Continue to shine your light –
Aaron Goldschmidt, founder & director

School is out for the day. Less than one second after your kids walk through the door you hear it: “I’m hungry!” Sure, it might be easy to quickly hand them some graham crackers, cereal, or a few slices of cheese, but why not try some snacks that are creative and fun?

One of my favorite afterschool snacks begins with a brown rice cake. Then you spread some natural no sugar added peanut butter (you can substitute sunflower seed butter if your kids are allergic to peanuts) and drizzle some agave nectar or honey on top. Decorate with dried cranberries or raisins and serve!