Aurora Parents as Teachers

More pictures from our 'Sensory Play with Santa' event

We had so much fun at our 'Sensory Play with Santa'! Thank you to all of the families that came! We loved getting to see all of the parent-child interaction happening 💗

Reminder! Tonight at Pate!

Aurora Parents as Teachers is hosting 'Sensory Play With Santa'! Come join us for fun sensory activities including play with rice bins, sand, shaving cream, and play-doh!

Santa and Mrs. Claus will be available for photos!

Who: Families with children through age 5
When: Thursday, December 14th, 2023 4:30pm-6:30pm
Where: Pate Early Childhood Center (400 Terrace Dr., Aurora)

We encourage all families to take advantage of this amazing program!

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=660146386304995&id=100069289176502&mibextid=Nif5oz

Parents/Guardians, register your child here:

Aurora Parents as Teachers is hosting 'Sensory Play With Santa'! Come join us for fun sensory activities including play with rice bins, sand, shaving cream, and play-doh!

Santa and Mrs. Claus will be available for photos!

Who: Families with children through age 5
When: Thursday, December 14th, 2023 4:30pm-6:30pm
Where: Pate Early Childhood Center (400 Terrace Dr., Aurora)

Here's your guide for all the local Halloween events!

Come see the Aurora Parents as Teachers educators at the ACCESS Family Care Clinic on Monday, October 30th from 4:30-6:30pm, where we'll be face painting!

Here is a fun event sponsored by Pate PTO!

Mark your calendars!! 📣📣
Glow BINGO is back and we are so excited! 🤩

A great tip on the expectations we put on children:

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=610049814621371&id=100068490722118&post_id=100068490722118_610049814621371&mibextid=Nif5oz

There’s an episode of Bluey called “Muffin Cone” (s2 e43). The girls’ little cousin, Muffin, who’s three years old, comes over to play at their house.

She won’t stop sucking her thumb, so her mom has resorted to making her wear a “cone of shame” (since they are all dogs, after all).

In the episode, Muffin’s mom laments the fact that she won’t just have the self-control to stop sucking her thumb…while, she herself, eats an entire bag of chips (i.e., demonstrating a lack of self-control!)

Straightforwardly, the episode is a tongue-in-cheek look at the way adults expect more self-control out of their children than they themselves have. It also makes a decent point specifically about relaxing expectations around thumb-sucking. The kid is only three, after all, and a human adult is going to have a hard time forcing their human kid to stop sucking on a part of their body that’s continually attached to them, given that putting a protective cone on another human’s neck is not seen as an appropriate intervention. (Not to mention that intervening in another person’s capacity to self-soothe is a recipe for disaster in general.)

There’s also a larger point here about adults’ expectations of kids’ maturity in general. (Bluey episodes are really great at packing layers and layers of deeper messaging into one cute silly eight minute episode!)

Because it’s not just self-control that adults expect kids to have more of than they themselves do…

It’s patience. (Child should wait patiently for me to respond anytime they ask for something. Meanwhile, if I ask a question, I expect a prompt response.)

It’s respect. (Child owes me deference. Meanwhile, I can laugh at things that are important to them, or ignore them, or talk about them like they’re not there.)

It’s self-regulation. (Child must not react in anger toward me or somebody. Meanwhile, if child pushes my buttons, I’m justified in yelling or punishing them.)

It’s self-control. (Child must restrain themselves from things they want to do. Meanwhile, I’m an adult so I can do what I want.)

It’s attention. (Child must not wiggle or move around while sitting in class all day. Meanwhile, no one would dare tell me that I can’t get up and go use the bathroom at work if I just need a brief brain break.)

It’s silence. (Child can’t talk in line while they walk somewhere at school, or in class if they have a question, or in the lunchroom…meanwhile, I can talk or text whenever I want.)

Heck, some parents even hit their kids because their kids hit somebody. Or yell at their kids for yelling. The list goes on and on and on. There are a thousand ways in which children are expected to live up to standards that adults are not expected to maintain.

And then, oftentimes, those children grow up and feel entitled to the respect as adults that they were missing as children…and out of a misplaced sense of figuring out how to obtain that respect, they simply reenact what they were taught on the kids that now they’re in charge of.

At very, very least, shouldn’t we the adults ask ourselves “why” the rules are a certain way? And maybe, if it’s appropriate…maybe adjust them for the future generations?

[Image description: A still image from the TV show “Bluey”. In the image, Bluey and Bingo, a blue cartoon dog and an orange cartoon dog, are looking with concern/empathy at their cousin Muffin, a grey cartoon dog who is wearing a “cone of shame” and looking down with sad eyes. End description.]

Today at Robinson Schools 4:30-6:30pm

🚨🚨🚨THIS THURSDAY🚨🚨🚨

We are so excited to see you all in a few weeks! PreK-6th grade Aurora R-8 students are all invited to attend and:

🎒 Receive a free backpack
🚲 Enter to win a NEW BIKE
📌 Meet local business owners
🖍️ Sign up for school supply assistance
🥳 And much more!

Another opportunity to see trucks of all shapes and sizes! Thanks, City of Aurora!

Here's a great opportunity for swim lessons, locally!

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=651221427047524&id=100064790163461&mibextid=Nif5oz

Do you have kiddos that need to learn how to swim? The City of Aurora Pool is offering public swim lessons July 3rd-July 8th. Contact Amanda Hall at 417-846-7850.