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Keeping Your Child Safe from the Summer Heat

Keeping Your Child Safe from the Summer HeatSome of the best memories your child will make are running around, playing outdoors at Preschool, and being active in the amazing summer weather. However, all this running and physical activity in the heat of the day can put children, and adults, at risk for heat stroke, dehydration, harsh sunburns and other related types of complications.

Heat stroke can be very dangerous and not always obvious if you don’t know the signs and symptoms to look out for. The good news is that parents and childcare providers can teach their children to recognize when they are getting too warm and take the right steps to cool off before it gets to that point.

These symptoms may indicate that your child is showing signs of heat stroke:

  • Weakness and fatigue
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Dizziness and headache
  • Muscle cramps

If the child is not adequately cooled off at this point, the symptoms may progress to full heat stroke and include elevated body temperature, hot dry skin, lack of sweat production, rapid pulse, difficulty in breathing and agitation and confusion.

To help you child avoid heat exhaustion or the more serious heat stroke teach them to:

  • Always ensure that your child brings water with them outside and that they hydrate regularly throughout the day. At Premier Academy, each child has a water bottle that they have constant access to throughout the day. Children should be limited to water or sports drinks. Avoid soda, energy drink or anything containing caffeine.
  • Wearing a hat helps keep direct sun off of your child’s head and wearing lighter colored, loose fitting clothing allows perspiration to evaporate and cool the body.
  • Apply sunscreen. Use sunscreen with at least SPF 15 and UVA and UVB protection every time your child goes outside. For the best protection, apply sunscreen generously 30 minutes before going outdoors. Don’t forget to protect ears, noses, lips, and the tops of feet.
  • Limit activity during the hottest parts of the day or when humidity is especially high.
  • If possible, encourage your children to find games that can be played in the shady areas of the yard or playground during those hours
  • Teach your child to recognize when they are feeling too warm and to immediately notify you or their daycare

Last, and most important, never leave a child in a car unattended or leave a vehicle unlocked if there is a chance a child can climb into the vehicle and get stuck inside. The greatest cause of injury and death due to heat stroke is related to children being left in vehicles, often for as little as five minutes, resulting in tragedy that could have easily been prevented.
For any other tips or advice on keeping your child cool in the summer months, ask our amazing teachers and staff at Premier Academy. We are committed to providing you with quality childcare that ensures your child’s safety and growth.  Visit our website at premieracademyinc.com for more parenting blogs, tips, and tricks!

Enroll Today! Click Here

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Finding a Work/Family Balance

Finding a Work/Family BalanceOne of the most stressful parts of being a working parent is having a healthy work/family balance. It’s hard for a busy parent not to wonder if they truly are making enough time to spend with family. A quality childcare center will acknowledge that being away from your child is extremely difficult but that doesn’t mean you are a bad parent.

Your childcare teacher can be a big help as a constant support in your child’s growth and development while you are at work. But there is no one-size-fits-all solution to parenting, and there are many paths to feeling successful as moms and dads.

That being said, the internet can fill your head with many different versions of the “correct” way to parent and trying to force your family into someone else’s parenting mold can leave you feeling like a failure. Parenting is extremely personal, and a plan that works beautifully for your neighbor or colleague might leave you feeling sad, depressed or inadequate.

While there are many ways to be a good parent, it all starts with creating a home/work routine that feels right to you. Here are five things to try to make you feel good about the job you’re doing as a parent:

