The Smart Start’s Spring Fling Open House Fun Activities for All

See our latest media release and a few pictures:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Natasha Clark / Executive Director The Smart Start

3845 Whitney Ave.                                                                         

Hamden, CT 06518                                                                        

203-660-7158Natasha@TheSmartStart.org
http://www.thesmartstart.org/         

Media Contact: Stephanie Benedetto
Outsource Marketing
203-434-0510
Stephanie@outsourcemarketingteam.com
www.osmarketing.net

The Smart Start’s Spring Fling Open House Fun Activities for All

APRIL 20, 2011 – HAMDEN, CT – The Smart Start Preschool & Learning Center of Hamden, CT hosted its annual Spring Fling Open House this past Saturday.  The purpose of this open house was two- fold: 
1) to hold an Easter/spring party for its current students and their families, and 2) to introduce potential new comers to the preschool. The morning kicked off at 10am with an introduction message from Natasha Clark, Owner & Executive Director about the day’s events and thanking all of those in attendance.

The morning kicked off with a welcome address from Natasha Clark and activities for the kids and food and beverages for all.   Mid morning an Easter egg hunt was held and a special visit by Peter Rabbit and raffles for the children rounded out the day.

 “Thanks for joining us at our Easter Spring Fling; it means a lot to all of us here at The Smart Start that you’ve shared your Saturday morning with us.  I hope you and your kids enjoy the activities we have planned to celebrate spring. If you have any questions about The Smart Start Preschool, age acceptance, academics, other learning programs please ask either me or my fellow teachers, we’ll be here all day to answer any of your questions.  Thanks and enjoy yourselves.” said Clark.

While the children kept busy with arts and crafts, Clark entertained new potential parents by giving tours and answering questions about the preschool. 

“Enrollment is filling up, if parents are truly serious about enrolling their children this September its best to sign up now, we’re almost at full capacity and we’ve only been in business for 7 months,” states Clark.  The Smart Start Preschool has been growing since its doors opened in September.  “The open houses and marketing has truly increased my exposure and interest/enrollment in my preschool.” - Clark

The Easter egg hunt started off with a blaze all the children ran around the play yard in search for those special eggs as they filled up their baskets with colored eggs stuffed with prizes.  A few minutes later there was a shadow in the back left corner of the play yard, a teacher exclaimed “I think I see some big rabbit ears, who could it be?”  Peter Rabbit paid a special visit to The Smart Start Preschool giving the children and their parents a little pre-Easter excitement.

As the day came to an end, Natasha and her teachers raffled off Easter baskets for the children.    “This truly was an eventful day we had a great turn out. Spring was in the air and I’m grateful for all the support from everyone who attended our Spring Fling.”- Clark.

About
The Smart Start Preschool & Learning Center is a nurturing center which helps children grow.  Their mission is to provide a safe, nurturing and caring environment for children age’s three to five in a preschool setting.  They want students to grow not only physically, but also mentally, emotionally and socially.  Their program will enrich your child’s life as well as yours.  The Smart Start teachers are committed to you, your child and education – ultimately making it a wonderful place for your child to start learning and growing.

To learn more about The Smart Start Preschool & Learning Center, visit them online at: www.thesmartstart.org  / www.facebook.com/thesmartstart

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THE SMART START PRESCHOOL LICENSED TO ACCEPT SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN

APRIL 6, 2011 – HAMDEN, CT – The Smart Start Preschool & Learning Center of Hamden, CT is officially licensed by the state of CT to accept school aged children.

“I’ve been approached by a few parents about accepting school-aged children for before and after school programs.  I wasn’t planning to offer a program for this age group until about two or three years after being in business; I’ve been open for 7 months but wasn’t able to turn my back on these parents.  Sometimes you can’t time things in life you just have to harness what’s presented to you if it’s a good thing, which this was.  We’ve called this new program the "Over 5 Club” states Natasha Clark, Owner & Executive Director of The Smart Start Preschool.  

Regular schools start between 8am-9am, The Smart Starts hours are 7am-6pm which enables parents or care givers to drop their kids off before or after school.  The Smart Start preschool may be a bus stop on the yellow bus routes, the school is looking into this for parents to ease the coordination of transporting their kids to and from The Smart Start to school.

