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Does preschool matter? Do children really gain anything from their time spent in preschool? Is it worth it?

It’s true that small children aren’t going to hold onto every memory created in preschool, but when you think about the fact that their brains grow to about 90 percent of their adult size by the age of 5, it makes sense that quality education during their formative years is important.

Evidence suggests that children who attend high-quality preschools gain consistent and positive short-term effects in literacy, language, and math skills. These benefits even extend to later years, when children who attended preschool experience a lower percentage of grade retentions and special education.

Long-term, some studies have even linked a high-quality preschool education to reduced criminal behavior and higher graduation rates.

In the Perry Preschool Experiment conducted by Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman, 123 low-income African American children from Michigan were randomly assigned to a group that received a high-quality preschool education or to a control group with no preschool education. These children were then tracked for the next several decades. At the age of 40, the adults who had attended the preschool program were 20 percent more likely to have graduated from high school and 19 percent less likely to have been arrested more than five times. Not only that, they were also more likely to remain married and were found to be less dependent on welfare programs. They also received better grades throughout their education.

While children learn the most and gain the most from their parents, the benefits of a quality preschool cannot be overstated. Preschool provides important learning experiences, opportunities, and exposure that can’t be found anywhere else.

Social Skills

Important social skills are an obvious plus that children gain in preschool. Spending time with other children in a group helps young children develop emotional control while they learn to share, take turns, get along with others, and more. Appropriate language expression also develops in a preschool group.

Learning those basic social skills at a young age helps children add on to more complex social skills as they mature. And because we all need to interact with each other throughout our lives, social skills may be one of the best benefits of preschool.

Environment Affects Brain Development 

Did you know that the experiences your child has as a young child interact with their genes? This affects brain development — positively or negatively. If your child spends time in enriching, nurturing environments, she gets a head start in developing cognitive skills, behavioral skills, social skills, and more.

Young children’s brains are still developing, which means this is the perfect time for learning to adapt. If your preschooler is exposed to a language-rich environment with structured, enriching activities, he will grasp important concepts easier and will be able to expand upon them.

Early brain development is important, and a high-quality preschool can help your child have a successful educational career.

Academics

W. Steven Barnett, PhD and director of National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), said that “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.”

Think about it. If your child learns letters, shapes, sounds, and more in a rich preschool environment, he will have an easier time meeting the demands of kindergarten. When he moves onto harder tasks and subjects in later grades, he’ll be better equipped to master them because he never missed out on the fundamentals.

If a child doesn’t have that same access, he will have a hard time mastering the fundamentals, and every subsequent milestone will be harder to reach. This lag will follow the child throughout his whole educational career.

Executive Functions

Executive functions refer to the critical mental skills we all need to help manage our life — planning tasks, keeping track of time, emotional control, organization, focus, and more.

In the preschool years, the part of the brain that governs the executive functions — the prefrontal cortex — is still developing. That makes this time of life ideal for developing those important functions.

A long-term Penn State study found that a high-quality preschool program helped children grow in executive functions. Plus, the same children in the study who expanded their executive functions demonstrated better reading fluency and math performance than a control group.

High Quality Is Key

But not just any preschool program will do. Researchers have found the benefits of preschool to be present only when associated with high-quality preschools.

Schools that rely on evidence-based curriculum and that hire high-quality teachers (and continue to train them) impact children’s long-term education for the better.

A high-quality preschool curriculum should include engaging activities that help children make connections and draw their own conclusions.  Hands-on activities reign supreme in preschool for their ability to help children more fully grasp concepts.

A preschool’s program should be well-structured and managed, with consistent routines that allow children to understand what’s happening now and what will be happening next.

Preschool teachers should be kind and patient, allowing children to develop at their own pace. If that means some children repeat activities when they want or need, the teacher allows it. Teachers also are adaptable and can cater to each child, allowing those who are advanced to continue to advance while those who need extra time to be given it.

A high-quality preschool also needs open-ended play with enriching toys and props to allow children the chance to learn, try new things, develop socially, and more.

The environment should be safe, and a balanced teacher-student ratio is critical so children can have the attention they need.

At UDA Creative Arts Preschool, your child’s development is important to us. We teach the whole child, and aim to help each child grow in their own individual way. Schedule a tour today.

You might say that teaching preschool is a calling. Sure, a preschool teacher needs to study, learn, and practice approaches and methods, but great preschool teachers have some inherent qualities that make them suited for the job — and suited to love the job!

Great preschool teachers not only teach the ABCs and 123s, they also nurture, encourage, and love their students. They give their students a foundation for a lifetime of learning, confidence, and growth.

