How to Prepare for Beginning Early Care & Education
We understand how changing routines, new encounters, and meeting new people can be challenging for both parent and child. Stepping Stone School wants to make the experience as comfortable as possible for you and your family. To that end, we’ve compiled a list of suggestions to help you and your family feel prepared for this important and exciting transition. What can I do to prepare my family for childcare and get my child excited about his/her new school? Before Your First Day: Become Familiar with the School. Get to know the environment and your child’s teacher before the f...
How to Make Playdough
How to Make Playdough Making playdough with your child is a fun way to practice math skills. Measuring each scoop of flour, counting drops of food coloring, plus learning the difference between units of measurement equal hands-on mathematical learning. In addition to the experience of making playdough, playing with playdough strengthens your child’s hand muscles developing fine motor skills necessary for gripping a pencil and writing. Follow the instructions on this printable recipe to make a homemade playdough your child will enjoy playing with for hours to come! Homemade Pla...
Summer Activities that Promote Learning
Summer is here and it is the time of year when parents take on the challenge of keeping their children actively and mentally engaged. With Summer Brain Drain being a very real occurrence, it is important to choose activities that not only encourage learning but also utilize skills that your child already has. Here are some ideas to keep your child’s mind stimulated throughout the Summer months. Embrace his/her interests: If your child is enthusiastic about a certain activity, hobby or subject, make sure that you give them the opportunity to explore their passions. These interests cou...
Preparing for Beginning Early Care & Education
We’re excited you’ve chosen to enroll your child sat Stepping Stone School. We understand how changing routines, new encounters, and meeting new people can be challenging for both parent and child, and we want to make the experience as comfortable as possible for you and your family. To that end, we’ve compiled a list of suggestions to help you and your family feel prepared for this important and exciting transition. What can I do to help my child get excited about his/her new school? Talk positively with children about going to preschool. Discuss what it means, what ...
Seven Ways to Encourage Healthy Eating Habits with Your Children
Stepping Stone School is your partner in raising healthy, happy and confident children. To that end, we serve balanced and nutritional meals and snacks and offer the following suggestions for encouraging healthy eating in children. Keep healthy food on hand. Keep snacks like fruits, veggies and low-fat cheese in a special place that children can access easily. It’s OK to have an occasional treat, but if you buy smaller packages of “junk food,” it’s easier to keep these snacks to a minimum. Make healthy foods fun. When offering something new try to mix it up and be crea...
Toilet Training Toddlers
It is that joyous yet challenging time in the life of a child, the moment parents trade in their child’s diapers for the coveted “big kid underpants.” Most children begin toilet training between 2 and 3 years of age, but each child will reach this developmental milestone in his or her own time. The following provides tried and true toilet training strategies from our own Stepping Stone School toddler teachers as well as expert advice from pediatricians. Remember as you enter this stage, it is important to let your child’s classroom teacher know your intentions. Talk about t...
Traveling with Children 101
Destination – picked; Plans – made; Luggage – packed… But what about the journey there?!?! You plan a great vacation, but then remember you must travel for SEVERAL hours with young children before arriving at your destination. You may be thinking to yourself, “Whoever said ‘the fun is in the journey’ did not have to travel with toddlers.” Developmentally, young children have very short attention spans and require interaction and physical movement – all of which can be difficult to accommodate in the confined spaces of a car or an airplane. Helpful Tips for Your ...
Four Ways to Teach Young Children Fairness
That’s How You Play Three children were sitting around a table playing Candy Land. After a few rounds, Naomi, age 5, picked up the deck of cards and started flipping through them to find the Princess Frostine card which would move her piece to a space close to the finish. Isaiah, age 7, spoke up, “You can’t do that. You have to take the next card in the pile or it’s not fair.” “But last time, I got the Gingerbread card and had to move backwards, that wasn’t fair,” whined Naomi. “But that’s how you play the game. I would have to go back to the gingerbrea...
Nurturing the Development of Responsibility
Just after my daughter turned two, she moved into Ms. Alisa’s classroom at one of our Stepping Stone School locations. My daughter had a doctor’s appointment that day, so I picked her up early. I walked into the classroom just as the children were transitioning between activities and was amazed to see each child pick up his or her toys and place them back on the shelves where they belonged. “How did you get them to do that?” I asked. “They’re cleaning up after themselves and putting things away nicely… they’re only two!” Alisa looked at me very matter-of-factly, ...
Gardening with Children
“Gardens offer children perfect laboratories where scientific concepts literally come to life.” -Pam Mohrmann, author and educator My three-year-old can tell you the parts of a plant, a plant’s life cycle, and which parts of the plant are good to eat. He can identify several insects that help our plants along with several of the harmful ones. He enjoys pulling weeds, inspecting fruit and vegetables, and eating them fresh from our garden. This knowledge is the result of numerous experiences “playing” in the garden. Shortly after his second birthday, I gave him his fi...
What to Do on a Rainy Day in Austin?
Although this time of year can bring a wide variety of weather, we can keep our children active and challenge them physically and mentally year round! “Rainy day” activities can be especially helpful to keep handy for any time outdoor play isn’t an option. Physical activity is a vital aspect of development and for leading a healthy life. Benefits of Physical Activity include: Muscle Development Strong bones, muscles, and heart Building stability Locomotor Skills Developing Self Esteem Small and gross motor skills Cardiovascular endurance It is very import...
Acing the Transition to Kindergarten
At Stepping Stone School, we’ve designed our kindergarten-readiness programs to give your child the skills and confidence to make the transition to elementary school an exciting but comfortable one. But as your child’s first teacher, you are your child’s most powerful influence. Parents contribute enormously to school and life success. Young children are learning all the time, but the lessons they need most are not learned through workbooks or flashcards. With this transition approaching quickly for some, below are some things you can do to help your child feel prepared for kinder...
Easing Separation Anxiety
At Stepping Stone School, our expert team of professionals recognize and are sensitive to the anxieties parents and children often feel when separating from one another. While separation anxiety is a natural experience for both children and parents, our expert teachers hold in high regard the critical role they play in guiding families through this difficult experience and providing peace of mind for both parent and child. Stepping Stone School’s Executive Director, Rhonda Paver, M.A., has devoted much of her career and graduate studies on this topic. As a mother of five, it was the s...