“Eventually we’d like to generate enough funds to have our own bus, we’re not there yet but it’s a future goal.  With our own transportation we’ll have the flexibility to pick up children pretty much anywhere within an agreed upon radius.” States Clark.

Natasha brings to the table her education and degrees, passion for teaching, innate behavior of being a teacher and engaging children the right way. 

The Smart Start has a designated area in the school for the Over 5 Club. Once the enrollment increases Natasha will be hiring another teacher specifically for the Over 5 Club/School Age children program.

“I think it’s important to have a smaller student to teacher ratio, the CT legal limit is 10 students to one teacher; I like my class ratio to be 5 or 6 students to one teacher.  Smaller groups help children become more engaged they have more chances to answer questions and it’s also less chaotic for our teachers and easier to manage when there are multiple hands.” Says Clark. 

 “My name is Stacey Beecher and I’ve enrolled my 5 yr old son who needed after care.  I spoke with Natasha and she developed a program just for him based on his report card (from kindergarten) her complete evolvement put my mind at ease.  The Over 5 Club has put my mind at ease, knowing that my son is in a good place after school.  Besides the traditional academics after school programs may offer, The Smart Start has helped my son with his self-esteem struggles.  They’re pretty much diminishing and I owe it all to the attention and care Natasha and her teachers have given my son.  This program has helped my son and also my husband and I with our work schedules. “States Stacey Beecher.

Coupled with the Over 5 Club, the school is now offering tutoring to school age children. This is a separate program from the Over 5 Club, however if any of the school age children need help with their school subject matter (math, English, writing, history, etc.) the teachers at The Smart Start are well prepared to help.  Natasha has tutoring background worked at Sylvan Learning Center and is now tutoring a little boy for reading and math.  She’s tutored children from ages 5-10.

About The Smart Start
The Smart Start Preschool & Learning Center is a nurturing school which helps children grow.  Their mission is to provide a safe, nurturing and caring environment for children age’s three to five in a preschool setting along with before and after care programs for school aged children.  Their mission is to help students to grow not only mentally but emotionally and socially.  Their program will enrich your child’s life as well as yours.  The Smart Start teachers are committed to you, your child and education – ultimately making it a wonderful place for your child to grow.

To learn more about The Smart Start Preschool & Learning Center visit them online. Open houses will be held on a regular basis, check out the website and facebook page for upcoming events.   

 www.thesmartstart.org www.facebook.com/thesmartstart thesmartstartpreschoollearningcenter.blogspot.com

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St. Patrick's Day Event at The Smart Start

Last Thursday, March 17^th we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day.  The day kicked off with catching a leprechaun.  The school was in disarray – leprechaun footprints painted the floors and walls; chairs were turned over and the play area was just a mess!  The children all checked their leprechaun traps to see if we caught any!  No such luck, but they did a great job trying to catch one.

Oh’ what a great day it was.   We had a party of green food and fun, played "find the shamrock" and counted how many we all found.  The children ran around outside, breathed in some fresh air, played Lucky, Lucky, Lucky, Leprechaun, energized themselves for a day of learning.  

The games help them follow directions, listen and increases their understanding of a basic concept.  We like to incorporate games into learning because it makes it fun for children and they absorb concepts a little quicker. 

Here is a little history on St. Patrick’s Day:

Patrick, (A.D 385-461) was born in Britain and taken to Ireland as a slave. After he escaped, a vision told him to return and bring Christianity to the Irish. He is one of Ireland's patron saints, and patron saint of Nigeria.  Other historians claim St. Patrick drove snakes out of Ireland. (source: www.fstribune.com/story/1712276.html)

Check out our pictures of this eventful day.

A GROWING PRESCHOOL GENERATES MORE INTEREST THROUGH AN OPEN HOUSE AND PARENT TESTIMONIALS

Welcome to our blog.    This is a recent press release which talks about our recent open house.



