KCC_Parent Source_072519 by Shaw Media

Parent Source Serving Kane County

TIPS FROM A TEACHER

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Summer 2019 Resource Guide For Parents

SAME DAY ORTHOPEDIC CARE

MORE THAN JUST PLAY

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BY FOX VALLEY ORTHOPEDICS

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INSIDE

Tips From A Teacher: How to make this a GREAT school year page 4 & 5

More Than Just Play More than just play page 6 & 7

oes your school have a curriculum?”

That’s a question many mom-bloggers and parental advice columnists say you should ask when choosing a preschool for your child.

A Curriculum is A Sure Sign of a Quality Preschool Stop the food fights! Tips to find common ground with kids about healthy eating page 8-9

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But does a baby who is not even talking yet really need a curriculum? Do they need teachers? And classes? The answer is a resounding YES, say educators and researchers across the country. And here’s the reason why… Children are born with a tremendous capacity to learn.

Before age three, a baby’s brain grows to 80 percent of its adult size. From birth to age three years, that child’s brain creates more than 700 nerve connections per second – trillions more than an adult brain. This is what allows us to learn. If these established connections are used, they grow stronger. If they’re not used, over time, they’re lost. By age three, a child can recognize more than 1000 words – through positive interactions, talking, singing, and reading every day. Without this positive interaction and reinforcement, the vocabulary grows to only about half that size – and the child may never catch up to his peers.

Smart ways to help students gain confidence in learning page 10 ParentSource _EVERBROOK.indd 2

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Tips From A Teacher: How to make this a GREAT school year

Written by Chrissy Somers, Owner, www.FamiliesOnTheFox.com A crispness taking over the warm summer breeze and silence in the house can mean only one thing: SCHOOL HAS BEGUN! While this is cause for celebration for some, for others it requires a whole lot of Tylenol… Extra Strength. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, I was a teacher. For NINE years. To seventh-graders. I’ll pause while you close your jaw and think, “Wow! She deserves a medal for that!” In all seriousness, teaching seventh grade was the absolute BEST. They are young enough to be impressionable, they are looking for a role model/mentor to help guide them in the right direction, and they have just enough attitude and personality to understand my sarcasm and jokes. That being said, I am also a parent to three kiddos. Like many teachers, I have been on both sides of the table and know where things often fall between the cracks. Try implementing some of these tips to avoid any school-related frustrations before they even start.

I’m not saying teachers have favorite parents, but… they do. The parents who are easy to work with and communicate positively and regularly will end up being the ones we reach out to first. And more importantly, your kids need to know that their parents are in constant communication with their teachers, especially adolescents and teens. It shows them that they can’t play one against the other, because believe me: the older they get, the more they will try to do that. TEACHERS AND PARENTS ARE A TEAM WORKING TOGETHER FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THAT CHILD.

CREATE A SCHEDULE Anytime there was a concern with a student, the root cause was almost always mismanagement of time. Not getting work done? Off task behaviors in the classroom? Tardy for class? You see what I’m getting at. An easy solution is creating a schedule for your child (of ANY age) after COMMUNICATION & GRATITUDE school. One of my favorite things as a teacher was to receive After-School Restraint Collapse is a REAL thing and phone calls or emails from parents simply saying, ‘thanks’. children need time to let their brain and emotions relax Often times, it is forgotten how much work your child’s after holding it together all day at school. Give your teacher does on a daily basis. And don’t even get me started child at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted time to play, on how much planning and preparation they do over the watch TV, snack, etc. After that, set aside uninterrupted, summer! Reach out to say “Thanks.” nonnegotiable time for him/her to complete any “Thanks for responding to my email early on a Sunday assignments. Do you have work to get done, too? Do it sidemorning.” by-side with your child. Model how to set aside dedicated “Thanks for creating that engaging lesson last week; time to get work done and how to focus on the task at Mallory couldn’t stop talking about it!” hand. “Thanks for taking time to ask how Tommy’s weekend Are they involved in extracurriculars that carve time out away at Boy Scout Camp was.” of the evening? Work that into the schedule! Communicate I can promise you that a little gratitude goes a LONG way. with the coach/mentor to see if there is any down time to 4 | SUMMER 2019 | PARENT SOURCE

