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There are a wide variety of preschool activities that you can do at with your kids. Most of these activities do not need a lot of material and can be easily made in your own home. Activities for preschoolers can help them discover new areas of learning through their active involvement in the task at hand. One area of learning that is enjoyable to both children and adults is music. An effective way of introducing it to young kids is through creating their own musical instruments. They can use the instruments while playing (in a group or by themselves) or in school activities. Music does not only teach children melody and rhythm, it also enhances their coordination and motorv skills and enhances their creativity. The following paragraph gives an examples of an easy to make musical instrument that small kids will love.

Creating Your Own Musical Shaker. Creating your own musical shaker is not just fun for children, the finished product will also help them develop their rhythm and ability to follow simple beats. For this activity, the following items are needed:

2 or more plastic bottles of different sizes(*do not use glass for safety purposes). Some Rice, soy beans or other similar non-perishable type of beans or rice. A glue gun (*remember to supervise when working with hot equipments like this), Colored construction paper, funnel, and glitter (optional)

Remove the label on the plastic bottles you’ve chosen. Make sure to shake off any excess water inside or outside the bottle. Place the funnel at the mouth of the bottle and take a small amount of rice or whatever grain you prefer, and pour it in the bottle. Using the glue gun, put some glue on the threading of the bottle and screw the cap on. Let the bottle dry for a few minutes and decorate the exterior. You can use glitter, paint, or any embellishment you want to decorate the bottle. Remember to let the children help you in decorating so they will have some sense of accomplishment once the shaker is done.

Its good to use bottles that vary in size because the sound they will create will also be different from each other. Once the musical shaker is done, turn on some music and let your kids follow the beat using their shakers. Tell your kids to dance while shaking their instruments and of course, don’t forget to dance with them!

See: How to start a daycare center

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A set of activities are presented in order for you to help your child a good reader. Reading materials offered in public libraries such as books and magazines and other visual materials can also help in building this skill. There are also inexpensive materials and activities that you can use in attaining this.

Each set of activities is based on the child’s age span. Since children learn things at different stage, the stages are: baby (birth to 1 month), toddler (1 to 3 years old), preschool (from 3 – 4 years old) and kindergarten or early first grader (from 5 – 6 years old). Through this age stage the parents will know what the proper learning activity is for the child. Also, be patient with the child because they do not learn things well as fast as an adult.

As your children grow, your role as their parent or guardian also changes. It could be observed from the point when your child started to walk and you will guide him so that he will not fall down. As he or she reached older stage, you are confident enough to let go of your child because he or she now carry his/herself well. In terms of language skill, in the first stage you will teach him or her simple words like “Mom” or “Dad”. Eventually, as he or she grows old, many languages are introduced to him or her then sometimes you let your child learn them by their own.

Parents are the best teacher for their child especially when they are only starting to learn. The child can learn more from some they are comfortable with and someone they trust. Make sure that the activity that you and you child will do is fun and enjoyable. If you observe that the child is not happy with the activity you present, move on to another activity.

1. BABY TALK

For Babies from birth to 1 year old

Since babies cannot speak yet, they often make sound to tell you something. If you response to them making sounds, they will think that what they tell you have sense and is valuable.

Top List on what to achieve:

• Always chat to your little one especially when they are smiling and making gurgles. Eye contact is important as well as body contact.

• Play guessing games with your babies. For example, try to ask “Where is your nose?” You can answer by touching their nose and say “there is your nose!” Do this by asking different parts of the face.

• Repeat the word of a certain part of the face or body. By doing this, the baby will start to recognize the sound you produce then in the later they can form it into words.

• DO interesting things with your baby. Variation of voices and funny facial expression and singing songs interest them.

For babies from 6 weeks to 1 year old

Books are one of the best materials that you can offer to your babies making them a good reader and at the same time a fun activity to do with them.