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Natasha Clark / Owner, Executive Director
3845 Whitney Ave.
Hamden, CT 06518
203-660-7158
Natasha@TheSmartStart.org
http://www.thesmartstart.org/

Media Contact:Stephanie Benedetto
Outsource Marketing
203-434-0510 
Stephanie@outsourcemarketingteam.com
http://www.osmarketing.net/


MARCH 4, 2011 – HAMDEN, CT – The Smart Start Preschool & Learning Center of Hamden, CT hosted an eventful open house.  Families from Hamden and surrounding towns visited the new preschool & learning center.  The event kicked off by mingling and offering refreshments to parents/families as they walked in, followed by an introduction from Natasha Clark, Owner and Executive Director, staff introductions, discussion about the program and a Q&A.   Parents of enrolled children gave testimonials to Natasha and The Smart Start Preschool; it was truly an evening to remember.

 “Helping children grow through teaching early academics and early learning is one of life’s most rewarding jobs,” states Clark.  Seeing a child who doesn’t know his ABCs excel is so exciting. To witness another with low-self esteem overcome it is truly wonderful.  To think these little people learned and retain so much within a short amount of time is truly amazing; this passion, along with my love for teaching and years of experience led me to open The Smart Start Preschool & Learning Center.” states Clark.  I welcome you this evening to our Open House and learn about why The Smart Start Preschool & Learning Center is truly a place for your child to grow.”

The Smart Start Preschool has set goals to prepare children for kindergarten.  Their program encourages growth both academically and personally, fine motor and gross motor.

The evening continued with parents and teachers mingling and getting to know one another, and also testimonials from parents who have their children enrolled.

“My name is Stacey Beecher and I have two sons enrolled in The Smart Start Preschool.  It all began as I drove by The Smart Start one day and pulled in to learn more; I’m glad I did.  The sign was inviting and l liked the setting – it felt like home.   I spoke with Natasha, she enlightened me on the program, and as we were talking I felt a connection.   I knew she had heart in the school she was opening.  I was the first parent she enrolled so I’ve been here since her doors opened; I will say the experience we’ve been through has been amazing.  My son is growing academically and also personally.  He’s learning how to spell his name and he’s becoming much more independent.   I’ve also enrolled my 5 yr old who needed after care.  I spoke with Natasha and she developed a program just for him based on his report card (from kindergarten) her complete evolvement put my mind at ease.  My 5 year old struggled with self-esteem, since he’s been enrolled at The Smart Start’s after care program his self-esteem struggles have been diminishing.   Bottom line, my two sons enjoy being here, they’re learning, they’re happy, they never want to leave, I trust Natasha and her staff with my kids, I know they’re safe and it gives me peace of mind.  Plus she also does movie nights.  We drop of the boys and my husband and I have a night out, knowing they’re safe. “ states Stacey Beecher.

Coupled with their academic structure and early learning goals The Smart Start is a family-oriented preschool.   “Maintaining close ties with our enrolled families through open communication gives our families the support, peace of mind and any guidance they need to help raise their children.” We’re truly an extension of their family.” States Clark.

“I did extensive research on preschools and the original one we selected was very rigid then selected another with teachers on boards and extremely high credentials.  We enrolled him and found out it wasn’t the best fit because the school was not teaching him new things – he already knew his ABCs etc, plus behavior issues were beginning to surface.  The teachers didn’t know what to do or how to handle him – he was only there for 3 hours.  Our son was not happy in preschool and didn’t want to go.  Fast forward – we pulled him out and after meeting with Natasha we enrolled him at The Smart Start.   I was impressed with the friendliness, state-of-the-art courses available, different ways the teachers reached the children by using play, music, gross motor and fine motor skills.   I love the fact the curriculum is academic and other portion is fine gross motor skills incorporating music etc., plus the school stresses pre-kindergarten skills.  I love the 1 – 5 ratio, the children get a lot of attention.  The teachers and Natasha really find a way to connect with the children.  Now my son likes going to school and likes his teacher.  Natasha is very qualified and good at what she does.  The other teachers are as well and they’re patient.  Natasha also brought in a science teacher which adds another dimension to their learning.  I’m a very pleased parent and happy with our decision to send our child there.  Another great aspect too, Natasha and her teachers are able to deal with all types of children all types of temperament, personalities.” States Keona Reyes.