  1. Focus on Your Role of the Moment – Parenting takes plenty of multitasking as it is, so it helps to just focus on one task at a time. When you need to be focused on work, do so, but when you don’t need to check email or browse your phone, stop and focus on the kids. Undivided attention, even in smaller quantities, feels so much better than giving them half of your attention.
  2. Create Memories through Rituals – A tradition of eating dinner together at night, even if you don’t accomplish this goal every single night, can give you an opportunity to talk, create bonds, and cherish the time you spend together.
  3. Laugh – Break into song or dance, tell jokes, make light of serious situations, and soon everyone feels a little bit better. Even if it doesn’t come naturally to you, it always makes for a mood lightener.
  4. Give Your Kids a Little Space – You want to keep your kids close and safe, but there is something so refreshing about watching them spread their wings. Have your child show you in their own words what they learned at daycare or preschool. Give them a task that they are responsible for completing by themselves. This not only fosters independence in your child, but gives them a feeling of accomplishment
  5.  Show Unconditional Love – Make sure your kids know that you always have their backs. When they’re discussing what’s important to them and they feel supported, they’ll beam from feeling love and there’s no better feeling than that.
    Looking for more parenting tips? Premier Academy is your primary source for all preschool needs in Omaha, Nebraska!

Enroll Today! Click Here

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Raising a Confident Reader

Raising a Confident ReaderAs parents and teachers we recognize the importance that reading skills play in our personal and professional lives. We read on a daily basis, and as a matter of fact you are reading as we speak. Once your child hits the appropriate development level to being reading, putting together a reading plan can make later learning a much easier process.

Children who partake in early literacy activities at home or at daycare, have more confidence than children who are not offered this resource. Premier Academy has the tools and resources to encourage reading, as we feel increased confidence will enable your child to socialize better with adults and other children at your childcare center. Check out these tips that ensure reading will be fun and easy!

We Are Always Reading:

Road signs, billboards, magazines at the doctor’s office, shopping, reading is everywhere. While at the grocery store with your child, read the back of the cereal box, the magazine cover or the sale signs. Ideas live everywhere you and your child go, and actively engaging in conversation about them will expose your child to more information about the world.

Every Day Job

Your child’s ability to sit and listen for extended periods of time as you read, is an indication that your child is ready to start reading themselves! Reading to your child and having your child work on sight words and sounding out letters every day will help them have a longer attention span, better listening skills, and the ability to learn new concepts. These tend be more crucial when they start Kindergarten than being able to memorize the alphabet or count to ten. Don’t get us wrong, those things are important, but being able to pay attention, listen, and grasp new ideas makes what they’ll learn in Kindergarten a whole lot easier to understand.

Use Rich Vocabulary

How you speak at home and how your quality childcare center teachers speak around your children helps foster a healthy vocabulary; which makes reading easier. Using rich language enables children to better express their feelings and experiences. Using words like enormous instead of big or outstanding instead of good, gives your child the vocabulary to express themselves in more specific ways.

Have Your Child Read to You

If you read your child’s favorite book to them time and time again, your child may begin to memorize the words. In order to make sure your child is actually learning the concept of reading and not just memorization, let your child read to you! They may know all of the words as they are in order, but make them pick out letters and sounds; pick out a word at random and have them sound it out. Even if they are not reading everything correctly, this encourages your child to share reading with you and others they may encounter.

Comprehension is Key

As you read with your child, keep them involved by asking specific questions about the story, and let them fill in the blanks. Try talking about the theme of the book, lessons the characters learned, and ask your child their favorite part. This not only ensures that they are reading words correctly, but that they are comprehending what they are reading.

Not Just Books

Reading material comes in many different shapes and sizes, some of which may be more accessible to a new reader. Even things you wouldn’t think of like video games, magazines, and comic books all provide opportunities for reading practice. Other suggestions for adding reading into your home: playing board games, closed caption on your television, and having your child help with grocery lists are just a few great ideas.

Reading isn’t a Chore

Reading should be a choice, not a chore. Make sure there are a variety of books, magazines, and other materials available for your child to choose from. While it’s fine to make suggestions, children should be able to pick out stories on their own. Letting them control certain aspects of reading will help them view reading as fun and not just school work. Keep an eye on the reading level of the books your children choose. Let them stretch to the best of their ability, but be ready to help if they get discouraged.

Premier Academy promises to offer the best childcare to foster a love of reading in all of our kiddos!

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