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Stress affects everyone! Our bodies and minds both respond when we get excited, fearful, challenged or anxious. Our brain tells our bodies to get ready to deal with these feelings and gets our body ready to “flee from danger” or to stand up and “fight it”. This helps us deal with things that threaten us. Special hormones are released in our body that prepares us to be alert and respond with lots of energy. This is a good thing once in awhile, but not when adults and children are constantly dealing with stress. These raised levels of hormones can make us feel very tired, create sore muscles and make it hard to fight off illness. One group of researchers found that parents with more worries also had children who were sick more often.
Some signs of stress in children:
| Behaviours | Body | Mind | Feelings |
| Whining Crying Nail Biting Fighting Low appetite or eating more Day dreaming |
Headaches Stomach-aches Fast heartbeat Being cold Poor sleeping Tired Illness |
Forgetful Easily distracted Confused Can’t concentrate Unreasonable Can’t problem solve |
Fear Anxiety Sad or Angry Panic Overly sensitive Helpless Frustrated |
What can we do?
Eat healthy food, get lots of exercise, get enough sleep, learn to reduce or manage stress, spend time with your children, laugh a lot, ask your children if they are worried about anything and really listen to them, minimize competitive activities, provide regular routines, make a stress management list (like deep breathing) and post it where all family members can use it.
Mary Ann Avey, Parent Educator
“Children are miracles. Believing that every child is a miracle transforms the way we design for children’s care. When we invite a miracle into our lives, we prepare ourselves and the environment around us. We may set out flowers or special offerings. We may cleanse ourselves, the space, or our thoughts of everything but the love inside us. We make it our job to create with reverence and gratitude, a space that is worthy of a miracle. Actions follow thoughts. We can choose to change. We can choose to design spaces for miracles, not minimums.”
- Anita Rui Olds, author of Child Care Design Guide
3-4 sweet apples
½ cup water
½ tsp cinnamon
Combine in a saucepan and cook on stovetop until mushy. Cool a little and enjoy!
This video demonstrates the research findings involving emotional regulation and academic success and provides practical strategies for how to help teachers use this approach in their classrooms.
Pick a lot of dandelions – the ones with the thickest stems are the best. Peel the stems length-wise from either end and then submerse in a bucket of water. It’s fascinating to watch the stems curl into all shapes. No two are the same!
- Watch tv with your child. Discuss the program, plot, values, and commercials. Help them distinguish between what is real and what is fantasy.
- Limit the number of hours. Log how many hours your child is watching tv, and then gradually decrease viewing time. Model the behaviour you want – in other words, don’t be a couch potato yourself! Don’t choose vacation time or a stressful time to decrease tv watching.
- Provide fun alternatives to tv watching. Don’t turn off the tv, and then request that the child clean his/her room. This is the time to buy some craft supplies or a new board game. Invite friends over or visit the library.
- Do not use tv as a reward.
- Turn off the tv when you are done watching a show. Don’t just watch anything. Choose only top-quality shows.
- Try not to use the tv as a babysitter.
- Put the tv in a remote area or cover it up. Never put a tv in a child’s bedroom or near the dining area.
- Keep puzzles, games, and building toys near the tv. They have a greater chance at being chosen over watching tv.
- Cancel cable to limit viewing options.
- Do not serve snacks or meals in front of the tv – this only reinforces the tv habit.
- Listen to the radio or story cassettes instead. Listening to a story requires active participation from the child as they create their own mental images.
- Realize that even though your child says he is bored, you do not have to entertain him/her or turn on the tv. Boredom can teach your child how to be resourceful or just give him time to think and work things out.
- Plan activities that reinforce a program’s content. For example, visit a shoe store like the one you saw on Mr. Rogers. Encourage them to make their own railroad station, store, etc.
- Extend the learning through art activities and books. Draw pictures of things they saw on tv. Find books that teach you more about sharks, etc.
- Promote active viewing. Encourage your child to sing and dance along with the tv and express their reactions to what is happening.
Here are some of the many advantages to belonging to our toy library.
- Your child has a variety of toys from which to choose as their interests and skill levels change.
- You can borrow toys that are no longer available in stores.
- You help the envirnoment by not adding more toys to the junk yard.
- You save money purchasing fewer toys
- You and your child(ren) can test a toy before buying.
- Your child learns to take care of toys and take responsibility for them.
- Your child learns to make decisions.
- You can learn what toys interest and challenge your child.
- You can ask a qualified toy librarian for advice on choosing toys that match your child’s skill development.
For more information about our toy library, please visit our website!
I found this ‘poster’ out in cyberspace, and it spoke to me.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it?
Nadine Reeves, Administrative Assistant
Help your child get ahead at home with these tips to help teach time:
· Model time-related vocabulary, such as ‘minutes’ or ‘o’clock’
· Sing songs about time, such as ‘Hickory Dickory Dock’, and make up rhymes to help your child remember ways of telling the time
· Make a clock with your child and decorate it with images of things which happen at particular times
· Use toy clocks with moveable hands and play time games with your child
· Try using sand-timers and sun-dials to show your child other time-keeping devices
· Ask them time-related questions involving reading the clock and estimating. This will keep them thinking about time
· Try giving them a watch to wear; it will familiarize them with the clock face and encourage independent learning.
We’ve gone a step further and created two kits that our members can borrow to help teach your children to tell time – “Clockworks” for your preschoolers and “Telling Time” for your school-aged children.
Interested in our Lending Resources membership? Click here to find out more.
