Be Halloween Safe!

Halloween is a fun, spooky, and excited time of year for children! They all get dressed up in cute outfits! Make trick-or-treating safe for all the little ghost and goblins! It is also a time to make sure your child(ren) are safe. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has some great tips for keeping your little ones safe this Halloween. 

S-Swords, knives, and other costume accessories should be short, soft, and flexible.

A- Avoid trick-or-treating alone. Walk in groups or with a trusted adult.

F- Fasten reflective tape to costumes and bags to help drivers see you.

E- Examine all treats for choking hazards and tampering before eating them. Limit the amount of treats you eat.

H- Hold a flashlight while trick-or-treating to help you see and others see you. WALK and don't run from house to house.

A- Always test make-up in a small area first. Remove it before bedtime to prevent possible skin and eye irritation.

L- Look both ways before crossing the street. Use crosswalks wherever possible.

L- Lower your risk for serious eye injury by not wearing decorative contact lenses.

O- Only walk on sidewalks whenever possible, or on the far edge of the road facing traffic to stay safe.

W- Wear well-fitting masks, costumes, and shoes to avoid blocked vision, trips, and falls.

E- Eat only factory-wrapped treats. Avoid eating homemade treats made by strangers.

E- Enter homes only if you're with a trusted adult. Only visit well-lit houses. 

N-ever accept rides from strangers.N- Never walk near lit candles or luminaries. Be sure to wear flame-resistant costumes.

Expecting trick-or-treaters or party guests?

Follow these tips to help make the festivities fun and safe for everyone:

*Provide healthier treats for trick-or-treaters such as low-calorie treats and drinks. For guests, offer a variety of fruits and vegetables. 

*Use party games and trick-or-treat time as an opportunity for kids to get their daily dose of 60 minutes of physical activity.

*Be sure walking areas and stairs are well-lit and free of obstacles that could cause someone to fall. 

*Keep candle-lit jack o'lanterns and luminaries away from doorsteps, walkways, landings, and curtains. Place them on sturdy tables, keep them out of the reach of pets and small children, and never leave them unattended.

*Remind drivers to watch out for trick-or-treaters and to drive safely.

For more information about having a safe Halloween, please visit: http://www.cdc.gov/family/halloween/

For more information about our program, please visit:

www.hollytreechildcare.com

Fall Family Fun! 

We held our annual fall festival on Friday, October 16th. We had a bounce house, face painting, sensory bins, craft tables, and so much more! Our families enjoyed a chili bar with all the fixings! We even had hot apple cider for our families to enjoy! Brentwood Police Department also paid us a visit to talk to the children about stranger danger and show us their cool police car! The officers brought cool sticker badges, safety lights, and coloring books. 

One of the fun things the children were able to do was a class mural! Each class was given paint and a classroom canvas to paint on. They put their creativity to work and created a class masterpiece! 

Our Toddler class had a ball getting to bounce in the bounce house! 

A Preschool One friend searches for the hidden fall objects that where in the sensory bins. 

One of Preschool Families enjoying making a craft with their little one! 

We had a cookie decorating station set up for all the children and families! Each child was able to decorate a cookie and then, eat it!  

Some of our older children enjoying the bouncy house! 

There was a bubble and chalk station as well! Teachers, children, and families had a blast playing with all of the bubble wands and bubble gadgets! 

For more information about our program, please visit us at:

www.hollytreechildcare.com

Fire Safety for the Family! 

Fire drills are a big part of being safe in school: According to www.kidshealth.org there are great ways to know how to prepare you and your family. Would you know what to do? Talking about fires can be scary because no one likes to think about people getting hurt or their things getting burned. But you can feel less worried if you are prepared. It's a good ideas for families to talk about what they would do to escape a fire. Different families will have different strategies. Some kids live in one-story houses and other kids live in tall buildings. You'll want to talk about escape plans and escape routes, so let's start there.

Know Your Way Out

An escape plan can help every member of a family get out of a burning house. The idea is to get outside quickly and safely. Smoke from a fire can make it hard to see where things are, so it's important to learn and remember the different ways out of your home. How many exits are there? How do you get to them from your room? It's a good idea to have your family draw a map of the escape plan. It's possible one way out could be blocked by fire or smoke, so you'll want to know where other ones are. And if you live in an apartment building, you'll want to know the best way to the stairwell or other emergency exits.

