Volume 06 | April 2020

April Newsletter

Talking to Your Child About COVID-19 During this uncertain time, we can help children (and ourselves) by creating a sense of safety and connection, while cultivating a new sense of normal. Children will take your lead on how to deal with all the changes that come along with the current pandemic. When we are able to provide a positive, open, and encouraging atmosphere for our children, they will be better equipped to take on all the challenges that come with this uncertain time. Conscious Discipline has Five Helpful Responses for Families which goes further into this topic and includes lots of links to helpful resources!

Craft, Create, Calm Trying to find ways to keep busy while at home? Use every day items found around the house to create! Crafting is not only a good boredom-solver, but also helps children practice their small motor, sensory, creativity, patience and planning skills! Check out some of the ideas below! Sensory Bottles are used to help calm a child when their emotions become overwhelming, like a meditation technique for children. Focusing on the objects in the “calm down jar” will help a child calm down and focus their attention. Process Art focuses on the creative process rather than the end result. Create a craft station and let your child's imagination go wild!

How Much Screen Time? Children learn better and more efficiently from physical play and social interaction with parents, caregivers, and peers. However, our children are growing up around a world of technology. During our quarantine mandate, it is imperative to become aware of how to use screens in ways that minimize the potential negative effects and maximize learning.  When screen time is used appropriately, the experience can be both fun and educational! Technology is part of our world so we need to teach children how to make good choices around it and how to limit it. Make a parental commitment to model effective screen usage and enforce appropriate screen time limits for yourself as well as your child. Read the American Academy of Pediatrics Screen Time Limits.

Don't Forget the Census! The Census is important because it determines congressional representation along with federal funding for the next decade. Young children are a "hard to count" population, so it is important to make sure your family and children are accounted for! Getting your children involved in the Census is a great learning opportunity. Check out the Illinois Action for Children's Five Census Activities You Can Do At Home!

Emergency Child Care for Illinois Essential Workers In an effort to help our community during the statewide closure, Skip-a-Long is providing  Emergency Child Care  at our Moline Skip-a-Long campus. Emergency Child Care is for ONLY Illinois essential workers as listed in  Governor Pritzker’s Executive Order.  Skip-a-Long has been issued an Emergency Child Care license by the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services to provide Emergency Child Care services.  To enroll in Emergency Child Care, parents must be essential workers, employed at Illinois essential businesses, who are unable to work from home and have no other child care options. If you are in need of care, you will need to fill out an Emergency Child Care Enrollment Application. For more information and to apply, visit www.skip-a-long.org/covid19

Story Time in Rock Island

Art with infants in Milan

Color sorting in Davenport

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