Education Archives - UDA Preschool Blog

September 7, 2018

What Should Preschoolers Learn?

ABC. 123.

That’s what matters most in preschool, right? You want your child to be able to read, write, and do math so she’ll be ahead once she starts kindergarten.

Right?

Well, that’s only a small part of it.

While literacy and math are extremely important parts of your preschooler’s academic development, they don’t tell the whole story. Preschool is actually a critical time for your child to develop their whole self. A high-quality preschool will work on developing the whole child in the following ways:

How to Learn

We spend our whole lives learning, and preschool is where your child’s foundation begins. This is where your child develops their attitude towards school, where they determine if they are good learners or not, and where they learn if they have what it takes to figure out problems. Spoiler alert! Every child is a good learner and has what it takes to overcome challenges. The trick is to help your child keep their zest for learning.

A high-quality preschool knows how to keep learning active, engaging, fun, and age-appropriate. Play is a critical component of your child’s development and education, and preschool gives your child the chance to learn through play.

Character Development

What do we do when we want a turn? What do we do if we’re upset with someone? How do we divide and share resources? How do we solve a problem? How do we tell the truth? Take responsibility? Show compassion for others?

Preschool gives children plenty of opportunities to practice, make mistakes, fix mistakes, and get it right. It’s the perfect setting for children to really begin to build the foundation for a strong character.

Creative Arts

“Children engaged in creating art express their feelings constructively, not destructively,” says Sydney Gurewitz Clemens, consultant for childhood education, teacher, and organizer of San Francisco Classroom Teachers’ Association.

Children thrive when they can express themselves through art. Open-ended art materials and a supportive environment at preschool allows your child to explore their feelings in safe and healthy ways.

Plus, art helps children develop hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and increases creativity and imagination.

Language and Literacy

The ability to read and write allows children to communicate more clearly, and builds a confidence and thirst for knowledge. In preschool, your child gets to develop a love for reading and take charge of their own interests. Plus, children have opportunities all day to build their vocabulary and communication skills through talking, playing, listening, and interacting.

Math

Numbers. Shapes. Measurements. Patterns. Sorting. None of us are born hating math, but many of us develop a distaste for the subject. When a preschool integrates math throughout their teaching, it gives your child an early confidence, interest, and understanding in math.

Science and Engineering

Why? How?

These questions are always on your preschooler’s mind, and science and engineering answer them.

Science and engineering are everywhere, and at this time of life when your preschooler is fascinated by everything, it’s a great time for your child to learn how the world works by watching caterpillars emerge from chrysalises, see a seed grow into a pumpkin, use ramps to change the speed of cars, and so much more.

Social Studies

Preschoolers learn to appreciate people and their differences, to understand their place in the world, how to resolve conflicts, and more. Supportive teachers help children to see how to think of others and how to appreciate different traditions and ideas.

Physical Development

Creative movement opportunities let your child build their physical strength while also building memory, increasing concentration, and more. Coordination, large motor skills, rhythm, expression, emotion, and balance are all improved when a preschool includes physical development in its curriculum.

Music

The world is so much better because music is in it. And your child benefits in countless ways when music is a part of his preschool curriculum. Language skills, social skills, academic retention, listening skills, discipline, concentration, and so much more are developed through a music education. Plus, many preschools use music to teach concepts, like the days of the week, the life cycle of insects, and much more.

At UDA Creative Arts Preschool in Draper, Utah, we spend time in all of these areas each and every day. We know that preschool is a critical time to help your child develop her whole self, and we feel honored to be a part of that journey. If you’d like to learn more about what we do, give us a call at (801) 523-5930, or contact us online for a tour.

June 30, 2018

How to Take Your Preschooler to a Museum

Sure, you don’t have any reservations about taking your preschooler to a children’s museum. Those places are designed with kids in mind; every display screams “TOUCH ME! TOUCH ME WITH ALL OF YOUR BODY!”

But what about an art museum? Have you braved the quiet, still, cavernous rooms filled with priceless works of art, or are you telling yourself you’ll try an art museum visit when your kids are older?