Look for these seven qualities of a great preschool teacher when you’re looking for a preschool in Draper, Utah.

Passion

Just like you want your doctor to have a passion for learning everything there is to know about their specialty, or for your hairdresser to have a passion for keeping up on the latest trends, or the chef at your favorite restaurant to have a passion for blending flavors, it’s important that a preschool teacher has a passion for early childhood education — and for making a difference in young children’s lives.

A passion for helping young children thrive and succeed drives preschool teachers to stay on top of the latest research, to be creative in finding solutions, and to care about each individual student.

The job of a preschool teacher can be demanding — runny noses need to be wiped, fights need to be resolved, and tears need to be calmed on the daily. If a preschool teacher has passion for what she does — and the difference she knows she’s making — she can muscle through the tough parts to continue to provide an enriching environment and education.

Enthusiasm

Children often mirror the emotions of the adults in their lives, and an enthusiastic preschool teacher can keep a class or individual on course in the face of obstacles or setbacks. Not only that, enthusiasm makes the learning environment fun, which encourages children to eagerly soak up knowledge and let their curiosity guide them.

Patience

Preschool children have short attention spans and can be quick to sudden mood changes. Add in the fact that every child develops at a different rate, and you have a bubbling stew of potential frustrations that would make most people lose their cool. But a preschool teacher must have vast stores of patience so that the highs and lows of the day don’t distract from the end goal. Children benefit from patience, knowing they can make mistakes and still be cared for.

Communication Skills

Preschool teachers need to communicate effectively with small children, helping them understand new concepts in reading, manners, self-control, and more. Not only that, they need to communicate with parents to let them know what’s going on in the classroom and to resolve any conflicts. They also need to communicate with team teachers about lesson plans, the progress of individual students, and more so that each student can receive a quality education.

Flexible

It’s supposed to be the day that the children head outside with magnifying glasses to look for and observe insects… only it’s raining cats and dogs. No matter! A great preschool teacher can roll with setbacks, using an alternative activity that still teaches the necessary concepts.

Compassionate

A great preschool teacher has empathy for her students and their families. She is worried when a child struggles, and she extends compassion to help the child get through their difficulties. She is emotionally available to her students and works to find solutions for problems of all kinds — from difficulty sharing a toy to a struggle with understanding the concept of letters.

Loving

Most importantly, a preschool teacher needs to love her students — and show it. When a child knows he is loved, he feels safe and confident. Trying new things isn’t so scary, and making mistakes becomes part of the process of learning — not something to be ashamed about. A great preschool teacher shows love to all her students.

October was such a fun time at UDA Creative Arts Preschool. We started it off with a roarin’, stompin’ good dinosaur time, added in some farm animals and vegetables, and finished out strong with… you guessed it — Halloween.

We use these thematic units so we can cross subject matter lines and give meaning and understanding to our students. These themes provide a cohesive curriculum that helps children explore, understand, and appreciate their world.

And by using art, music, social studies, dance and movement, science, math, reading and writing, and more (including a hefty dose of imagination!), the children are fully engaged in learning, developing both the right and left hemispheres of their brains while they busily learn important skills for success.

D is for Dinosaur

Donning dinosaur hats, we learned shapes by playing, “Dinosaur, behind which shape do you roar?”

We traded dinosaur hats for paleontologist hats and became scientists hard at work to uncover our dinosaur “fossils.” For some classes this year, this activity turned out to be more than sensory and science learning, as the fossils were harder to get to than normal. The children had to put on their problem solving hats and use their tools in new ways to unearth the fossils. We loved seeing their determination and creativity to solve their problem, and the reward was worth it!

Dinosaurs even featured heavily in our play, as the children decided our toy dinosaurs needed quality medical care. They worked together to determine the sicknesses and injuries (plural!) and how best to treat the poor creatures.

E is for Emotion

Emotions can be big and huge and confusing, especially when you’re small. It’s so important for children to learn to identify their emotions so they can learn how to express themselves appropriately and have a healthy relationship with their emotions.

Emotion Freeze Dance

Emotion freeze dance was a favorite game during this week, and one you can easily replicate at home.

1. Play any song (We used “I’ve Got a Feeling”), and begin dancing.
2. Pause the song at random, and shout out an emotion (happy, sad, surprised, angry, etc.).
3. Everybody freezes and shows the emotion with their face and body.

We also combined music with art to help us understand emotions. Listening to different songs, we talked about how the music makes us feel. We then had the children go to their easels where we chose colors that helped to depict the emotions the children were feeling. While the children listened to the music, they painted a picture to represent their emotion. Every picture was different, which is just as it should be.