Materials Needed

1. Cardboard and/or cloth books by means of large, yet uncomplicated pictures of stuff with which brood are familiar

2. Lift-the-flap, and/or touch-and-feel, and/or peek-through play

Top List on what to Do:

• Reading story with your newborn for a short period many times per day is a good reading exercise. You can do it during the day when you are at the park, bus or even after breakfast at the breakfast table. During bedtime you can read to them too.

• Name the things shown in the book. Point them out while reading for better understanding.

• Sturdy books offer a lot of things to learn to the babies. It adds additional fun in learning.

CHATTING WITH CHILDREN

For children from 1 year old to 6 year old

As your baby grows old, their language development is in fast track. In line with this, talking to your child is essential to be able to develop their language skill more.

Top List on what to Do:

• Talk to your toddler while eating, taking a bath and when dressing him or her up. Emphasize color, shape, numbers and sizes. Point them out for better emphasis.

• Make conversation with your children and point out pictures and name to let your child know what it is. Question and answer after reading the book is quite a good exercise to be able to know if the child can comprehend the story.

• Make your toddler help you whenever you do chores in the house. For example when cooking something, try to give him cooking utensils and explain to them what these utensils do. This fosters a good learning experience for them.

• It is always good to converse with the child when doing stuffs together. In this way your child’s thinking is stimulated by asking questions upon meeting up something new like flowers in the park, food that you eat together and things that you have brought in the store. Yes or no questions are a good challenge for them as well as good brain twister.

• Listen to what your child has to say or ask. Explain your answer patiently. If you do not answer the question, do not hesitate looking for it in the book with him or her. This will give them the idea of how books can help in giving answer to most of our queries.

• Let your child talk and tell a story about anything. Afterwards, ask questions about the story so that you will know if they understand the story they are telling.

• Do things together, for example cook in the kitchen and let him help you. Teach them simple recipes that they might want to prepare when they grow a little bit older.

• Turn off the television if it has been on for hours and have a good talk with your child.

See: How to start a daycare center

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There are five ways to help you decide on a child care center of high quality.

1. Starting looking early for a center for child care center will be helpful since it takes ample time to be able to find the right option, whether you are counting into child care in other person’s home or a commercial daycare center.

2. Making calls to seek for information on child care and for child care options in your place that will fit your demands and needs. Child care experts and centers with Child care Resource and Referral Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) in your locality can give reliable and adequate information. The latter can also help regarding the requirements for licensing in your area, complaints and licensing violations, and programs on financial assistance and qualifications for it.

3. Visiting the child care centers under consideration and seek for quality indicators. The guidelines in finding the indicators include the following:
• Know the adult-to-child ratio because it is important for your child. Every child has a ratio limit according to his or her age, that is, younger children need smaller adult-to-child ratio specifically not exceeding 1:4. In addition, older children like four-year-olds can make it with 1:10.
• Find out for the group size aside from adult-to-child ratio. Consider the group size that will be more safe and calm for your child. Which of the two following examples, which have similar adult-to-child ratio, is better: a group consisting of twenty three-year olds with four adults or a group of ten three-year olds with two adults?
• Seek for the qualifications involving special training in handling children from the caregivers of the child care center because such qualifications will be helpful for your child’s learning. Also, ask if the caregivers attend skills improvement activities like workshops.
• Inquire about the length of stay of caregivers have spent at the center and how long they have been rendering their service. Transitions from one caregiver to another bring about difficulties for the child and also wastes up the time for his or her learning.
• Make sure that the child care center has their accreditation from nationally distinguished bodies in the field like the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

4. Choosing wisely from your child care options by remembering the important details obtained about each center including the advantages and disadvantages of choosing them.

5. Preparing for the new start since the partnership between you and the child care provider has just started. Some elements necessary for staying immersed with the care of your child and for showing how concerned you are with his or her learning includes the following.
• regular checks about the learning process of the child
• volunteering for the center when you have your free time
• allotting time for important occasions like birthdays
• joining special child care center events

See: How to start a childcare service

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The main duty of parents is to make sure their children are growing up safely, healthy, and to provide whatever it is they need. Another duty that is of primary importance is the responsibility to protect their little ones from all types of danger. The latter poses a big question mark.