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complete some work. Often times, a simple assignment can be completed on the car ride to and from practice. GET INVOLVED Kids need to see that their parents know what’s happening in the classroom and are genuinely interested in what happens in those four walls. Check the Homework Hotline DAILY (usually listed online). Print out your child’s assignments if necessary so that they have a visual guiding their evening tasks. Check grades regularly. There are settings on most online gradebook systems that allow parents to get notified for tardies, missing work, low grades on assignments, etc. If you’re not sure how to do that, ask your teacher or front office staff. Volunteer. This is harder for parents who work full-time during the day, but there are volunteer opportunities in the evening as well. Find what those are. Sometimes it’s as simple as cutting out 30 traced butterflies! Read Together. As a former English Language Arts teacher, I can go on and on about the science and research behind DAILY READING, but I won’t. I’ll just strongly suggest that you have your child set aside 30 minutes before bed to read a book of their choosing. Ideally, it should be of interest to them while also meeting them at their reading level. The goal is to make reading an enjoyable activity, not a tedious task.

Visit the teacher’s website and supplemental learning aids. Your child’s teacher likely has a website that goes into detail about that day/week’s lessons or upcoming assignments. Look at it to get a feel for what your child will be learning about. Discuss it with your child and communicate with the teacher if you have questions! The teacher will often add supplemental aids and additional resources on their website, so find where they are located and utilize those when needed.

Chrissy Somers is the owner of Families on the Fox, a website that serves as a free resource to the Tri-City community. A daily events calendar, indoor fun resource guide, seasonal events, pre-planned date nights, adult fun outings, and more can be found when you visit www. FamiliesOnTheFox.com

Photo by Fox + Grey Photography

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More Than Just Play D

oes your school have a curriculum?”

That’s a question many mom-bloggers and parental advice columnists say you should ask when choosing a preschool for your child.

A Curriculum is A Sure Sign of a Quality Preschool

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Beginning a child’s educational journey before kindergarten helps them develop critical skills such as self-awareness, listening, empathy, kindness and cooperation. It also provides the foundation for early literacy, math and other more complex cognitive concepts. These early preschool years are when children are primed to learn how to learn. We can help make the most of these critical years by giving our children every opportunity to develop the skills that will help them be ready for kindergarten so they are ready to start learning on the first day they cross the kindergarten threshold. Every parent wants their child to be ready for the challenges of elementary school. They want to be sure their children are equipped with the necessary skills to be prepared to navigate their academic future. It’s important to choose a Preschool and Pre-K program that’s right for your child. As two essential stepping stones to kindergarten, Preschool and Pre-K represent significant opportunities for children to develop academically, physically,

and emotionally for what lies ahead. At Everbrook Academy, Preschool and Pre-K offer research-based curriculum and personalized learning experiences. Since no two children are the same, no two lesson plans are the same. Their STEAM curriculum offers hands-on learning experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Math. STEAM learning stimulates innovation, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. With STEAM, children develop the skills and attributes to navigate the world around them, thrive in their endeavors, and embark upon their future. STEAM is defined by project-based learning and integration of the arts and sciences. Projectbased learning connects academic skills to practical application to ensure learning is meaningful to children’s actual lives. Connecting the arts and sciences establishes a strong framework for teaching and learning, where the arts provide a context for the practice of science skills.

For Preschool and Pre-K at Everbrook Academy, this means that lessons integrate the arts and sci-ences and that STEAM is integrated into the classroom in many ways, such as:  SCIENCE Microscopes and hand lenses are used to explore what living and non-living things look like up close. Children can also use weather-tracking tools.  TECHNOLOGY During group learning time, ageappropriate interactive digital technology could be employed, with a variety of age-specific apps and other coding apps.

 ARTS Language arts (reading, writing, literacy), visual arts (painting, sculpture, etc.), dramatic and musical arts (costumes, instruments, etc.) are featured. Musical instruments, highquality literature, puppets, and playscapes encourage creativity and imagination.

 MATH Tangible, engaging math experiences are supported by  ENGINEERING a variety of resources includRobotics materials, as a summer? Our summer camp is packed with Ready as forwell a busy ing tree blocks, stone counting variety of themed small table-top blocks games, and inspired learning. These include: experiences, pieces, balance scales, and and large, floor-use blocks measuring Zip Codetools. Camp (some almost child-size blocks), What’s happening i n your neighborhood? Learn about your community. marble runs, and other options for children to design, test, and Center Stage Camp build their own constructions. Experience performing arts through plays, skits, and acting out stories.

