Brenwood Academy

You may be wondering why anyone would think of exercises for toddlers. After all, aren’t they already super-active? You the answer to that is a big “YES” from trying to keep up with them every day. What we’re talking about here, however, is being more deliberate about your toddler’s activity. The goal is to instill in your child a lifetime appreciation for exercise to maintain health and avoid weight issues as they grow. This is especially important for children from families predisposed to obesity. Starting early can break this cycle for your child.

Let take a closer look at the importance of structured exercise for toddlers. The following post is a good place to start the discussion:

How Important is Exercise for Toddlers?

Most parents and can barely keep up with little ones when it comes to activity and energy. They are always running, jumping and moving around.

We may think that toddlers get more than enough exercise.

However, obesity among the ages of 6 -10 is on the rise and reports show the physical activity that your toddler engages in can have a drastic impact on their health as they mature into adulthood.

Parents need to be involved and help organize daily fitness even for young children.

How much time do physicians recommend?

Which activities should parents participate in?

Both structured and unstructured exercise schedules are recommended for children to ensure they are physically fit. In addition, physical exercise at an early age will contribute to healthy growth as well as increased cognitive development and social skills.

One of the keys to making structured exercise a regular part of your child’s life is keeping it fun and varied. For instance, get outside your home when you can. Workout in the park, at the beach or at a gym facility. The following post highlights one special gym that caters to children between the ages of six weeks(!) and eight years:

Nutrition and exercise tips to keep toddlers from becoming overweight, obese

It’s a toddler’s dream come true. A room filled with trampolines, forts and ball pits and nothing is off limits to them.

“It’s really designed to engage them and keep their attention in short spans,” said Christin Schifflett, the owner of MyGym.

Schifflett owns three MyGyms in Crofton, Annapolis and Columbia. The gym is designed just for kids, from as young as six weeks old to the age of eight.

“We’ll work on balance, tumbling, agility, hanging, and upper body strength. We do a lot of core development,” Schifflett said.

Apart from physical exercise, you should also devote time to mental exercises for your child. This will enhance their cognitive development and ability to retain memories. Learn more in the following post:

As you’ve seen, it’s important to have a deliberate plan to ensure your child grows up healthy and strong — both physically and mentally. This is best facilitated by accessing people and programs that can help, which includes enrolling your child in an outstanding preschool.

At Spanish for fun!, we are committed to providing your child an environment that fosters holistic growth. Our play-based teaching method has a natural activity component that meets the exercise goals discussed in this post as well as advancing social and cognitive abilities.

Our Spanish immersion program also gives your child the lifetime benefit of being bilingual. Your child will love Spanish for fun! Get in touch with us today to schedule a tour of our Spanish for Fun! Wakeforest Campus. We would be delighted to show you our facility and our time-proven teaching methods. Call 919-881-1160 or complete the form on our website. We look forward to speaking with you soon.

All parents want their children to get the right amount and best quality of sleep. The obvious question for you is: What is the right amount and how do I help to facilitate it? This post will help answer your questions.

The first thing to note is that your child’s sleeping needs will vary with his or her age. Newborns may not have a regular sleeping pattern, but there are things you should expect over time and ways to enhance your child’s sleep cycle. The following post is a helpful place to start:

From Newborn to Preschooler, 6 Expert Strategies for Sleep Success

Some of our constant concerns when it comes to our kids is sleep: Are they getting enough? How is the quality of his sleep? How do you establish a bedtime routine that will stick?

These were just some of the questions asked of Dr. Agnes Tirona-Remulla, head of the Sleep Lab at Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Muntinlupa. Dr. Tirona Remulla was the featured speaker at the launch of Johnson’s Bedtime range that includes baby bath, baby oil, baby powder and baby lotion (this range is now infused with essences of Jasmine Blossoms designed to calm baby for sleep, according to Johnson’s).

In her talk, Dr. Tirona-Remulla provided practical tips to improve the quality of sleep, from newborn to preschooler.

Establishing a sleeping routine is something you will want to want to do. Keep in mind that the earlier you start, the better it will be for both you and your child.

For preschoolers, it is important that they go to sleep early. They require additional hours of rest because their bodies are growing at a very fast pace. Not only is sleep essential for physical growth, it also has additional health benefits, as discussed in the post below:

Early bedtimes for preschoolers linked to lower obesity risk

Getting young children into bed before 8 p.m. might reduce the risk of being obese in later life, suggests new research published in the Journal of Pediatrics.