The Smart Start Preschool & Learning Center is a nurturing school which helps children grow.  Their mission is to provide a safe, nurturing and caring environment for children age’s three to five in a preschool setting.  They want students to grow not only academically but emotionally and socially.  Their program will enrich your child’s life as well as yours.  The Smart Start teachers are committed to you, your child and education – ultimately making it a wonderful place for your child to start learning and grow.

To learn more about The Smart Start Preschool & Learning Center visit them online. Open houses will be held on a regular basis, check out the website and facebook page for upcoming events.   

 www.thesmartstart.org www.facebook.com/thesmartstart thesmartstartpreschoollearningcenter.blogspot.com

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Request for Topics

Dear Smart Start Blog Readers & Followers,

To help us continually report on topics that benefit you we’re “calling for all topics”.  Let us know what you would like to learn more about – keep within the topic of preschool age children and raising them. 

We’re here to provide our professional expertise and knowledge from what we’ve experience along with other colleagues and professionals.

Thanks again and I look forward to receiving your readership topic requests.

-Natasha Clark

Valentine’s Day at The Smart Start Preschool & Learning Center

Every February we celebrate Valentine's Day by giving flowers, candy and cards to those we love. We do this in honor of Saint Valentine. You may be wondering, "Who is St. Valentine"? Time to brush up on your Valentine's history!  There are many legends about “Valentine” some say he secretly married young men soldiers and women when the emperor of the time outlawed marriage.  Another legend claims Valentine was an imprisoned man who fell in love with his jailor's daughter. Before he was put to death he sent the first 'valentine' himself when he wrote her a letter and signed it 'Your Valentine', words still used on cards today.

We celebrate Valentine’s Day by giving cards and small tokens (gifts) to show those how much we love them.    At The Smart Start Preschool Valentine’s Day is a day we celebrate with a lot of fun which ultimately teaches our children about love, giving and caring.

On Valentine’s Day the children make Valentine mailboxes which are tissue boxes decorated by them, it’s personalized and allows them to use their creativity.  All the children share valentines with each other, showing how much we like one another, by placing a valentine in one another’s mailbox. 

Today, February 14^th we had a party, thanks to everyone who brought in tasty treats.  We read books with a Valentine theme and played Valentine Bingo.

Teaching the children about Valentine’s Day and the meaning behind it (love) is important to help them understanding the holiday and also helps us explain emotion/feelings.  Last week we blogged about behavior and how children at this age (3-5) don’t know how to identify with their emotions/feelings.  We also expressed that when you love somebody it makes you feel happy and makes you smile. 

We talked about how we love our parents, siblings and friends and the things we can do to show how much we care.  These “things” are acts of goodness.  Throughout the week we incorporate the Valentines theme as much as possible into everything we do: Sing songs about Valentines and even do Valentine math activities. One math game works with numbers: There is a set of 10 “broken” hearts and on each side there is a number and the other side has dots. The children are supposed to match the broken hearts (match the written numeral with the right amount of dots). This reinforces number concepts.

Natasha’s Tip: 

ü  Incorporate a Valentine themed book into their story (if you read them a bedtime or other-time story), make heart shaped cookies and or ask them to tell you a Valentine story that they have made up. 

ü  Ask them what they learned in school about Valentine’s Day and what it means to them.

ü  Give your children a Valentine to show them how much you love them.  You didn’t need me to tell you that!  Happy Valentine’s Day.  

Behavior in Preschool Age Children –Why They Act a Certain Way and How to Handle It

In this blog I’m sharing my experiences and professional knowledge why preschool children behave the way they do and some suggestions to handing the situation if it’s a bad behavior problem.

Every parent, guardian and teacher experiences children’s behavior, the good, the bad and the ugly.  At times we ask ourselves:  Why does my preschooler act so grown up, then minutes later act like a baby?   Children in this age group (3-5 yrs old) are constantly growing (minds and behavior), which includes gaining their independence and showing you (parent, teacher, guardian) they know and understand what’s going on around them.  They are also learning how to control their emotions, which is one of the key reasons why they act like a baby when certain situations arise.   A situation could be asking them to do something they don’t want, if they are afraid of something, etc.   