Your summer is picking up STEAM

Our Preschool and Pre-K camp, for 3- and 4-year-olds, offers specially designed camp themes that make for an Everbrook Academy is awesome summer experience, including: dedicated to ensuring that Down on the Farm the Preschool and Pre-K abo children at its school are Discover life on the farm and learn about all the food we plant and gather. er. Get ready for more than just prepared for elementary school—they’re an unforgettable prepared for the future. summer. Come visit us at www. EverbrookAcademy.com to schedule a tour and learn PLUS, more today. EVERY CAMPER RECEIVES AWESOME GEAR:

Backpack | Water bottle | T-shirt

3090 W. Main St. • St. Charles, IL 3090 W. Main St. • St. Charles, IL 866.222.0269 866.222.0269 • EverbrookAcademy.com EVERBROOKACADEMY.COM This institution is an equal opportunity provider. Everbrook Academy, a Learning Care Group School. ©2019 Learning Care Group, Inc. FEA59

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Stop the food fights! Tips to find common ground with kids about healthy eating

(BPT) - When you hand your kids a healthy snack or have them sit down to a wholesome meal, do you cringe because you fear their little voices of retaliation? “Ew,” “yuck” and “I don’t like that!” are some of the most notorious responses. While it may sometimes feel like kids only want unhealthy foods, the majority are open to healthy choices. According to a recent Stonyfield Organic yogurt survey of kids ages 5-11 and their parents, although only a quarter of kids said they “love” healthy snacks, a full 40% said they “like healthy snacks” and only 1% said that healthy snacks are “gross!” Though it can be difficult to find foods parents and kids

agree upon, there are some smart ways to end the food fights for good. As a mom of three young kids with snacking opinions of their own, Vanessa Lachey, TV host and actress, explains that her snack selection philosophy is all about give and take. “I love that my kids have opinions about their food and they are especially excited about picking their snacks,” she says. “I use that enthusiasm as an opportunity to talk to them about making healthy choices, balancing treats with goodness and listening to their bodies to know when they are hungry themes and lessons that extend far beyond the snack aisle.”

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To help other parents get past the food fights, Lachey shares her top three tips for finding common ground about healthy eating: TRY NEW THINGS: “Kids are more adventurous than I think we sometimes give them credit for,” she says. “Packing a lunch or afternoon snack each day, it’s easy to get into a rut. I try to introduce at least one new food each week.” STICK TO IT: “Kids’ tastes are always changing,” she stresses. “One day Camden will say he hates a certain food but when I reintroduce it a few weeks later, he’s a fan. I try not to get too bummed if something doesn’t hit the mark the first time.” SHARE CONTROL: “Putting myself in my kids’ shoes, you bet I can imagine how frustrating it would be not to have control over food choices,” Lachey says. “So, before we take trips to the grocery store together, I let Camden and Brooklyn know they can each pick three things that we agree upon together. It’s amazing for starting a discussion about what helps fuel our bodies and is a good choice, and of course still tastes great!” Maybe you select a fruit that isn’t native to your area and try it together tonight for a nutritious dessert? Or let kids choose a nutritious snack to look forward to, like Stonyfield Organic Snack Packs, a duo of creamy organic lowfat yogurt

paired with either organic graham crackers, organic cookies or organic pretzels for dipping. “With lots of practice with my own kids, I know how challenging it can be to find snacks that I feel good about but also that my kids will actually eat. Since we’ve discovered the new Stonyfield Organic Snack Packs, my fridge is always stocked with them because I know that Camden and Brooklyn are going to be so excited for snack time,” says Lachey. These three simple tips will help you bring peace to your family’s meal and snack times with healthy foods everyone kids and adults - will love.

Parent Source Serving Kane County

Resource Guide for Parents

Parent Source SERVING KANE COUNTY

FAMILY ACTIVITIES From tots to teens!

SPRING 2019 GUIDE FOR PARENTS

SPRINGTIME FUN at Starved Rock Lodge

MY ADVISOR & PLANNER SHARES TIPS For insuring a stable future for your family

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To advertise contact Sandy Petti at 630-313-0251 or via email at spetti@shawmedia.com

Next Edition - Fall 2019

Learning Connections Preschool is an independently owned and operated preschool which offers part-time and full-time care in Saint Charles, IL. Our primary focus is to provide the community with an excellence in education by connecting children’s learning through play and the creative arts. We serve families in all surrounding areas: Saint Charles, Geneva, Batavia, Wasco, Campton Hills, Elburn, La Fox, South Elgin. 2011 Dean Street Learning St. Charles Connections 630-587-9400 Preschool learningconnectionspreschool.com PARENT SOURCE | SUMMER 2019 | 9