You don’t need to wait until your child reaches a certain age or milestone to visit an art museum. In fact, your preschooler will get heaps of education and experience from the visual stimulation, interactions with you, and lessons in appropriate behavior in a museum right now.

Don’t put it off. Use these tips to make the experience at an art museum with your preschooler an enjoyable (and manner-filled) one for both of you.

Ahead of Time

A museum trip for anybody is made better by doing a little prep work, and when preschoolers are involved, the more you do ahead of time, the better your trip is likely to go.

Study up

Before you head to the museum, spend some time on its website so you can become familiar with the current exhibitions. This will help you know the highlights, and you’ll also see some pieces of art that might be of particular interest to your child.

Most importantly, you’ll know something about what you’re going to see. This will help you to point out interesting facts or images that relate to your child, keeping her engaged while at the museum.

Show Your Child

Show your child a little bit of what you’ve learned on the museum’s website. Print out a few images you know you’ll see and point out the shapes, colors, or other big ideas about the artwork. When your child sees the actual artwork in person, he’ll be thrilled he knows something about it.

Talk About Manners

The last thing you want is for your preschooler to run screaming through the museum, touching everything in her path. Have a brief conversation about museum manners. You can compare it to a library or church.

“When we go to the museum, we need to use our library voices and our quiet walking feet. This helps everyone to enjoy the art.”

At the Museum

So you’ve prepared. You know a thing or two about what you’re going to see, you’ve told your child about what to expect, and your child knows how to behave. How can you make sure all this works out to an enjoyable museum trip? You are attending the museum with an unpredictable preschooler, after all.

Play I Spy

Most children won’t give the paintings more than a cursory glance, unless someone shows them how to do it. Playing fun, interactive games with the paintings gets kids involved — and keeps them that way.

I Spy is a simple-enough way to get started. “I spy a yellow hat. I spy a gray animal.” Your child can point or quietly move to the painting once he spots the spied item. When he tells you what he spies, he’ll be examining the paintings even closer.

Copy the Poses

We can’t wait to try this great idea from My Kids’ Adventures. Have your child try to imitate a pose they see in a painting or sculpture. This not only helps kids wiggle in a place that is quite still, it keeps the kids looking at the paintings longer than they otherwise would. And they may notice quite a bit more than you expected.

Draw or Photograph the Art

If photography is allowed in the museum, your preschooler will be thrilled to take photos of her favorite pieces. You can even send her on a photo hunt, giving her specific items to look for in the paintings (an animal, a baby, something blue, something silly, someone sad, someone happy…)

If photography is not allowed, give your child a small sketchbook and a pencil. Ask him to sit on a bench in every other room and copy his favorite painting or sculpture.

Bring Something to Touch

You know your preschooler may have trouble with the strict no-touch rule in the museum. Why not bring something your child can touch? If you’re going to an exhibition of ballerina paintings, bring some ballet shoes to hold. If you’re going to an exhibition of landscapes, perhaps a fake flower would be soothing to hold.

Time It Right

Head to the museum before the meltdowns of nap time and the hangry pangs of lunchtime. If you can get to the museum early, you’ll likely encounter fewer people, your child will be well-rested, and nobody will be screaming for a snack (yet). Plan on two hours as your maximum.

Be Flexible

Don’t expect to see everything. A preschooler’s attention won’t last all day. If you have a favorite painting you want to see, go there first. Be willing to take breaks when needed. Bring snacks (but head to the cafeteria or outside to eat them). It’s okay if you only see one exhibition or one floor. You don’t want to tire out and bore your child. You want to see just enough to keep your child interested and involved.

Bring It Home

Keep talking about what you saw at the museum. If you were solo parenting at the museum, encourage your child to tell the other parent about her favorite painting, the silliest thing she saw, or the happiest or saddest thing she saw.

Do an art project that relates to something you saw.

Check out children’s books about museums from the library and look through them together.

Don’t be surprised if your preschooler remembers very little. It’s hard for him at this stage to articulate everything he experienced.

And don’t worry if your preschooler had a meltdown, didn’t love the museum, or tired out sooner than you thought she would. Not everyone is destined to love museums, but everyone can find something to enjoy. As you continue to keep art in your life, and continue to visit museums, your child’s enjoyment will grow.