Seeing illustrations of different emotions is another way to help children comprehend emotions. We showed the children pictures and had them imitate the appearance of the emotion.

F is for Farm

We not only brought the farm to preschool, we took preschool to the farm! Caregivers and preschoolers had a blast visiting Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point and getting a multisensory experience with farm animals (sights, sounds, touch, and smell!).

And after everyone had had a turn to touch or hold Miss Sara’s chickens at preschool, we decided we’d have art imitate life in the classroom.

We let the children “milk” the cow (its udders were filled with water), gather eggs, and even build fences with craft sticks to develop motor skills, understand engineering, practice math skills, and learn about the jobs on a farm.

G is for Garden

Pumpkins were featured heavily in our math during this week, as we counted them, arranged numbered pumpkins in order, and more.

The children got to learn how applesauce and apple cider are made, and participate in the process. Everyone was surprised to learn that apple cider starts out green, turning brown as the process continues.

It was fun to exchange a paint brush for an apple and see what sort of art could be made with the new tool.

For a tasty lesson, the children harvested vegetables from the preschool garden and contributed to our pot of friendship soup.  Not everybody was thrilled at the prospect of so many vegetables mixed together, but all the children found their courage to try the soup — and most of them loved it!

H is for Halloween

Halloween gives us the opportunity to talk about courage. Not only will children encounter scary costumes and decorations as they are out and about, they were also asked to perform in our Halloween show. And every child showed great courage as they did their part.

And what’s Halloween without a little magic? The children “planted” special pumpkin seeds, and returned the next day to find that the preschool lawn was now a pumpkin patch! They squealed with delight as they ran to choose their very own pumpkin.

We love watching how children really grasp important concepts through thematic units at UDA Creative Arts Preschool. Come visit us for a tour. Give us a call at (801) 523-5930, or contact us online.

You’ve been tracking your child’s milestones since your baby was in utero — Is his growth on track? Is she kicking enough? Once your baby was born, you absorbed the milestone charts — Is he babbling on time? Walking on time? Interacting enough?

It’s been a few years of worry and observation, and you probably know by now that you’ll never stop wondering if your child is on track.

Now that your child is in preschool, you’re thinking about independence. Should I push her to do this on her own, or do it for her? What should my child even be able to do on his own at this point?

Your ultimate goal is that your child grows into a fully functioning adult. But what does that mean at 2, 3, or 4? What like skills should your preschooler know by now?

Every child develops on their own timetable, and you shouldn’t expect your child to be ready for each life skill right this second. But read on for some life skills you can aim for in the next year or two.

Personal Hygiene

Clean clothes: Check
Teeth brushed: Check
Bath taken: Check

And on and on. There’s a lot we have to do to maintain our personal hygiene, and preschool is a perfect time to let your child gradually take over these tasks.

First, make sure you’ve explained why these tasks are important. This doesn’t need to happen as a lecture; just give simple explanations as you go about your day: “We change our underwear every day to keep our bodies clean.” “We brush our teeth so our teeth can be healthy and clean.” “We wash our hands so we can keep germs away.”

Let your 2-year-old put the soap on her hands at the sink (while you supervise). Your 3-year-old may be able to wash his body in the bath (again, while your supervise). Let your 4-year-old keep track of how many baths she’s taken each week. Have her change her own clothes if she can… you get the idea. As your child grows, gradually hand over more control of hygiene. Expect it, and praise it.

2. Decision-Making Skills

We all need to learn how to make good decisions, and this is something you can begin teaching at a very young age. With your youngest preschooler, frequently offer two choices: Peanut butter sandwich or ham sandwich? Walk to bed or skip to bed?

As your preschooler gets older, walk him through bigger decisions. For example, if he tells you a friend at preschool told him he doesn’t want to be friends anymore, don’t give him the solution right away. Ask him how he feels, and ask if he has any ideas for making the friendship better. He may need suggestions as he goes, but let him work it out on his own as much as possible.

3. Time-Management Skills

You can get your preschooler on the path to great time-management skills by managing your own time well. Set up a structured schedule that helps your preschooler know what’s coming next. For example, after breakfast, it’s time to get dressed. After we get dressed, it’s time to brush teeth. And so on.

As your preschooler gets older, hand over the reins. Give her a chart to follow or show her how to use an egg timer. Let her know what she needs to have done before it’s time to go, and ask her what order she thinks she should do those items.

4. Cleaning Up

You can teach your child to clean up after himself from a very young age. Set the expectation that when you pull something out to play, you must put it back when you’re done. Preschoolers are very good at cleaning up, and praise goes a long way.

