Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Use science to teach about God

God loves everyone, no matter who we are or what we do. Sometimes this is a difficult concept for children to understand. How about using a science experiment to teach this basic principle. This is a simple and fun experiment you can do at home.

First grab a pencil and a potato. Stand on a chair in front of your child and ask them which will hit the ground first when you drop them, the pencil or the potato. Very young children will not know and will probably just  guess, but children age 4 and up will probably guess the potato because it is larger and heavier. Ask your child to watch carefully, hold your hands at the same height and drop the pencil and the potato. You can do it several times to be sure your child sees which hits the ground first.

The fun part is that the potato and the pencil will hit the ground at the same time! You can explain to your child that the earth is like a giant magnet, and everything is pulled to the ground with the same amount of force. This force is called gravity, and it is what keeps us from floating off into space! Gravity doesn't care how much something weighs, or how big it is, everything is pulled with the same force.

God is like gravity! He pulls all of us to him with the same force. He loves us all equally! Isn't it wonderful that we have such an amazing God!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Want a fun activity? Keep reading...

When your time is filled with fun activities it simply flies by!  It is hard to believe that it has been a full week since we last updated our blog and here is one of the fun activities that we have been doing:  READING!  In fact, we love to read at Joy Kids Learning Center. Our teacher, Mrs. Barbara, typically reads a book about our topic and/or activity for each day of the week.  This prepares the children for the activity and "why" something happens or takes place.  Here are some other reasons why reading to children in preschool is good (Reading to Infants and Toddlers; High Reach Learning):

1.  They become familiar with the sound of language.
2.  They develop a strong foundation for literacy skills.
3.  See reading as something "fun" to do.
4.  Learn how to turn pages in a book.
5.  Understand that printed words have meaning.
6.  They become life-long readers and we all know that reading equals knowledge.

Reading is definitely a good way to invest your time and energy in helping to make your children smart and well educated.  What are you reading to your children?   Right now, we are reading Mercer Mayer books at Joy Kids Learning and discovering the "fun" in Little Critters and Little Monsters.  

 Take some time today to read to your children and discover the joy of reading and learning.


Thursday, August 9, 2012

Get Moving!

"Get Moving!"

It is so important for children to not only have indoor play but also outdoor play and at Joy Kids Learning Center we are blessed to have a wonderful playground and property to explore.  We have beautiful flowers that surround our building, trees that decorate the landscape and right outside our backdoor we have a wonderful playground.  The playground is filled with slides, stairs, pretend ships, a funny looking sea saw, and a couple of tables and chairs.  It is a place where children can "get moving" physically and mentally.  We have one little guy who likes to pretend he is hosting a party at the tables and another child who likes to pretend she's at the beach in the sandbox (okay, I like to pretend that I am at the beach too).  Parents and experts alike, all agree, that "when parents look at a school, they should look for indoor and outdoor learning environments which are safe, accessible and inviting to young children while also being developmentally and culturally appropriate."

Come visit Joy Kids Learning Center and see how our children "get moving" indoor and outdoors!