According to researchers from The Ohio State University College of Public Health, putting preschoolers to bed later in the evening, especially after 9 p.m., is linked to a higher risk of becoming obese.

To assess the effect of varying bedtimes, the team looked at data from 977 preschoolers who were part of the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, a project that followed healthy babies born at 10 different U.S. sites in 1991.

Now you know: If you want your children to have a healthy body mass index (BMI), one of the things you should do is make sure they get enough sleep. Obesity comes with many risks, so if putting your children to bed early will help prevent it, do it.

Some late evening activities may hinder your child from getting quality sleep once they go to bed. The following post describes some of the activities you should monitor and help your child avoid:

Bedtime media device use linked to poor sleep quality among children

Portable media devices, such as cell phones and tablets, are ever present in children’s lives, and the majority of children and adolescents have devices present where they sleep. So does access to and use of these devices cut into the quantity and quality of their sleep? A new article published online by JAMA Pediatrics suggests they do.

Sleep is crucial for children for healthy physical and psychological development.

Ben Carter, Ph.D., M.Sc., of King’s College London, and coauthors reviewed medical literature for an analysis that included randomized clinical trials and other study designs. They assessed 20 studies – involving 125,198 children with an average age of 14.5 years – for methodological quality and included 17, with 11 studies included in the meta-analysis.

The fact that sleep is essential for your child is not in doubt. As such, it is important to develop a good bedtime routine. If your child is in preschool, it’s even more important since an early morning is probably part of their daily routine.

At Spanish for fun!, we are committed to giving your child a holistic preschool experience that supports their development in all ways. We employ a fun, play-based approach to learning within our Spanish immersion program. Your child will be happy to share about his or her day every day.

We encourage you to schedule a tour of our Daycare Center in Wake Forest NC Campus to learn more about our unique daycare experience. Call 919-881-1695 or complete the form on our website. We look forward to showing you why your child will thrive with us.

Every parent dreads the moment when their child throws a temper tantrum. It can be quite distressing for both you and your little one. It particularly seems like a nightmare when you’re out in public and it feels like everyone is judging your parenting skills. Don’t get caught up in that thinking — it won’t help any. When it comes to dealing with tantrums, knowing what they are and being prepared with multiple responses when they occur is your best bet.

The first thing to understand about temper tantrums is that they are perfectly normal. Don’t let parenting guilt lead you to assume it’s your fault. The following post from one of the leading healthcare systems in America explains the basics:

Temper Tantrums

What are temper tantrums?

Temper tantrums are a way a young child lets out strong emotions before he or she is able to express them in socially acceptable ways. Although a child may seem totally out of control, these fits of rage, stomping, screaming, and throwing himself or herself to the floor are a normal part of childhood development. Temper tantrums often happen only with a parent. They are a way a child communicates his or her feelings. Parents can learn from their child by understanding the situation that caused the temper tantrum to erupt.

Temper tantrums often begin at about 1 year of age and continue until age 2 to 3. They begin to diminish as a child becomes more able to communicate his or her wants and needs.

The fact that your child melts down only when they are with you can be quite distressing. It can even make you doubt your abilities as a parent. However, as the experts note, this is a typical component of tantrum behavior so don’t let it undermine your confidence.

Some fathers feel like dealing with a tantrum is beyond their skill level, but of course it isn’t. It just takes patience, knowledge and the right approach. Here’s some good information and advice from a dad’s perspective, courtesy of Fatherly:

Meltdown Mechanics

It turns out that a tantrum doesn’t just explode in red-faced anger and dwindle (seemingly an infinity later) into gulping sadness. Researchers who recently looked into the anatomy of a tantrum discovered that conventional understanding was flawed. A tantrum is actually a bit more complex. Sadness persists throughout with punctuations of angry behavior.

That anger? Not easy to deal with. The sadness, though, can be tackled with kindness. Which gives you a hint as to what you might want to be doing. No. Not tackling.

Why Tantrums Happen

Your kid might turn into a real life Munch painting for literally any reason under the sun. But there are a couple of things that might prime the pump. The biggies? Sudden, unexpected schedule changes, parental stress, and not knowing your expectations for the situation.

It helps when you understand that tantrums are not calculated — they are triggered. This helps clarify two key points: 1) Your child isn’t actively plotting to ruin your day when they meltdown; and 2) To some extent, tantrums can be avoided or managed.