January News from Especially for Children

JANUARY 2022

Greetings!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The entire staff at EFC wishes you good health and happiness throughout 2022! Thank you for your continued support and allowing us to be a part of your child’s life!

We also want to thank everyone who thought of us this holiday season. The holiday cards, gift cards and presents were very much appreciated. We hope you had a wonderful holiday with your family!!

CENTER HAPPENINGS

BOOK CLUB BOOK:

The Day the Crayons Quit

PARENT REMINDERS

OUTDOOR GEAR

Please make sure that your child comes equipped every day with winter outside gear. Also, please make sure that your child’s things are clearly labeled. Extra clothing in cubbies is a good idea for those accidental mishaps or if getting too wet outside.

FACE MASKS

We are unfortunately still in the midst of Covid-19 almost two years later. Please remember that face masks are still required for parents during drop-offs and pick-ups. Also, thank you for keeping your drop-off and pick-up times quick.

TAX INFORMATION

We will be e-mailing out tax statements in January. Please watch your e-mail for these statements. If you need to update your e-mail, please let Bri or Kate know.

CHILDREN'S FILE AUDIT

Every year we have a Minnesota Licensing visit. To ensure we are complying with the rules that licensing has set for us, we do an audit of children’s files on a regular basis. We are currently reaching out to families for updated information (Health Care Summaries and Immunization forms need to be updated every year). Thank you for your help in getting us this updated information quickly! Also, if you or your child has any information that has changed, please let your child’s teacher know, or e-mail us at efc11@especiallyforchildren.com

STAR WELLNESS

VEGETARIAN SKILLET STUFFED SHELLS

This one-pan, stovetop-only version turns mushroom- and spinach-stuffed shells into an easy weeknight dinner. The quick but deeply flavorful sauce is made by dressing up jarred marinara sauce with garlic browned in butter and crushed red pepper flakes. Get the recipe here: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/vegetarian-skillet-stuffed-shells

ESPECIALLY FOR PARENTS

PLAY WITH LANGUAGE AND PROMOTE PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS

We published this article in 2015 with tips on promoting phonological awareness in children. Considering the pervasive use of masks over the last 2 years to help control the pandemic, this may be an area that requires extra attention as children develop their language and reading skills. Learn more about how to support phonological awareness below!

It sounds like a mouthful, but it’s not hard and it’s very important to your child’s development. Phonological awareness is hearing and understanding the different sounds and patterns of spoken language. It is being sensitive to the different ways oral language can be broken down into individual parts, for instance, separate sounds and syllables.

Many parents worry about whether or not their child will be “ready” for kindergarten. A good test is how well they can discern the smallest unit of sound, the phoneme. “Phonemic awareness is the most potent predictor of success in learning to read. It is more highly related to reading than tests of general intelligence, reading readiness, and listening comprehension.” (Stanovich, 1986, 1994).

Children begin by listening to sounds in the environment and eventually become aware that language is made up of words that are grouped together. Through playful activities we can teach children to be aware of beginning and ending sounds in words. Songs and stories provide wonderful opportunities for a child to be exposed to rhyming words and alliteration. (Alliteration is repetition of an initial sound in two or more words of a phrase.)

Preschool children love to clap the words of a sentence or the syllables in their names. They enjoy playing with words. For example, if you sing, “Dow, dow, dow your boat, gently down the stream,” more than likely your preschool child will say, “No! That’s not right! It’s row.”

On the blog we have posted more information on phonological awareness and some ways you can encourage your child’s curiosity and experimentation with language. After children have a good understanding of the sounds of language, they are ready for phonics, which is connecting printed symbols to their corresponding sounds. Have fun watching your child master these various skills!