Safety Steps

If you're in a room with the door closed when the fire breaks out, you need to take a few extra steps:
Check to see if there's heat or smoke coming in the cracks around the door. (You're checking to see if there's fire on the other side.) If you see smoke coming under the door —don't open the door don't open the door! If you don't see smoke — touch the door. If the door is hot or very warm — don't open the door! If you don't see smoke — and the door is not hot — then use your fingers to lightly touch the doorknob. If the doorknob is hot or very warm — don't open the door! If the doorknob feels cool, and you can't see any smoke around the door, you can open the door very carefully and slowly. When you open the door, if you feel a burst of heat or smoke pours into the room, quickly shut the door and make sure it is really closed. If there's no smoke or heat when you open the door, go toward your escape route exit.

Stay Low

If you can see smoke in the house, stay low to the ground as you make your way to the exit. In a fire, smoke and poisonous air hurt more people than the actual flames do. You'll breathe less smoke if you stay close to the ground. Smoke naturally rises, so if there is smoke while you're using your escape route, staying low means you can crawl under most of it. You can drop to the floor and crawl on your hands and knees below the smoke. Exiting through a door that leads outside should be your first choice as an escape route, but also ask your parents about windows and if they would be possible escape routes. Even windows on a higher floor could be safe escape routes if you had help, like from a firefighter or another adult. Ask your parents to teach you how to unlock the windows, open them, and remove the screen, if needed.

Make sure you only do this in an emergency! Lots of kids are injured because they fall out of windows. Sometimes, families even have collapsible rescue ladders that can be used to escape from upper floors of a house. If you have one, ask your mom or dad to show you how it works.
In addition to planning your escape routes, you'll also want to know where family members will meet outside. This is helpful because then everyone shows up in one place and you'll know that everyone is safe. You might choose the front porch of a neighbor's house or some other nearby spot.
It's normal to worry about your pets or a favorite toy, but if there is a fire, you have to leave them behind. The most important thing is that you get out safely. It's also important to know that you shouldn't stay in the house any longer than you must — not even to call 911. Someone else can make that call from outside. Once you're out, do not go back in for anything — even pets. You can tell the fire rescue people about any pets that were left behind and they may be able to help.

What if You Can't Get Out Right Away?

If you can't get out fast, because fire or smoke is blocking an escape route, you'll want to yell for help. You can do this from an open window or call 911 if you have a phone with you.
Even if you're scared, never hide under the bed or in a closet. Then, firefighters will have a hard time finding you. Know that firefighters or other adults will be looking for you to help you out safely. The sooner they find you, the sooner you both can get out. In the meanwhile, keep heat and smoke from getting through the door by blocking the cracks around the door with sheets, blankets, and/or clothing. If there is a window in the room that is not possible to escape from, open it wide and stand in front of it. If you can grab a piece of clothing or a towel, place it over your mouth to keep from breathing in the smoke. This works even better if you wet the cloth first.

Home Drills

It's great to talk about emergency plans, but it's even better if you practice them, like the fire drills you have at school. Having a fire drill at home gives everyone a chance to see how they would react in a real emergency. You can see how quickly and safely everyone can get out of the house. Your family should practice this drill twice a year, every year. It's also a good time to remind your parents to change the batteries in the smoke alarms. A good rule of thumb during a home fire drill is to see if your family can safely get out the house using the escape routes and meet outside at the same place within 3 minutes. For an extra challenge, you might try variations, like pretending that the front door was blocked and you couldn't get out that way.

If Your Clothes Catch Fire

A person's clothes could catch fire during a fire or by accident, like if you step too close to a candle. If this happens, don't run! Instead, stop, drop to the ground, cover your face with your hands, and roll. This will cut off the air and put out the flames. An easy way to remember this is: Stop, Drop, and Roll!

Preventing Fires

Every year, kids of all ages start over 35,000 fires that hurt people and damage property. You can do your part to prevent fires by never playing with matches, lighters, and other fire sources. Also stay away from fireplaces, candles, and stoves.

