The holiday season is generally hard on the wallet, but wonderful presents don’t have to be expensive. In fact, often times, gifts that my kids love the most are those that don’t cost much! Plus, they are the kind of toys you don’t need to worry about being sold out. So, you can easily find these fun stocking stuffers for kids at the store, even close to Christmas! Here are some ideas for stocking stuffers that won’t break your wallet:
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Child Care, Child Care Providers & Preschools, Daycare, Preschool
Tagged with childcare, Daycare, ece, parenting, Preschool, tips
Looking for tips for finding great child care? When I searched for daycare and preschool for my daughters, I spent days searching online, calling, and visiting child care providers. I visited 16 daycare centers before choosing the one that felt right for us. In this post, I’ll share 10 practical tips that helped me (and that hopefully can help you!) find safe, affordable, high-quality child care.
Begin your daycare search as early as a year in advance, especially if you live in a densely populated city like Washington D.C. or San Francisco. This is even more important if you will be looking for infant care. It’s usually more difficult to find space for an infant than for a 3- or 4-year-old because of the teacher-to-child ratio: for infants, you must have 1 teacher for 2-4 infants (depending on the State) but for 4-year-olds, it can be around 8-10.
So, you finally found the perfect daycare center. The teachers are great and your child wakes up every morning happy to go see them! Congratulations, you’ve come a long way!
But there’s one last big question: how much child care is OK? Is full-time daycare a good idea? Should I really be leaving him there all day?
Excellent question!
No matter how young your little one may be, it’s never too early to begin age-appropriate learning. When looking for…
I n our last post we covered what high quality child care looks like, and most of the clues come from observing how your child reacts after they start going to daycare or preschool. In this post we will cover how you can evaluate a child care or preschool program before your child enrolls.
The daycare and preschool tour is a (maybe even the) key moment in the decision making process so it’s important that you do your homework before you visit (and make sure the preschool does theirs). Here’s how to make the most of your daycare tour:
For financial concerns, I have been considering returning to work but I have had a lot of the guilt you…
Parents return to work after having children for a myriad of reasons. For some, it is out of financial necessity. For others, it’s because they genuinely love their jobs. But no matter the reason, that first day of daycare drop-off is hard on just about every parent. The working parent guilt is very real.
No matter how much a person loves his or her job, and no matter how ill-suited they feel about being a stay-at-home mom or stay-at-home dad, it is heart-breaking to hand the child they love so much off to someone else for 8 to 10 hours a day. It’s hard to miss the many “firsts” that occur over the course of early childhood development, and it is sad to not be the one there, kissing all the booboos and providing all the care.
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Add your commentIf you think about it, sales are a big part of parenting. Especially repeat sales! Every morning you probably have the same “sales pitch” that makes up the “Bed to Preschool Package Deal”.
Waking up instead of sleeping. A real breakfast instead of cookies. A clean shirt instead of the batman costume. The list goes on…
But the real moment of truth is when it is actually time to jump in the car and go to daycare or preschool. It’s just you, the idea of preschool, and the idea of home. If your preschooler is going to be a tough customer that morning, that’s the moment when he will do it.
This Christmas, I decided to come up with a list of objects that we as adults consider ordinary, but which will arouse children’s curiosity. Most importantly for us as parents, they will keep kids busy! 😉 Here’s my new list of household-items-turned-toys that will make great stocking stuffers for kids. Also, they will definitely not break your wallet!
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Add your commentDid you know that there is a 75-90% misuse rate for car seats? With statistics that high, the odds are that you are making at least one mistake that could compromise the safety of your child during a car accident. This week marks Child Passenger Safety week, so we would like to share 8 car seat safety tips that you can use.
For many full-time working parents, whose children are in daycare for long stretches of the day, your child’s activities are somewhat of a mystery. How can you know what your little one has been up to? The best way to know is to get involved. However, parent involvement in daycare can feel a bit scary. Fear not, this guide is here to help!
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Add your commentOn Saturday, September 13, 2014, round up your kids and visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library for a day of family fun, food, prizes and most importantly, free resources! It’s the Sing, Talk and Read (STAR) Family Festival!
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