At UDA Creative Arts Preschool, we know that art is a valuable tool for your child’s emotional well-being. It also refines visual perception and fine motor skills, increases creativity and imagination, and helps your child develop an appreciation of his surroundings. That’s why our students engage in art projects every single day, along with our seven other areas of focus. Call us for more information about our preschool program at (801) 523-5930.

February 28, 2018March 1, 2021

4 Dr. Seuss Life Lessons We’re Glad We Have

March 2 is Theodor Seuss Geisel’s (Dr. Seuss) birthday. When we sat down to list all the many important lessons Dr. Seuss taught us through his books, we couldn’t stop! Through a creative writing style that nobody seems able to duplicate, Dr. Seuss’s books teach sophisticated life lessons in a way that just sticks — without us always even realizing it!

If you sat down with even just a handful of Dr. Seuss’s 60 books and looked for lessons, you’d end up with a list a mile long. (You could even read that mile-long list in a box with a fox if you like.)

We’re not sure a complete list could ever be compiled, but here are four of our favorite Dr. Seuss life lessons at UDA Creative Arts Preschool.

Dr. Seuss Life Lessons — Reading Is Important

Over and over, readers get the message from Dr. Seuss that reading is important. Often, he stated that message outright:

The more that you read, the more things that you’ll know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

I can read in red. I can read in blue.
I can read in pickle color too.”

-from I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

But even when reading wasn’t the dedicated subject of Dr. Seuss’s books, nobody can deny how enjoyable it is to read the fun cadence of Dr. Seuss’s imaginative rhymes. His rhymes are so fun, in fact, that we use them to teach rhyme to our 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds at preschool. Children easily pick up on predicting the next rhyming sound when they are read to from Dr. Seuss books.

And did you know?: In 1954, a Life magazine article criticized children’s reading levels, so Houghton Mifflin and Random House asked Dr. Seuss to write a children’s primer using 220 vocabulary words. The Cat in the Hat was the result, proving that children’s literature can be fun while introducing new words.

Dr. Seuss Life Lessons: Compassion

Dr. Seuss teaches his readers that we have a responsibility to care for other people (and creatures and plants). He teaches us to look outside our own problems; to look beyond our own noses and actually see other people. This is something we care deeply about at UDA Creative Arts Preschool. We believe children can understand the concept that their actions affect others, and we emphasize important character traits like honesty, compassion, respect, and more every day.

In fact, our character trait we focus on during the month of March (the month of Dr. Seuss’s birthday) is compassion.

The children already have so much compassion for each other, and Dr. Seuss helps us to reinforce those important concepts. Hear his pleading to please, please consider the plights of others.

When you think things are bad,
when you feel sour and blue,
when you start to get mad… you should do what I do!
Just tell yourself, Duckie, you’re really quite lucky!
Some people are much more… oh, ever so much more…
oh, muchly much-much more unlucky than you!”

– Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?

Even plants deserve to be thought of:

I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.
I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues.”

– The Lorax

It’s such a simple concept — trees cannot speak. So we must speak for them.

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax

Not only can we care about other people, we can also do something to help them. That’s a powerful message for every child (and adult) to internalize.

Dr. Seuss Life Lessons — You’re Good Enough, and It’s Okay to Be Different

Dr. Seuss gave us the message that we have the power to transform our lives. We have responsibility over our own decisions, and we can change the outcome at any time.

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
You are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”

– Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact.
And remember that life’s a great balancing act.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed)
Kid, you’ll move mountains.”

– Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

It doesn’t matter what limitations you have. You are important and can do what you were made to do.

Don’t give up. I believe in you all.
A person’s a person no matter how small.”

Horton Hears a Who!

Today you are You, that is truer than true.
There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

Happy Birthday to You!

Dr. Seuss Life Lessons – Live Life with Imagination

Dr. Seuss created illustrations, stories, and characters that were so different from anything that had ever been done before. He showed us that we aren’t limited by what is real. We can create our own worlds. He used words in new ways, and didn’t limit himself to established rules.

He showed us that creativity and imagination are valuable traits to develop.