By following this advice, you'll be doing important work — preventing fires in the first place!

For more information about fire safety, please visit: http://kidshealth.org/Search01.jsp?SearchSection=3&Mode=Search&SearchTextArea=fire

For more information about our program. plese visit us at: https://www.hollytreechildcare.com

Fire Safety Week Kickoff!

October is fire safety month and what better way to kick it off than to bring the firemen, firetruck, and all of their cool tools to Holly Tree! The children were able to climb in, explore the firetrucks, and hold some of the cool tools!  The firemen talked to the children about how to "Stop, Drop, and Roll" and talked about how each of the tools were used in emergency situations. They talked to them about how smoke rises and told them if they ever saw smoke or fire to get low to the floor and crawl. 

This Preschool Two friend had a blast getting to wear the fireman's hat! The firemen explained to them about how the hat keeps their heads safe.

This Preschool Two friend was able to pretend to put out a fire with one of the water sprayer nozzles!

The fireman was talking to Preschool Three about each of the tools, and how they could use them to put out a fire.

After the children played with the spray nozzles, the fireman showed them where the water hoses went and how it connected to the nozzle. He also told us that the fire hoses give off enough water to fill a normal size pool in less than 60 seconds!

One of the Preschool One friend's explore the inside of the firetruck.

The Toddler classroom poses for this photo opportunity after they were finished exploring the truck and the cool fire truck lights!

This Pre-K friend was asking the fireman how to use the radio to talk to the station! 

For more information about fire saftey, please visit: 

http://www.safekids.org/safetytips/field_age/little-kids-1%E2%80%934-years/field_risks/fire?gclid=CjwKEAjw4s2wBRDSnr2jwZenlkgSJABvFcwQg4PQBmT68-QFrUYfuAO1pfb0nw2gT-hZw1KxEXaZuBoClLnw_wcB

For more information about our program, please visit us at: https://hollytreechildcare.com

Helping Children Develop Confidence

Where do you start? If a child does not have confidence they may be afraid to try something new. As parents we want to see our child(ren) succeeded and do bigger and better things in their life. Zero to Three has some great information about children developing self-confidence. What is self-confidence? Confidence is a belief in your ability to master your body, behavior, and the challenges you encounter in the larger world. Children who are confident are eager to learn new skills and face new challenges. They also expect adults to be helpful and supportive of their efforts. Self-confidence is also crucial for getting along with others and working out the many social challenges—such as sharing, competition, and making friends—that children face in school settings. Self-confident children see that other people like them and expect relationships to be satisfying and fun.

How does self-confidence develop? Babies are born with no real sense of themselves as separate and distinct beings. They learn who they are primarily through their interactions and experiences with others. Primary caregivers—parents, relatives, caregivers, and teachers—reflect back to children their unique strengths and special attributes. In large part, a child’s sense of confidence is shaped and nurtured (or not) by those who care for him. Watch how confidence grows across the first three years of life: 

• A newborn cries and is comforted by her parent. This baby is learning that she is loved, important, and worthy of soothing. 
• An 8-month-old shakes a rattle and smiles at the sound it makes. His caregiver says, “You figured out how the rattle works! Nice job!” This baby is learning he is a clever problem-solver. 
• A toddler takes a stool to reach her favorite toy—dad’s cell phone—on the countertop. “I can’t let you play with my phone,” says the girl’s father, “But how about playing with this?” He hands her a toy phone and she happily begins making calls. This toddler is learning that her interests are important and will be respected and supported (within limits) by those who love her. 
• A 3-year-old sobs as his parents leave for a night out on the town…without him. They help him calm down and get settled with his babysitter. This toddler is learning that his feelings are important and that his parents will listen and respond to him when he is distressed. 

Below are ways you can nurture your child’s self-confidence through your everyday interactions together.

Establish routines with your baby or child. When events are predictable, when they happen in approximately the same way at approximately the same time each day, your child will feel safe, secure, confident and in control of his world. He knows that, for example, bath comes first, then books, then songs and then bedtime. He understands the what will happen next and can prepare himself for those changes. If day-to-day events seem to occur randomly, it can cause children a lot of anxiety. If life doesn’t make sense, it may feel too scary to fully explore. When children know what to expect, they are free to play, grow, and learn.

