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Ploof a social emotional book

Creating Independence: Smart Emotions

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Regulating our emotions can be a very daunting thing. Now imagine being a child and doing it. Our brains are not fully developed until about 25 years old, because our prefrontal cortex is still figuring our the decision making piece, and emotions are heavily tied into that. But much of that is started in the early years. You can help your kiddo figure things out by setting them up for success with emotional intelligence.

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giant chess board

Creating independence: Problem solvers

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Problem solving is something we are faced with many times everyday. Even things as simple as what am I cooking for dinner? Do I have all the ingredients? Now what? Each of these questions from one simple task of cooking a meal count towards solving problems. All of these questions are part of our organizing and planning then initiating system-- executive functioning. And when our executive function is struggling --whether as a child or senior-- initiating and following through on these tasks can be greatly overwhelming. So what do we do about it? We practice is constantly.

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The Boy Who Touched The Stars

Creating Independence: Persistence

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Persistence, grit, trying again, not giving up. There are many ways to put it and it is not an easy thing to teach to our younglings... but do we give up? No! Instead we keep going to model it and apply our problem solving skills. 

 

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baby eating toy

Learning Through Play: Senses

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Did you know that we have 8 senses? We are all taught 5 of them repeatedly growing up, and that is because they help us with our perceptions of the world. Of those most commonly known five senses, though, our children are using them to grow and develop into bright learners ready to take on the challenges life throws at us as adults.

 

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STEAM To-Go Kits

Learning Through Play: Imagination and Creativity

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 Around the age of 3 ½ we start to see our child’s creativity and imagination bloom. Just like the snow we are (hopefully) seeing in our area right now, each child is unique and different from their siblings and peers. Your child has learned through curiosity and now they are utilizing some of their senses and that curiosity in a way that brings magic and imagination into the world –and with it comes the inevitable pushing of our boundaries.

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