Big time concern
In today’s normal family, the normal set-up is that both parents work. The wife works to complement the husband’s income. But that leaves no one to take care of the little ones. This is where the day care centre comes in.

Day Care Center. Those three words connote safety for parent’s children. But hold on to that thought because no one knows where danger hides, even in day care centres.

There is a growing concern from parents as facts show that many day care employees in day care centers are positive of having criminal records in their past. Even if the initiative to check the background of their employees is there, some day care centres forego this because of its high cost.

Peace of mind
Because of this concern, parents are advised to make doubly sure their child is kept in a reliable day care centre, and that their children are watched over by employees who will not compromise their child’s life and safety. Reliability is of utmost concern to most parents.

Here are tips on how to choose a reliable and safe day care centre:
• Parents should check reputation of day care centre.

Number one the list is that parents need to make sure that the day care center they are considering has a great background and a great history as well. Parents can obtain information with the local government, government agencies, and the police to check if there have been any unfavourable incidents or complaints against the day care center.

• Call the center’s past clients.

Calling up the centre’s past clients is an effective way of checking the day care centre’s credibility. It would be a big plus if you knew who to call like friends or family who had children taken cared of by the day care centre. Also, parents should be warned of planted past clients. These are fake clients who pose as previous clients and answer background check calls.

Background checks on the day care centres’ employees.

Obtaining background checks show important information such as criminal and medical records, educational records, employment history, bank reports, driving violations, drug test results, police records, and many other records.

Background checks, are very effective methods by which a parent or parents will know if the employees in a day care center is capable and reliable enough to keep their children safe.

• Meet with the manager and employees for some of their personal information. Relying on the background check of these employees is good. But to meet with them and to talk to them is another way to judge whether these people are safe enough to have around the children. Unannounced visits are good. A conversation with the people involved is a good gauge whether the parents deem them safe or not.

• Do an ocular inspection of the day care centre.

Not only do employees of day care centre pose danger to a parents’ child, but the facility and environment as well. Give due priority to cleanliness, safety and hazard free. Regarding cleanliness, parents should consider looking at the day care centre’s bathrooms, janitors, and water source.

With their children in safe hands in a safe e environment, parents can now have peace of mind while they go about their daily lives.

See: How to start a daycare center

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Most parents these days are both working with very little time to take care of their children during the day. This situation would often result for parents to enroll their child to daycare to facilitate the care of the child while being in the office. It is not enough that you find the right place for your child but it would also be important that you are aware that your child is comfortable going to this daycare.

It is not only you as a parent who should prepare themselves from being separated from your children or child. You would also need to prepare your child to be separated from you especially if this is the first time. Choosing a daycare is can be similar to choosing a nanny or a baby sitter for your child. First impressions are always important and as a parent your instincts can play a vital role. You want someone you can trust immediately and someone your children can trust and be comfortable with as well. You need to do a bit of scouting to find the best place and person to leave your child with. You can ask other parents for recommendations and people they can suggest.

Child care specialist would be able to provide good insight and recommendations for you to what you need to look for in a daycare or child care person. You can contact the Department of Social Services for a list of daycares that they can recommend in your area or those with proper licensing. One you have this list you can schedule a site visit with your child to check out the place and see if this would suit your child’s needs.

Putting your child in daycare is not only for you peace of mind. You also need to consider your child’s reaction to the place and see if he or she will be comfortable being left there. This is why it is important to bring your child along to see if the child would be in agreement with the place. Take time to have your child look around and see where you plan to have him stay while you are at work. This would be a great time for the child to get acquainted with the place and get to know the people he or she will be interacting with. You can help psych your child to see the benefits of the place and the people and how much fun he or she can have at the place. This will make transition easier.

Letting your child discover the place with you around will give him or her security she needs that you are not abandoning them. You may make a special arrangement with the facility if your child can bring a favorite toy or item for a few days until the child can fully cope with the new environment without the need for the security items of the child. Doing all these will help the child transition from just being at home to being outside and socializing with other people.