Allow for and facilitate plenty of opportunity for play. Play is how children learn about themselves, other people, and world around them. Through play, children also learn how to solve problems and develop confidence —finding the ball behind the couch, getting the right shape into its hole, getting the jack-in-the-box to pop up. An infant who successfully presses a button on a toy that produces a pleasant sound is learning that he can make something happen.

It is also through play that children learn how it feels to be someone else, to try on new roles and to work out complicated feelings. A two-year old who dresses up, playing a mommy going off to work, may be working out her feelings about separations. A three-year old playing Power Rangers may be practicing being more assertive, mastering fears or venting aggressive feelings. Let your child lead playtime—this will build his confidence, assertiveness, and leadership skills.

Help your child learn to be a problem-solver. Help your child work through problems, but don’t always solve them for her. Move the blocks on the bottom of the tower so they are a little more stable, but don’t put the tall one on top—let her figure out how to make it balance. This way you give her the chance to feel successful.

• If your child is building a block house on the rug and it keeps falling, you could: 
• Tell her that you see how frustrated she is 
• Ask her if she knows what may be causing the problem 
• Offer your observations, i.e., that the rug is soft so the blocks aren’t stable 
• Ask if she has any ideas about what might make them steadier 
• Ask if she wants suggestions: "How about making it on the hard floor?" 

The goal is to guide and support your child in her problem-solving efforts but not do for her what she has the skills to accomplish herself. Sometimes, your child’s times of greatest frustration are in fact golden opportunities for her to develop feelings of confidence, competence and mastery. She’ll learn that she can depend on you to encourage her. Meanwhile, she’s the one who finds the solution.

Give your child responsibilities. Feeling useful and needed makes children feel important and builds confidence. Jobs should be age-appropriate. Very young children can sort laundry with you, help feed pets, water plants, and pick up toys. Be specific about what is expected. Say, "Please put a napkin on each plate," not "Help me set the table."

Celebrate your child’s successes. Showing your child that you recognize how he is growing and learning helps to build his confidence. Make a photo album of his accomplishments. Take pictures of your child struggling to climb onto a chair, and one of your child sitting in it proudly.

Encourage your child to try to master tasks he is struggling with. Children learn by doing. Break down difficult tasks into manageable steps to help him feel in control, confident, and safe. For example, if he is trying to learn to put his shoes on: 

• Unlace his shoes and open them for him 
• Line them up so he can step in 
• Let him lean on you while he steps in 
• Guide his hand, if necessary, as he fastens the shoes 
• Tell him: "Nice job getting your shoes on!" 

As you work on a task or skill that is tough for your child—like making the transition to training wheels or learning to go down the big slide—let him know you believe in him, but also communicate that you will not be disappointed if he isn’t yet ready. You are there to support him whenever he is ready to try again. When children feel in control, they feel strong in the world.

Provide language for your child’s experience that accurately reflects his experience, shows understanding and empathy, and instills confidence. "You tried to pour your own juice. Good for you. Some juice is in the cup. Some spilled. You look sad about that. Here, wipe it up with this sponge. That pitcher is heavy for little hands. I’ll give you a smaller one and you can try again."

Be a role model yourself. Children are always keenly watching their parents for clues about what to do or how to feel about different tasks or social interactions. When it comes to learning how to manage emotions like hurt, anger, or frustration, you are their "go-to" person. If you can model persistence and confidence in yourself, your child will learn this too. Try new things and praise yourself aloud. "I was really frustrated putting up that shelf. It was hard to do. When it fell, I was mad. I rested and tried again. Now I’m proud of myself for getting the job done and not giving up."

If you can say to your child when you are angry, "I don’t like that you threw that ball at me. I know you are angry and that’s o.k. But throwing hurts. You can tell me why you are mad and hit this pillow if you have to do something with your body." You are not only addressing your child's behavior, and offering alternatives, but the way you are dealing with your anger gives your child a healthy model for coping with strong feelings.

For more information about children building confidence, please visit: http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/social-emotional-development/tips-on-helping-your-child-self-confidence.html

For more information about our program, please visit us at: www.hollytreechildcare.com