Learning in the spirit of wonder and joy
Welcome back everyone! Kitchener StrongStart is open for indoor in person session this year. Safety protocols for StrongStart are still in place. You can find the on-line registration and more information on the protocols with this link: https://burnabyschools.ca/strongstart/.
If you have any questions about registering for in-class sessions, please email me at lan.huang@burnabyschools.ca
Dear StrongStart Families,
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Anita Olson, our Early Childhood Community consultant – community partner has shared what is happening and available throughout our community.
Outdoor family programs are back at Burnaby Family Life! Check out the attached poster for all the times, dates and locations. Registration is required and can be done here: https://bflgrowscommunity.org/together-at-the-park
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The following message is from Anita Olson
Rather than strive to be perfect, the greatest gift you can give to a young child is your time. Strong secure relationships are critical to a healthy, happy life in childhood, throughout the teenage years and into adulthood (source: Heart-Mind Online). Learn more @ www.feelingsfirst.ca.
What does being present mean to a young child?
o Increased self-control
o Higher levels of resiliency
o More hopeful attitudes
o Better mental health
o More prosocial behaviours
o More positive feelings about themselves
Every child needs a trusting relationship with at least one dependable adult in their lives, so they can grow and develop in a healthy way as family and community members, friends, thinkers, and discover their connections to the natural environment. You don’t have to be a childcare expert – just being present to provide love, safety, security, joy, and paying attention to them is enough.
Anita
Anita Olson (she/her) ECE, BA, MEd
Early Childhood Community Consultant
T 604 525 9144
M 604 723 9548
3rd Floor – 321 Sixth Street, New Westminster BC V3L 3A7
Many researches have shown that there are many benefits of being outside, such as reduces feelings of stress and anger, boosts your energy, boots your immune system, children are more engaged in their activities, is good for your vision and much more. So I encourage you and your the child to get outside more often.
Here is a fun activity to do together while you are outside. Children love to look for little creepy crawling bugs and there are a lot of them now.
Materials: magnifying glass, bug sheet, marker
While you are enjoying this activity together, you can talk about where would you find these little creatures, where do they live, what they like to do, can you hear them, can you smell them? Simple interactions between you and your child encourages language development, problem solving, creative thinking, bonding and more…
Have fun bug hunting
Wow, look at our potato plants. The have grown so much. There are lots of leaves. The leaves are absorbing the sunlight from the sun to make food for the plants. I wonder how many potatoes are there…how big are the potatoes. Can you guess?
I want to wish all the mothers a Happy Mother’s Day. Thank you for all the things you do.
At StrongStart, we made a bouquet of flowers to celebrate Mother’s Day.
Materials:
a piece of cardboard
flowers
Direction:
Poke holes on the cardboard
pick some flowers during your walks together, or in your garden
put the flowers into the holes
Enjoy the bouquet
We have been doing many bubble activities during our outdoor sessions. Both the children and the parents were very excited about bubbles, especially giant bubbles. You and your child can make bubbles together or they can do it themselves.
Here is a link to how to make wands that make giant bubble – https://rhubarbandwren.co.uk/giant-bubble-wand-tutorial/
Recipe for Giant Bubbles:
Mix all of the ingredients gently. Here is the secret: The bubble liquid gets better the longer it sits! It should marinate overnight at least. Tip: Just dip wands into the solution don’t stir or swish. It creates small bubbles and stops working. Enjoy!
Our potatoes are growing very tall. They are ready to be moved outside. Do you notice how tall the potatoes are? There are also lots of leaves. We had to hill around the plants because the plants need more nutrients. Did you do any planting? How are your plants doing? You can send me pictures of your plants
Spring is here, so it is planting time. Normally, at StrongStart we would plant beans, corns and herbs. Unfortunately we are not able to that this year. However, with the Kindergarteners’ help, we have planted potatoes before Spring Break instead. Amazing, they have sprouted already.
mixing the plant food with the soil
Then planted the potatoes in the tub
cover the potatoes and watered them with some water
2 weeks later, the potatoes have sprouted
There are always lots of learning opportunities with planting, such as how foods are grown, where foods in the supermarket come from. You can keep a chart of how your plants are growing. At harvest time, you can cook and eat the foods that you have grown together. The more kids know and feel connected to their food, the more curious they are about how things grow or taste, and the more they are willing to try new foods. I hope you are able to do some planting with your child this year. If you are, you can send me regular updates of your plants and I will post them on the blog. Happy planting everyone.
Click hear to listen to “The Carrot Seed” by Ruth Krauss
Free programs from Information Children
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