By 3 and 4, your preschooler should be able to do simple chores — sweeping, putting away child-proof dishes in lower cabinets, tidying her room, making the bed, etc. Don’t expect any of this to be done to perfection. Your child will get better as she goes. The point is to be consistent now so that your child learns these life skills over time.

5. Getting Dressed

Your child needs to be able to pull down his or her own pants to use the restroom. Start with this skill at a young age, without pressure to use the potty. As your child masters this skill, add the skill of pulling up his or her own pants.

Continue adding dressing skills — pajamas are generally looser clothing and are easier to put on and take off. Have your child get into or out of his pajamas all on his own. By 4, your child should be close to or able to get dressed and undressed on his own. Again, be patient, and look for progress — not perfection.

6. Money Skills

It’s not too early to help your child earn money, save money, and even comparison shop. This can be as simple or as complicated as you want. Point out the differences in prices at the grocery store and ask your child to help you make the best choice. Create an allowance system, and teach your child to save some, share some, and spend some. Discuss the things you are saving for, and ask your child to help you make good decisions to stay on track.

7. Talking to Adults

Speaking to cashiers, servers, police officers, teachers, and more is an important life skill. You can have your child pay for small items at the grocery store, order his own meal at a restaurant, and say hello to a firefighter or police officer. You can walk your child to the neighbor’s house and prompt your child to ask to borrow a cup of sugar. Give your child the language to use, including pleases and thank yous, and this will help your child feel confident in asking for what he needs.

At UDA Creative Arts Preschool, we aim to help children do what they can for themselves. We are always impressed at how they step up to do independent work and manage life skills when we give them the opportunity. Come see how we do this. Give us a call at 801-523-5930, or visit us online to set up a tour.

Separation anxiety in preschoolers tends to occur at the beginning of a new school year, but did you know it can actually happen at any time? Sometimes, getting sick can trigger some anxiety, or a big change at home can cause your little one to feel uneasy. And sometimes, it can surface for no identifiable reason.

It hurts to see your child fearful and in tears, and it’s difficult to know what to do. While not every child experiences separation anxiety, it’s a good idea to know what to expect and how to help.

What Is Separation Anxiety?

Babies, toddlers and preschoolers have tight attachments to their caregivers, often believing their survival depends on having their caregiver close by. Very young children also don’t understand the concept of time, so it can be difficult to have confidence that Mom or Dad will ever return.

So when your preschooler cries, whines, gets angry, or becomes defiant at preschool drop-off, it isn’t a sign of naughtiness. It’s a manifestation of a very real fear about what’s to come when she is separated from you.

What Parents Can Do

Separation anxiety isn’t a sign that you’ve done anything wrong. It actually indicates that you and your child have a healthy attachment. So don’t start the blame game. If your preschooler is experiencing separation anxiety, it’s perfectly normal. You can ease the situation with these tips.

Validate

Your child’s feelings are real, and he deserves to be validated. Using simple language, talk to him about his feelings. “You felt worried when I dropped you off this morning, didn’t you?” Give him a chance to tell you how he felt, and accept his feelings as valid. Don’t try and talk him out of what he feels.

Once he has expressed his feelings, let him know you love him and you will always return to pick him up.

Don’t Sneak Away

If your preschool requires you to walk your child into class each day, don’t sneak away while she’s occupied! This will only increase the anxiety, as she’ll struggle to trust you’ll be there when you say you will.

Set Up a Routine

Follow the same routine each morning before preschool drop-off to give your child a sense of security. When he knows what’s coming next, he can prepare himself. A chaotic morning may leave him feeling uneasy and more clingy.

As part of your routine, create a short goodbye ritual that can provide comfort each day. It could be as simple as a high five or a “See you later, alligator.” Make it fun and lighthearted, and do it every day.

Be Honest with Yourself

Do you have mixed emotions about your child growing up or building independence?  Try to make sure you’re resolving those emotions so that you aren’t sharing them with your child. It’s perfectly natural to feel some uneasiness with your child’s increasing independence, but it’s up to you to corral those emotions. Talk with a friend or partner, or journal your feelings so that you have the chance for validation while still allowing your child freedom to enjoy.

How Preschool Teachers Can Help with Separation Anxiety

Teachers play a crucial role in your child’s success with overcoming separation anxiety. A good preschool will have a staff that is aware of and prepared for children who may be experiencing these types of anxieties.

Clear Communication

If your child is experiencing separation anxiety, you and the teachers should have open communication about progress, setbacks, and plans. The teachers may have suggestions for you to try at home or on the way to school.