Reason: As an adult if we’re in a situation which is uncomfortable, we will express our reasons and handle our emotions collectively (usually).  Preschoolers have not mastered this and they don’t understand why (completely) they’re feeling the way they do.  It takes children a long time to control their emotions, plus whatever personal experiences they have at home are part of their behavior development.  

Suggestions: In a situation where you see your child misbehaving and after three warnings to stop misbehaving, I suggest using the time-out chair – if of course it warrants the time-out chair.  If they are afraid of something and reacting out fear, the time-out chair isn’t the answer.  Soothing would help.   The time-out chair is a very good tool if used correctly.  The purpose of a time-out chair is to teach your children and help them understand why they are in time-out.  It’s suggested that parents/guardians/ caregivers remain calm when putting them in their chair (or special time-out spot) and explain why he/she is sitting in the time-out chair.  Besides explaining I also suggest asking them why they’re there.  If they can’t answer you, repeat yourself.  It may take 3-4 times of repeating yourself before they understand.  When they answer you correctly they should understand why they’re in the time-out chair.  As adults it’s our job to ensure they understand why they are sitting there, the goal is to help them learn not to repeat their misbehavior.

Don’t: Put your screaming child in time-out and continually tell him/her to stop screaming otherwise he’ll stay in time-out longer, then a after a few minutes pass, remove the screaming child from time-out.  In this situation the child learned nothing and it’s a waste of a parent’s breath.

Ages 3-4 are the most crucial time in children’s lives, whatever happens at this age, good or bad, begins to shape them. 

Tantrums in Public Places:  A parent asked me how they could better handle their child while throwing tantrums in public places.   I told this parent if their child is having a complete meltdown in public I would recommend removing him/her from the situation, and stay calm.  I would also recommend against bribing them.   Preschoolers are pretty smart and If you bribe them, they will always think they will get something every time they have a tantrum.  Every time you deal with a tantrum parents need to treat every tantrum the same way.  Consistency is important to setting ground rules.

Defiance: In school and life we have to follow directions, at times we aren’t in the mood to follow directions.  In preschool we’re teaching our children how to follow directions and why it’s important and ask our parents to do the same at home.   Example: If you’re sitting with your child teaching him/her how to write and you ask him to take out a pencil from his pencil box and he takes out a scissor and you ask a  few more times to take out a pencil, the child is clearly not paying attention and following directions.

Suggestion:  In this situation I would suggest taking his pencil box away and not giving it back until he understands why he needs his pencil.

Natasha’s Tips: 

ü  You have to show them who is in control and that tantrum, defiance or other ill behavior will not get them anywhere.  Even as hard as it is I suggest you ignore their behavior.

ü  Don’t bribe them

ü  Try to remain calm

ü  If you think their behavior is completely a off the rector scale, I suggest speaking with a medical professional

Preschoolers & Television

Television is perceived as an educational tool by some while others believe television may have a negative influence on their growth.  Who is correct? Well, the answer likely depends on the subject matter along with the duration of viewing time.

The Smart Start Preschool believes TV shows can have a positive influence.  Preschoolers have many more choices on television than 20 years ago.  Parents/Guardians are encouraged to assist preschoolers in selecting more educational shows as opposed to those emphasizing strictly entertainment.    From what I’ve heard and seen firsthand some shows are more interactive with children and try to teach them something academic.  Take Word World for instance, this program is about spelling and finding the word to the story.  Caillou is a good program which displays problems and solutions, of course Sesame Street has been and continues to offer something educational.  Although some television programs are more educational than others, television should not replace preschool where children are able to more frequently utlize and develop their social skills, fine motor and gross motor skills in an interactive yet controlled environment. 

It is encouraged that parents/guardians use television as a source of developing conversation.  After your child watches his program, ask them what it was about, what they learned or what they enjoyed about the show.  This interaction and questioning will encourage a child to remember what they viewed and share it with you.   Another suggestion is to watch the show with your child and compare TV shows to real life situations.  Some cartoons ask their viewers a question and pause so the kids can answer the question. If you’re watching the show with your child, have him answer the question when it pauses.  This will encourage them to listen more intently.

