Celebrating 16 Years of Inspiring and Empowering Child Care Business Owners

Posts tagged ‘childcare’

Preschool Graduation or Year-End Party?

Preschool Graduation-2390.fc.image

My first preschool graduation was held in my family home childcare business in 2002. I ordered two preschool graduation certificates, decorated my home with graduation hats and streamers.

Before the graduation day, I bought a large poster board and invited all the children in my home daycare to add their hand prints to the poster board (with paint) and in the center of the poster board I wrote the following words: We will miss you Drue and Jordan!

The day of the graduation, the mother of the graduates was my only guest. The day of the graduation, I simply issued the preschool diplomas to my graduates along with a special gift; we took pictures and celebrated with the graduates.

When I expanded my program to a Center, I wrestled with the thought of having a formal graduation, because that meant inviting family members and a formal ceremony (which caused a little anxiety in me).

So, I decided to hold a simple year-end party at the end of every school year beginning in 2003. Then in 2007, many of the parents began to request that we hold a formal event and I am so glad that I decided to hold a formal preschool graduation.

My year-end parties were so much fun, however, I find that parents prefer to attend a preschool graduation. In fact, in my 14 years of being a Child Care Business Owner, only one of my families thought it was a silly idea to hold a graduation.

Need ideas for your upcoming End of the Year Preschool events, see the links below. So which do you prefer? Preschool Graduation or a Year End Party? Do you choose not to hold a preschool graduation and why? Feel free to share.

Shiketa

Graduation  Resource Links

10 ideas for a fun preschool end of year party

How to set-up a graduation for preschoolers

Category:

Events, preschool

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It’s Time To Give Your Menus a Healthy Heart Evaluation

February is heart health month, what a great time to think about how to add more heart healthy foods to your menus!

As a child care provider, you are in a great position to assure that children are provided with foods that contributes to healthy hearts.

After all, what you do shapes the future and your decision to serve heart healthy foods will only lead to the world having less heart disease.

Moreover, when parents know that you serve lots of  healthy foods to children; it will cause your childcare business to be more marketable to parents who want their children eating healthier foods.

Today I am going to share with you a list of heart healthy foods to add to your menus:

  • Tuna
  • Brown Rice
  • Blueberries
  • Carrots
  • Spinach
  • Broccoli
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Oranges
  • Tomatoes
  • Cantaloupe
  • Black Beans
  • Oatmeal

That was a small list of heart healthy foods to add to your menus. However, my goal is to give you some ideas of foods to serve to children that leads to kids having healthier hearts.

Here is a “One-Day” Sample Heart Healthy Menu

** Menu meets the Child Adult & Food Program Guidelines

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Blueberries

Skim Milk

Lunch

Tuna Salad (with Light salad dressing)

Romaine Lettuce/Tomato Slices

Canteloupe

Whole grain Brown Rice

Skim Milk

Snack

Carrot/Broccoli

Light Ranch Dressing

Whole Grain Crackers

Tip: Be sure to post menus where they are visible to parents and uploading your menus online is a great way to market your program. Visit: http://www.scribd.com and get those menus online!

Happy Menu Planning,

Shiketa

If you need more menu ideas, be sure to download a copy of my Healthy Child Care Menus eBook.

Category:

Menu Planning

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