Think left and think right and think low and think high.
Oh the thinks you can think up if only you try!”

Oh, the Things You Can Think

We subscribe heavily to this belief that creativity drives our learning. That’s why we incorporate art, music, creative movement, dance, science, math, and so much more into every single day of learning at UDA Creative Arts Preschool in Draper. Each day we are amazed by how the children cement important life and academic concepts through the creative arts. Give us a call at (801) 523-5930, or send us a message to arrange a tour to see how we enrich the lives of preschoolers every day!

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope.”

Theodor Seuss Geisel, Dr. Seuss

September 5, 2017September 5, 2017

6 Ways to Help Your Child Love Learning

For a preschooler, the whole world is still new. Sure, they might be recognizing some colors, numbers, and shapes. They can identify animals, walk up and down the stairs, and even carry on (mostly) interesting back-and-forth conversations with you.

But they still know very little! And they’re looking to their parents for the answers — to everything.

Fortunately, preschoolers have a natural excitement about learning. Your job as a parent is to help keep that excitement going strong. Your words and actions matter a lot at this point in your child’s life. What you do and say will have an impact on helping your child love learning — now, and throughout her whole life.

1. Help Them Deal with Failure

Learning involves failure — and lots of it. Your preschooler is going to call an L a P. He’s going to struggle to use a hand shovel the first time he digs a hole in the garden. She won’t know how to hold scissors correctly right away.

Sometimes, these learning processes and mistakes won’t phase your child. But other times, he’ll feel upset that he can’t do what he wants to do yet. Help him understand that failing isn’t bad.

In fact, it’s great!

Making mistakes helps us grow, and trying hard things makes us stronger. So when your child is frustrated she can’t yet ride her big sister’s scooter, don’t criticize her. Instead, comment on the progress you’ve already seen. Tell her you know she’s trying hard, you understand she’s getting frustrated, and her mistakes are helping her get better.

Sometimes, kids respond really well when you tell them about a time you struggled with something similar.

2. Give Toys that Inspire Creativity

Toys that can be used in a variety of ways are ideal to help your child love learning. Blocks, dress-up clothes, art supplies, and stuffed animals can be imagined into completely new worlds each time your child picks them up. This gives your child confidence and allows her to develop her imagination.

Playing while learning makes learning fun. And when something is fun, children want to continue doing it. That’s why, at UDA Creative Arts Preschool, we offer our students plenty of open-ended toys and activities. We want the children to explore and enjoy play and learning, as this is a huge part of the process of developing the whole child.

3. Model a Love of Learning

What do you love to learn about? Do your children know about it? Do they know you get excited about certain subjects? Show them. Seek out more information about your passions, and share it with your children.

Sure, your preschooler can’t understand the complexities of foreign policy, but you can tell her you read a really interesting article that helped you see a solution to a big problem. Your preschooler probably can’t create a gourmet recipe for dinner, but he can help you cook — and while you cook, you can ask his opinion on ingredients.

When your children see how passionate you are about learning, they’ll continue to feel permission and excitement to love learning as well.

And if your child asks you a question about something in the adult world, don’t tell him he wouldn’t understand. Give him an answer. Your answer will need to be simple, kid-appropriate, and straightforward, but always give an answer. That way, he knows he can always ask questions.

4. Make it Fun

How many classes were you forced to sit through in which the teacher droned on and on? How many classes relied on worksheets to teach concepts that could have been learned through a more fun, hands-on method?

Now, how much do you remember from those classes? Probably not very much. Children (and adults, too!) remember lessons that engage them. Basically, we learn when we’re having fun.

Turn things into games, take your kids exploring, use music in your everyday life, and be enthusiastic when you’re teaching your child something new.

5. Read, Read, Read!

The ability to read will open up your child’s entire world, and put learning literally at his fingertips his whole life through. Make reading a happy experience for your preschooler.

Don’t rush the process of learning how to read. Let her go at her own pace. Surround your child with books, and let her handle them on her own. Read every day, and talk about the books. Ask her what she thinks is going to happen next or how she thinks a character feels.

Go to the library, give books as gifts, and let your child see you reading for pleasure.

