cdc aurora 02-2014 web

8/12/2019 Cdc Aurora 02-2014 Web

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Aurora Early Learning Center • A program of One Hope Uni525 College Ave., Aurora, IL 60505 • 630. 256.77

MonthlyNews Bulletin

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a l t h y L i f e s t y l e

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O verall HealtH • exercise • NutritiON • eNvirONmeNtal sustaiNability

F o u r C o m p o

n e n t s o f t h e

Say Yes to Healthy Snacks!Snacks are an important part of children’s dailynutrition in child care as well as at home. Beaware that a young child may eat little one dayand a lot the next. In planning healthy snacks,

consider food safety and known allergies aswell as “snack appeal!”

Serve snacks from a varietyof food groups.• Grains and carbohydrates. Young children

will enjoy these snacks as part of the 3-4cups needed each day: crackers withcheese spread, ready-to-eat cereal, minirice cakes, and graham crackers.

• Vegetables. Snacks can be a good way towork 2 cups of these foods into a child’sdaily diet. Try vegetable strips, such ascucumber or squash, cherry tomatoes cutinto small pieces, steamed broccoli or car-rots, green beans, or sugar peas. Offer alow-fat dressing or hummus for dipping.

• Fruit. Sections of fruit (apples, tangerines,bananas, or pineapples), canned fruits,and juices are good choices. A child needs1-1½ cups of fruit each day, but be carefulnot to overdo the juice. A serving for 4- to6-year-olds is ¾ cup.

• Milk products. Some good choices includemilk shakes made with fruit, cheese slicesor string cheese, and mini yogurt cups.One-half cup of milk or 1 ounce of cheesemakes up 1 of the 4-5 servings youngchildren should have each day.

• Meat and protein. Children may enjoyhard-cooked eggs; peanut butter spread

thinly on crackers, fruit, or vegetables; orbean dip thinly spread on crackers. Twoto 3 ounces of meat, 1 egg, or 2 table-spoons of peanut butter count as 1 of the

2-3 recommended daily servings of meator protein recommended for children age2 to 6.

• Sweet and high-fat foods. Everyone enjoyan occasional treat, and a child’s dailydiet should include 2-3 teaspoons of oil ofat in his food. Do try to limit the numberthese foods. Eating them may keep a chifrom eating the foods he needs and canlead to overeating.

Take safety precautions inserving food.• Watch out for foods that may cause

choking, including hot dogs, meat chunkschips, nuts and seeds, popcorn, raisins,grapes, cherries, marshmallows, pretzels,large chunks of fruit or raw vegetables,peanut butter (when eaten by the spoon-ful), and round or hard candy. Some ofthese foods (like grapes or cherries) can served if they are cut into small pieces. Penut butter can be spread thinly on cracke

or bread. Children love nger foods!• Know a child’s allergies. Be sure that anyone who cares for a child is aware of heallergies and reports any allergic reactioto her parents. Severe reactions can be lithreatening and may require emergencymedical attention.

YOUR TRUSTED PARTNER IN EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION

Source: http://www.illinoisearlylearning.org/tipsheets/healthysnack

February 20

8/12/2019 Cdc Aurora 02-2014 Web


Parent Café—Strengthening Families InitiativeOur center participates in the Strengthening FamiliesInitiative, and we are happy to start implementingcomponents of the program. This initiative (Strengthen-

ing Families Illinois) is a statewide movement to buildsix Protective Factors that keep families strong. SFI’snetwork of parent leaders is mobilizing thousands ofparents to strengthen families in their communities.Early childhood staff and families, in child develop-ment centers throughout Illinois, are partnering withstrengthening families to keep children safe andfamilies strong. As part of this initiative, we will be in-troducing ways for parents to connect with each otherand learn more about strengthening families. ParentCafés will be introduced at our center and is one of

the tools for parents to learn more about the protectivefactors. These café’s provide opportunities for familiesto have life-changing, family-strengthening conversa-tions and support each other in their very importantroles as parents. Surveys have indicated that many ofour parents would like to have events such as these tocollaborate, learn and gain support from other parentsthat may have similar questions and concerns. ParentCafés are based on the principles of adult learningand family support and are a gateway to providingparent leadership opportunities. We will be hosting

a Parent Café on March 20, from 5–8 p.m. Dinner and child care will be provided. Parents willneed to sign up in advance for the Café, as allparticipants must be pre-registered.

Preschoolers are Baking Breadand Making Butter!Classroom 207 spent a week studying farm animals.They dressed as farmers, pretended to milk cows (latexgloves) and read many stories about farm life. Theyenjoyed reading “The Little Red Hen” in which the henmakes bread for several animals that she lives with. After reading the story, which describes the steps tobread making, the teachers wanted the children toshare in that experience by baking bread themselves.They took turns measuring, adding and mixing theingredients and saw the dough rise. They put it in

the oven and watched as it baked. This activity wasa great extension of the story they read. They wereable to participate in a hands on experience as wellas develop the skills of sequencing and re-telling astory—literacy skills. The children also made home-made butter for their bread. They learned that butter

is made from cream. They took whipping cream in ajar and shook it a lot! After some shaking, their creawas solid and a delicious way to top their freshlymade bread.

8/12/2019 Cdc Aurora 02-2014 Web


Our Active Twos areLearning about Color!The Twos classroom is nding fun ways to learn aboutcolor. They are very active, and as a result, the teach-ers incorporate lots of movement when planning activi-

ties for this group. To learn about colors, the teachersasked children to nd colors from all over the roomand match them to paper. Children were eager to nditems all over and ll each color. After they had foundmany matching items throughout the room, and stillhad loads of energy, so they hopped onto the colorsas each were called out.

Recycling in the Toddler Room!Our toddlers love to paint with all sorts of things. Mostrecently our toddlers used empty infant food containersto create artwork displayed in the classroom. There areso many ways to reuse materials, and we are always

nding new ways to reuse everyday household items.Parents, we are always in need of empty water bottles,milk caps, and empty plastic containers to use in theclassrooms. Please feel free to bring them in if you can!

Healthy Lifestyles Family RafeCongratulations to Nadia Landa (parent of Allison)and Alva Castillo (parent of Jamileth and Jafet). Theproud owners of a new slow cooker and recipe book!

We hope you enjoy some warm comforting meals asa family!

Thanks for Our Recent Donations A special thank you to Tony Alonso, our social workintern, who arranged for the recent donation of breadto the center. Warm bread was really appreciated onthose cold days! Thanks also to Liza Monich from thePajama Project of Illinois who provided all the pajama

We saw many chil-dren proudly wearintheir new pajamasthe next day!

KindergartenRegistration We had a very large response to our own KindergarteProgram, which is currently full with a waiting list. Thosewho need to register for Kindergarten in District 131,packets will be available starting April 2 at District 131elementary schools, online at www.d131.org, or by co

tacting the central registration ofce at 630.299.7302.If you have any questions, or if we can assist you in thisprocess, please do not hesitate to ask!

Reminders• Please remember that all nap time items (blan-

ket, pillow, etc.) must t in your child’s individualbasket in their cubby. Please also help us reinforchealthy practices by reminding your child that

these items are only used for nap time and needto stay in the basket throughout the day. For healreasons, we need all parents to follow this policyThanks for your cooperation.

• Please also reinforce to your child that hats worn school need to be put in their basket when they arive and not worn throughout the day. When thesare worn during the day, children may be tempteto share them, which poses a health concern.

8/12/2019 Cdc Aurora 02-2014 Web


cdc aurora 02-2014 web

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