See: How to start a daycare business

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A daycare is a place where small children, the old and the sick are being cared for during the day while they are not at home. However, day care centers are mostly linked to children being cared for by adults with the supervision of trained professionals who can provide them with care and nourishment while their parents, particular their mothers are at work.

Earning money from your own day center is achievable but you can only do this if you expand your knowledge about day care centers by understanding the difference between the two stated definitions. Again, with the definition provided about, a day care center isn’t only intended for children alone but is also built to cater to needs and requirements of the sick and the elderly.

Starting your own day care business entails minimal start up costs. The cost of opening a day care is low compared to other small businesses you can open. You can turn your home to a day care provided it is well organized and built under the regulation and is equipped with everything that is required of a day care center. You can also start immediately with toys and rummages you already have, all you need are interesting tools that could stimulate attention.

Always remember that the adoption of principle is the most important thing in the school of knowledge’ avoid excuses and start immediately. Note that if you have money buy a land space, for day care is a business but if you don’t have your home can serve as a means of making serious money with day care. You are standing out to the public place; it is no longer a personal affair. It’s a business and must be considered as a business.

You are advised to keep a neat and gentle environment. People love neat and gentle environment, therefore, build your environment to be site attraction. This enhances the possibilities of making fast and serious money with day care. Note neat environment is an essential factor in day care business.

The secret of every business depends strongly on the gravity of people’s love to the products or packages offered. Your day care program needs people’s attention to succeed. One way to do this is by creating awareness.

Expose your business to public using advertising on papers, magazines, posters and distribution of hand bills or flyers. Let people know what you do and what services and amenities you can provide them with and convince them with the packages you are running from your program.

As a day care center owner, it is also your responsibility to ensure that your business provides only the best quality of care and that your employees are all hired professionals and are legal. Caring for children, the sick and the elderly alike could be daunting and possibly requires extra skill so it is really your responsibility to ensure that you can make your business work and make your clients benefit from what you can offer.

See: How to start a daycare center

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The thought of putting up your own daycare business can be quite thrilling. But before you advertise your new business venture, you must think first of all the things needed to put up this type of business. Creating a daycare business is not simply converting a part of your house in to a playpen for children; it is a strict business that has a lot of laws that govern it.

First and foremost, you must make yourself of a business plan: this lays out all the details you need in order for you to establish, run, and maintain you daycare services. You must really be sure of yourself that you want a daycare center as a business before you start to make the business plans. It would be a waste of time and effort if you suddenly change your mind midway.

Do you really want to start up a daycare center? Do you like taking care of children? Do you have what it takes to take care of other people’s children? Are you one hundred percent sure that you are determined enough to start and run a business venture?

Bear in mind that a daycare center is entirely different from the babysitting you used to do back then. The daycare is an in-demand business that entails a great deal of dedication to manage it successfully. You must consider up to how many children you can cater at a time, and if you plan on hiring additional staff and for which particular role.

Now that you are a hundred percent sure of yourself that you will open such a business, and then you can begin drafting your business plan. It should contain pertinent data regarding your business. It will act like a blueprint and framework to your business. Where you plan to do the business, the mission and vision of the center, the analysis and break down of the costs and finances must be reflected in the business plan.

Jot down anything and everything that you think can help your business and sustain it. Include also plans for improvement for your daycare business.

You should also do a thorough market research regarding the demand and supply of daycare centers in your community. Are there plenty of children in the area? Are the parents willing to send their children to daycare centers?

Check out the feasibility of your proposed daycare center and see if it is actually possible to do it. Get all the necessary information regarding market research and gathered data so as to know if your business is a good venture to begin with.

Do a rough estimate of all the things that you will need before starting up your business. Insurances, furniture, playpens, food, and other necessities needed should be properly estimated so as to know the needed capital in starting the daycare. Make sure, also, to take care of all the necessary paperwork so as to make sure that your establishment is legal and following safety rules and precautions.

See: How to start a daycare

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