Ready, Set, Go!

Early Childhood Newsletter

JANUARY 2015

Feeding Myths
Myth #5:
It is not appropriate to touch or play with
your food. False
Wearing your food is part of the normal developmental process of learning to eat it. You
can learn a great deal about the foods BEFORE they ever get into your mouth, by
touching them and playing with them first. It
is play with a purpose that teaches a child
the physics of the foods before the foods
ever get into their mouth. Being messy is an
important part of learning to eat.

Speech and Language

Language

Have your child help you pack or make their

lunch. For example, you could choose a meal
such as a sandwich that requires only a few steps
and no use of the oven or stove. Before preparing
the meal, you could have your child repeat the
steps aloud, or draw a picture of the steps needed to
make the sandwich.

Play

Information from: http://www.sosapproachconferences.com/articles/top_ten_myths

Occupational Therapy
Picky Eaters
Have your child help dish up their plate when
sitting down to have a meal. Dont force your
child to eat food, instead allow them to explore the foods on a level they are comfortable with (smelling, touching or licking). Remember to make dinner time fun for your
kids!

Through pretend play you can build on your

childs language skills. You could set up a pretend
grocery store and have your child take on the
adult role of purchasing the ingredients for
meals. You can set up language-building opportunities
by having your child categorize plastic foods, for instance, vegetables, fruits,
and meats, or healthy vs unhealthy items.

Literacy

Try creating a meal using ingredients that all start

with the same sound (e.g., the sound /f/: Feta
cheese, Fish sticks, French Fries, Fruit). You could
also help your child build on phonemic awareness
skills by talking about the first sound of all the
foods on their plate.

Family Oriented Programming

Wednesday January 14th:
The Power of Positive Parenting Seminar #1
5:50-7:30pm @ Crystal Park School
Thursday January 22:
Advocating without Aggravating
5:50-7:30pm @ Crystal Park School
Thursday January 22 and Friday 23:
Winter Speech and Language Skills
Language Support for the Home Signs
Handwriting Without Tears
Thursday 5:30-7:00pm or Friday 12:30-2:00pm
@ Crystal Park School

How to Help Your Child with Anxiety

Calming Strategies Part 2:

Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Progressive muscle relaxation teaches your
child to relax each muscle, thus promoting a
calm state. The I Can Relax CD and Youtube videos below can be used to lead your child
through several Progressive Muscle relaxation
techniques such as Making Lemonade, and Being a Turtle.

Positive Parenting Program

I Can Relax! CD

Consider playing CDs such as

Children are more likely to misbehave when they
the I Can Relax! CD (Dr. Donare bored so provide lots of indoor and outdoor
Family
Oriented
Planning
activities for your child, e.g., building blocks, colna Pincus; The Child Anxiety
ouring in, cardboard boxes,
dress
Wednesday September 24th :
Network) in the car on the way to and from
ups, cubby houses, etc.
Raising Confident, Competent Children
(www.triplep-staypositive.net)
school to promote relaxation. Available from
5:50-7:30pm @ Crystal Park School
Friday September 26:

Psychology
10-11:30am @ PARDS

Amazon.com, the CD is appropriate for children

12:30-1:30pm @ Gymniks ages 4-12 and focuses on teaching children re-

The Power of Positive Phrasing

For Home and About or Your
Child in
the while
Comlaxation
skills
also promoting a positive
munity FOP sessions, please book your indiThe way we speak with children
and
the way
weyour child's therapist or
vidualized
session
with
self-image.
put words together has teacher.
a lot of power. We as
adults can create, prevent or diffuse many situa- Youtube Videos
tions simply through our choice of words. By be- Progressive Muscle Relaxation: http://
ing aware of the messages we are sending we www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaTDNYjk-Gw
can increase the likelihood of positive interac- Spaghetti Toes: http://www.youtube.com/
tions while decreasing argumentativeness and watch?
conflict. For instance, avoid asking questions v=Sv56HngtRSU&list=PL0182B9278FF76D20
that your child can easily say yes or no to. For Relaxation video: http://www.youtube.com/
example, Instead of saying Do you want to eat watch?
dinner? or Are you ready for dinner? try to v=DCirAu07TC8&list=PL0182B9278FF76D20
give clear statements of the expectation. Instead
you could say It is time for dinner or 5 more If you have any questions regarding your
child receiving services or to register for
minutes to finish
then dinner.
a FOP please contact your child's teacher.