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Smart ways to help students gain confidence in learning (BPT) - Building the confidence to try, experiment and keep going even when things get hard is a critical part of the educational process. Confidence comes more naturally to some students than others, yet new research shows that confidence levels today impact learning outcomes for students. Three-quarters of teachers say anxiety and lack of confidence hinder learning among their students, according to the Confidence in Learning Poll conducted by Harris Insights and Analytics on behalf of LEGO Education. This is impacting students’ education in many ways, particularly in the important STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics). The poll found fewer than one in five students is “very confident” when it comes to learning STEAM, while only one in three teachers says their students are more confident in STEAM subjects compared to five years ago.

Building confidence Consider the middle-school years as an important time to grow and maintain confidence levels among students. A time of tremendous physical change, kids are also dealing with new academic and social pressures, too. The good news is both parents and educators can take basic steps to help boost confidence in learning to help middle-school kids at home and at school. With confidence such a key component of learning success, how can parents and educators keep levels high so that students not only succeed at learning, but also find joy in it? The key is hands-on learning. A whopping 97 percent of teachers in the U.S. say that hands-on learning builds confidence among their students:

Hands-on learning at home Adults who incorporate hands-on learning can make a big impact, with 87 percent of students reporting that when they learn via hands-on projects, they tend to remember the topics for longer. At home, invite kids into the kitchen to cook together, talking about measurements and reactions of cooking ingredients. Another idea: Have them help out as you use tools to work on your car, discussing the problem, brainstorming the potential solutions and fixing it together.

Hands-on learning at school When projects come to life, kids can learn through collaboration and exploration. The new LEGO Education SPIKE Prime, bringing together familiar LEGO bricks with digital programming, lets students learn essential 21st-century skills through a hands-on approach. The kit includes guides for 32 different creations, though the possibilities are limitless. “We believe deeply in the value of hands-on learning experiences to build curiosity and confidence, spur development, bring more joy to learning and spark imagination - and that’s exactly what SPIKE Prime offers,” said Esben Stark Jorgensen, president of LEGO Education.

Ask questions through open discussions Having open, engaging and nonjudgmental conversations with middle-school kids is important to breaking down barriers. Let them lead the conversation, but if it stalls out, take the lead by asking questions about how they think and feel. Remember, no answer or thought is a bad one. It’s also important, as an adult, to show vulnerability. If you can show you’re OK being comfortable with success or failure, it helps them gain confidence that it’s OK to feel that way, too.

To learn more about confidence-building, educational opportunities and LEGO Education SPIKE Prime, visit LEGOeducation.com/SPIKEprime. 10 | SUMMER 2019 | PARENT SOURCE

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OrthoFirst Provides Same Day Orthopedic Care When a child gets a sports injury, sprain, or broken bone, getting urgent medical care is often the only thing a parent can think about. Fox Valley’s Orthopedics’ OrthoFirst is the only orthopedic walk-in clinic in the Fox Valley with specialized orthopedic physicians ready to handle a full range of orthopedic and sports-related injuries, including: • • • • • •

Fractures Broken bones Muscle/joint pain Sprains/strains Dislocations Work injuries

OrthoFirst also provides onsite digital X-ray and MRI equipment designed specifically for orthopedics, as well as casting/bracing services. Children, adults, seniors and athletes of all ages are welcome, and OrthoFirst accepts most major insurance plans. “As a parent, I want treatment for my injured child

as quickly as possible,” said Dr. Kevan Ketterling.” As an orthopedic physician, I see kids in the office every day who were seen yesterday in the emergency room and told to see me today for definitive treatment. At OrthoFirst you can walk in, see a board-certified orthopedic specialist, and walk out today with a plan to get your child back in action!” OrthoFirst is located in three convenient locations in Geneva and Elgin. For more information call (630) 5841400 for OrthoFirst’s Geneva locations, and (847) 468-1400 in Elgin. Fox Valley Orthopedics (FVO) provides complete outpatient orthopedic care, including sports medicine, spine, total joints, hand and wrist, foot and ankle, and pain management. All FVO physicians are fellowship-trained, and have received additional training in their specific area of expertise. FVO Ambulatory Surgery Center and in-house imaging also provides cost-effective convenient care, as well as Ortho First, FVO’s immediate care walk-in clinic. Visit www.fvortho.com for more information on OrthoFirst and Fox Valley Orthopedics. PARENT SOURCE | SUMMER 2019 | 11

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