Validate Feelings

Just as parents should validate the feelings of their child, preschool teachers should be careful to do the same. A good preschool teacher will not try to talk a child out of their feelings, but will listen and soothe your child.

Follow a Schedule

It’s important for children to know what’s happening next. This puts them at ease and allows them to relax and enjoy their current activity. Preschool teachers can follow the same schedule each day, with visual and verbal reminders of what’s coming next.

At UDA Creative Arts Preschool, we understand separation anxiety, and are prepared to help your child if it pops up. We also have systems in place to minimize anxiety, like a preschool drop-off in which we pick up your child from your car at the curb, a routine schedule, a small student-to-teacher ratio, and a positive and uplifting atmosphere. We love our students and are always willing to help them with anything that may be challenging them.

To see us in action, schedule a tour by calling us at (801) 523-5930, or by contacting us online.

It’s hiking season, and there’s nothing better than getting up into the mountains with your family. Studies have shown that spending time in nature builds confidence, promotes creativity, teaches responsibility, improves attention, reduces stress, and so much more. And with more and more screens filling our homes (and our cars and purses and diaper bags), there has never been a more critical time for you to take your preschooler on a hike.

But hiking can be hard. And hot. Not to mention… the bugs.

So how can you keep your preschooler interested and engaged long enough to make it to your hiking destination? Read on for tips on keeping your preschooler engaged on a hike.

Get a Walking Stick

If your preschooler’s hands are occupied, that gives him less reason to beg to be carried. Plus, a walking stick is just cool. Your preschooler will feel powerful as he uses his walking stick to guide the way. And don’t be surprised if imagination is sparked — does the walking stick make your preschooler a wizard? An explorer? A witch? Whatever it is, if your child is busy imagining, it will be easier to put one foot in front of the other.

Give Jobs

Preschoolers love to feel important, and you can keep your child focused and engaged by giving her a role to fill while on the trail. Appoint her as the leader, the bird watcher, the photographer, or the animal poop spotter. Change roles as you go, especially if you have multiple children.

Go on a Scavenger Hunt

Preschoolers love a good scavenger hunt. Ask your child to find things that are different shapes, different colors, something wet, something dry, something alive, something sticky, something icky… you get the idea.

You can also have him find specific items, like a squirrel, a log, a waterfall, a rock bigger than his hand, etc. This can be done on the fly, with you suggesting each item out loud one by one. Or you can write up a scavenger hunt ahead of time and have your child check off each item as he goes. Don’t be surprised if he wants to make his own suggestions!

Engage the Senses

Experiencing environments through the senses is powerful. In fact, that’s why we take a multisensory learning approach at UDA Creative Arts Preschool. We know that the more senses involved, the more effective the learning will be. You can tap into this power on your hike.

Stop and listen to the rushing water of a nearby river, or challenge each other to count how many birds can be heard in a minute. Try and find every color of the rainbow on your hike. Feel the different textures of rocks, sticks, leaves, and trees. Inhale deeply to smell the forest and pause to take whiffs of wildflowers.

 Be a Nature Artist

Let your child capture the experience through art. Bring a notebook and some coloring utensils, and pause somewhere out of the way to let your preschooler draw or paint what she sees. Bring a notebook for yourself too. Creating art is therapeutic, and will give you both a unique perspective to take home and remember your hike together.

Letter Play

How many things in nature can your preschooler find that start with the first letter of her name? If your preschooler can spell her whole name, go through each letter. If interest is still sticking around once you complete the name, start at the beginning of the alphabet or choose another family member’s name.

Pack Smart

Nobody can keep their spirits up when they’re hangry or dehydrated. Avoid the struggle and pack healthy, filling snacks like trail mix, granola bars, fruit leathers, and apples to keep everyone’s tummies satisfied. Bring enough water for everyone, and make sure everyone is taking sips throughout the hike.

Don’t forget insect repellent and sunscreen. If you’ll be on the trail for several hours, be sure to reapply. Bring a handkerchief that can be soaked in water and worn around the neck, and have everyone wear a hat.

Adjust Expectations

Be flexible and ready to adjust your expectations. Your preschooler may not have the same stamina as you, and you may not make it to the waterfall or the summit. That’s okay. Begin your hike with a flexible mindset, committing to enjoy the journey, and everyone will count the outing as a success.

At UDA Creative Arts Preschool, we believe strongly in letting children explore their world to make their own connections. If you’d like to see how your child can benefit from our preschool program, give us a call at (801) 523-5930, or contact us online for a tour.