6. Process Over Outcome

We all want our children to succeed, and we’d be lying if we say we don’t love when they’re actually ahead of the game when it comes to academic milestones. But being achievement-oriented pushes your child and removes the fun and pleasure of learning.

It also leads your child to believe that the outcome is more important than the process; that getting to the next step is what life is all about. When this is her focus, your child won’t love learning. She’ll tend to be afraid to take risks, and may even struggle when things get hard.

Instead, take interest in your child’s interests. Don’t focus on the outcome of what he’s doing. Be interested and ask questions the whole way through.

At UDA Creative Arts Preschool in Utah, we want your child to feel confident as a learner, and our hands-on discovery approach will help your child love learning. Give us a call at (801) 523-5930 to schedule a tour.

August 16, 2017August 16, 2017

The Importance of High-Quality Preschool

Higher income. Better self-esteem. Reduced teen pregnancies. Lower incarceration rates…

What is one way to achieve these positive results in the teenage years and adulthood?

Through quality early education.

It’s hard to imagine, but the quality of education your preschooler receives will end up having an impact on some of the biggest aspects of adult life later on, according to James Heckman, one of the nation’s top economists who studies human development.

“The gap is there before kids walk into kindergarten,” Heckman says. “School neither increases nor reduces it.”

But how can this be? We spend so much time worrying about our children’s test scores in middle school and high school. It’s almost as if we’re programmed to worry about our teenagers’ chances to get into college.

But studies are telling us we should be focusing our concern even younger — to preschool.

What your child does during his early years matters.

Early Brain Development

According to the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, the first few years of life actually set the stage for lifelong development. In fact, by age 5, your child will already have developed a staggering 85 percent of her intellect, personality, and skills. Because young kiddos’ brains still have plasticity, they easily adapt to the things they’re exposed to. That’s why structured, enriching environments are crucial to brain development.

And that’s why a high-quality preschool is a critical component of shaping that 85 percent. High-quality preschool will actually help your child be successful throughout the remainder of his educational career.

Giving your child more exposure to language, caring interaction with adults, positive learning experience, and more will even help her brain develop more extensive and sophisticated neuron structures. These structures actually have an effect on later behavior and intelligence.

“Children who attend high-quality preschool enter kindergarten with better pre-reading skills, richer vocabularies, and stronger basic math skills than those who do not,” W. Steven Barnett, PhD., NIEER director.

But these results can’t be achieved with just any ol’ daycare or preschool. It’s important that you find a high-quality preschool for your child to attend.

So What Does a High-Quality Preschool Education Look Like?

Sitting children down with flashcards and worksheets is the best way to get them to learn, right?

WRONG.

On the contrary, when children are given the opportunity for hands-on exploration, they get to test their knowledge in a safe and relaxed environment. Relating this new knowledge to what they already know then becomes easy.

Child-initiated activities, plenty of materials to explore, and free choice is what creates successful preschool students.

“Young children can certainly learn letters and numbers, but to sit kids down and ‘teach’ them is the wrong way to do it,” says Linda Smith, executive director of the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies. “They learn best through doing the kinds of activities they find interesting — storytime, talking to their teachers about stars, playing with blocks.”

A high-quality preschool needs to have:

Specific areas for different kinds of play
Credentialed teachers
Engaging activities that help children learn
Teachers who engage positively with the children
A well-structured and well-managed program
Opportunities to learn with hands-on activities
Unique ways to learn
Positive relationships
Routines and consistency
Patient teachers who allow children to repeat their activities
Teachers who get down on the children’s level
Teachers who are respectful
Open-ended play
A balanced teacher-student ratio
A safe environment

Tip: Take this thorough, handy checklist with you when checking out preschools.

All parents want their children to live happy, successful lives. It’s reassuring to know that you can make a positive impact during those early, developing years with the right preschool.

UDA Creative Arts Preschool in Utah builds confidence, learning, and creativity in preschoolers through our unique approach that combines nurturing with a comprehensive curriculum. We help your child build academic, social, emotional, and physical confidence. Give us a call at (801) 523-5930, or contact us online for a tour of the preschool.