Although we emphasize more educational television, we also know children need a break so we do encourage some programs which are also entertaining.  Regardless of programs, I recommend children watch less than 3 hours per day.  The television isn’t recommended to act as a baby sitter.  If you don’t have the time to spend with the children, simply turn the TV off, maybe turn on the radio and have them color, draw or another form of creative play or kick a ball around (outside).  This type of play supports their fine motor and gross motor skills.

Interacting with your children is a lot more beneficial for them instead of watching 4 hours of TV a day. 

Natasha’s Tip:  Use television as a source of conversation, select the programs they are watching and ask them to tell you what it was about.   

Please share this blog with your friends; we welcome your comments on this topic.

For more information on children and TV, visit this website: http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/tv.htm

Parents & Preschoolers – How to Help Your Child Excel

At ages 3-5 children are learning so much whether in preschool or not.  If your child is in preschool reinforcing what he/she is learning will only help him excel.  Repetition and practice are two key ingredients to expanding their minds and grow to the next level.  Think about how you learn, at times we need to repeat what we have read or learned in order to understand it better, the same holds true for your child. 

Early learning is the foundation to their future; how parents interact, support and work with their child is the first step to a lifelong of learning and growing—together.   

Teaching 3-5 yr olds could be challenging, they may not listen and lose interest quickly.   So how do you turn this around?  Make learning fun, play flash cards or turn teaching into a game.  Here is a suggestion: if you’re teaching them the alphabet take a sheet of paper, write a letter on each sheet and place the sheets around the room; you can even tape them to the wall.  Ask your child to find the letter N.  He/she will have to walk to the paper with the letter N written on it.  Repeat this for all letters you have posted around the room.  This type of learning encourages them to get involved – it’s more interactive and ultimately makes it fun. 

If you’re teaching them how to write their letters make sure they’re holding their pencil correctly.  Write a letter and ask them to write the same thing, this is called modeling.  Or, tell your child you don’t know how to write the letter H, and ask him/her to show you.  This puts the child in charge, gives them a sense of independence, plus it’s very endearing to watch them teach you. If either of these approaches do not work and they are losing interest then perhaps take break and reconvene later.

Set small attainable goals and reward them with something they like such as stickers, taking them to a place they like to visit, etc. 

If your child is not in preschool, there are plenty of websites that offer information on child development and stages of academic growth.  Two resources are listed at the end of this document.

Natasha’s Tip:
Reinforce what your child has learned in school by repeating it at home for 10 minutes.  If you’re not sure what to do, ask their teacher for some suggestions and tips. Remember, all teaching doesn’t happen in the classroom.  Working with them at home will only help them succeed faster.

Child Development Online resources:www.pbs.org/parents/childdevelopmenttracker
www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/devsequence.shtml

What Makes A Healthy Child?

When parents and the general public speak about “healthy children” are they referring to healthy bodies, healthy minds or both?  It depends on who is sharing their opinion and the context of the discussion.

The Smart Start Preschool believes raising healthy children starts with positive relationships with siblings, parents, family members and other children/friends.  Positive relationships, positive and an energizing environment coupled with eating nutrient-rich foods, exercising and getting the proper amount of sleep all helps with developing a healthy child. 

Based on published information children ages 3-5 will be in a better state of mind and moods if they get 10-12 hours of sleep per day. This doesn’t mean in one sleep setting, but incorporating naps into their schedule.  I’m sure you’re already giving your children nutrient-rich foods, but as a reminder these foods are comprised of whole grains, dairy, fruits, vegetables and protein.  Any food low in sugar is the best for your children.  Similar to adult, these foods add natural, healthy fuel opposed to sugary snacks which ultimately drains your child’s energy. Of course don’t hold back on all fun food, incorporate it into their diets in small increments.

Exercise is also important and being a part of a positive environment encourages positive relationships along with active, interactive and social playtime which play a role in confidence and development.

If your children are not in preschool, adding social interaction and outside play will help your child’s development.  Don’t fret about winter, taking them out for 15-20 minutes will do them a world of good for their behavior, and give parents a world of calmness.  We all know children get fidgety and can only focus for about 15 minutes, plus they have a lot of bottled-up energy and need to use it.  Expending their energy through physical activity outside can play a role which positively impacts their healthy growth.  If the weather is cold, bundle them up for play or maybe even take them to a local mall.  Many malls today offer play areas where children can interact and play in an inside setting.  Check out the Westfield Mall in Milford and Trumbull.  Danbury also has a fantastic play area and merry-go-round.

Other options are play groups.  “Mothers and More” of Greater New Haven is a membership-based group with multiple offering including outings, new friendships, etc.   Also, look into your local library for story times, children’s museums and even parks when the weather cooperates.   

Here at The Smart Start we encourage healthy growth and incorporate education on healthy eating.  We incorporate a 5 minute stretch to wake up the senses during our academics, we incorporate a structured gym class which make exercising fun and maximize the children’s interest.  Naptime is also incorporated in our scholastic routine for healthy recovery from either gym or recess activities. 

Natasha’s Tip – Parents: Set aside 15+ minutes a day for some sort of physical activity with your child.  As adults we may forget to go outside as our lives become busy, but physical activity is important – step away from the computer and TV and enjoy the fresh air with your child.

Thanks for reading our blog, all of us here at The Smart Start Preschool hope this has been enjoyable and useful -- Natasha Clark

The Smart Start Preschool & Learning Center.  A place for your child to grow.

Places to take your children:Public Library Story Time
Children’s Museum (New Haven)
Rascals Gym
New Era Gymnastics (Hamden)
Hartford Science Center
Maritime Center (Norwalk, CT)

www.thesmartstart.org

Welcome & Ages 3-5 What Your Children Should Be Learning

Dear Readers,

I would like to welcome you to The Smart Start Preschool Blog.  We’ve started this blog to engage our students’ parents/caregivers and others who are interested in reading about  what we have to share.  Our hope is to provide you with some useful information, tips, tricks and even some light humor about educating and raising our children.  Of course since this is a blog hearing your opinions and comments are more than welcome. This is a two-way conversation and our doors are open.

What Your Child Should be Learning Between Ages 3-5

Welcome to The Smart Start Preschool’s first official posting, in this blog we will be disucssing what children between the ages of 3-5 should be learning. 

Being a pre-school teacher for 12 years I’ve seen the full gaumut of what children should be learning and also what some already know at this age. 

Here is a guide of a few growth milestones to determine if your child is progressing at the standard rate:

I’ve broken it down per each age group, so it’s a little more straight forward:

Age 3

ü  Children should know how to hold a pencil as they will begin to draw shapes and eventually letters of the alphabet.

ü  Knowing the alphabet and being able to recite the letters in order.  TIP: Singing the alphabet song to your child will help engage him, singing is fun for children and will ultimately help them enjoy learning.   

ü  Identifying their name when they see it in writing such as on a flash card.

ü  The first letter in their name.

ü  Social interaction and sharing (making an effort to share, we all know how that goes)

Age 4-5

ü  At this age children are more mature and should be able to recognize letters outside the context of their name.  TIP: To reinforce their learning of individual letters we suggest using flashcards with a letter on one side and a corresponding picture on the opposite side, such as the C and a picture of a Cat on the flip side.  This visual connection will help your child connect the letter C to the word Cat and ultimately reinforces their learning.

ü  Recognize sight words like A and I and eventually The and And.  The and And are words your child will see frequently and will pick these up faster.

Along with academics, children between ages 3-5 are gaining their independence. Here are some simple yet effective tasks to help them feel like a “big boy or girl”: hanging up their coat, taking off their shoes, playing with one toy at a time and putting it away after they’ve played with it, and throwing out their garbage. 

Natasha’s Tip:

Reading with your children is an entertaining, educating and bonding experience.  Have your child sit on your lap, point to the word you are reading, read one page at a time and then ask your child a particular question about the context. Repeat this process for every page you read.  This approach will help your child exercise his/her mind, think about and remember what he/she just heard.

Thanks for reading our blog, all of us here at The Smart Start Preschool

hope this has been enjoyable and useful -- Natasha Clark

The Smart Start Preschool & Learning Center.  A place for your child to grow.