Sweet Sparrows Daycare

We have done this tradition since my teens were toddlers. It is a great way to spend Christmas Eve.

Christmas Light Scavenger Hunt for Kids 🎄✨

Advice to feed babies peanuts early and often helped thousands of kids avoid allergies!

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/advice-to-feed-babies-peanuts-early-and-often-helped-thousands-of-kids-avoid-allergies

This image comes from an MRI study of preschoolers (Hutton et al., JAMA Pediatrics, 2020). It shows how screen use is linked to the wiring of the developing brain.

The top row (blue) highlights where more screen time is tied to weaker white matter organization. White matter is the brain’s wiring system that connects regions so they can work efficiently.

The bottom row (red) shows where heavier screen use is linked to weaker insulation on those connections. Insulation, or myelin, helps brain signals travel quickly, like the protective coating on an electrical wire.

Why does this matter? These highlighted areas include pathways for language, early literacy, and self-regulation. Children with higher screen scores also performed lower on language and literacy tests.

This is not a before and after of one child. It is a group-level finding. The message is clear. In the early years the brain is wiring for life. The more time children spend with people, play, movement, and books, the stronger these foundational circuits become.

It’s totally normal for your young kid who is getting used to school to come home emotional and dysregulated. It doesn't mean they hate school or that it's bad for them. This will not be forever. Maybe it looks like hyperactivity. Maybe it looks like crying. Maybe it looks like anger. It is the same thing we go through when we start a new job. We come home dysregulated and exhausted at the end of the day. Now imagine doing that with a brain that is not fully developed while also just learning how to regulate yourself. That is why our kids act the way they do. When they get home from school and cannot regulate themselves, WE step in and help manually regulate them. It is like a plane switching from autopilot to remotely piloted. Here is our action plan for the transition back to school: 1. Dinner at 3:45 as soon as he gets home. At normal dinner time, it is just second dinner or a snack. 2. Follow with a regulating activity like an early bath, popsicle shower, playing outside, doing a puzzle, reading, or sometimes watching one episode of TV. 3. We avoid extra demands for the first month. No errands after school, no restaurants, and we pause extracurricular activities. 4. No pressure to talk right away. If he is chatty, I follow his lead. Otherwise, we save conversations for second dinner or while winding down before bed. For us, it took trial and error to figure out what post-school rituals worked best for our son. Your kid might want to talk right away . They might want two immediately transition to an extracurricular activity after School. It really just depends on your kid's needs. Starting school is a marathon for their brains and when they are back with you, they feel safe letting go and dysregulating. It's totally normal. With time, they will build up the stamina and settle in. Until then, we give them a little extra support. Disclaimer: I am not talking about kids who are coming home from school and genuinely hating school for one reason or another. I am talking about kids who come home dysregulated even though they seemingly had a good day. #kelsewhatelse #firstdayofk #newkindergartener #backtoschool #midwesternmom #howtotalktolittlekids

Every stage of childhood has a core emotional need. And if that need goes unmet, the child doesn’t just “grow out of it.” They grow around it—and carry the effects into adulthood. Here’s what that actually looks like: 🍼 0–1 year Can I trust the world? When a baby’s cries are met with silence, they learn: “No one is coming.” That silence becomes anxiety. But when someone responds with care, the world feels safe. 🚼 1–3 years I want to do it myself! If everything is controlled or corrected, kids learn to doubt their instincts. Later, they hesitate to act unless someone approves. 🎭 3–6 years I’m a cat, a doctor, a superhero! This isn’t just play—it’s identity-building. Mock their imagination, and they shut down. Support it, and they grow bold. 📚 6–11 years I want to be good at something. I want to matter. When love is tied to performance, they only try if they know they’ll win. Praise effort, not just results. 🧭 11–18 years Who am I, really? This isn’t the “difficult age.” It’s the age of becoming. Be a guide—not a sculptor. ⸻ Your child doesn’t need a perfect parent. They just need one who’s present and aware. ❤️ 👇 Which stage are you in right now? 💬 Let me know in the comments. 📌 Save this to revisit as your child grows. 🙋🏼‍♀️ Follow @school_counselor_mama for daily support with parenting, mental health, and emotional growth. #childpsychology #parentingtruths #gentleparenting #consciousparenting #respectfulparenting #innerchildhealing #emotionallyintelligentchild #schoolcounselormama #raisingresilientkids #momlife #cyclebreaker #mindfulmama #mentalhealthmatters #attachmentparenting

We've got room on our couch for you! This spot won’t stay empty for long… But right now, it’s waiting for your child and family. 💛

🎨 Immediate play therapy openings in Sioux Falls
🧸 A safe space to explore big feelings through play
👨‍👩‍👧 Parent-focused support woven into every step
💙 Trauma-informed, relationship-centered providers
🌱 Gentle, developmentally appropriate interventions

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Yes!!! Say it louder for the administrators out front.

Sadly...far too many early childhood programs have eliminated TRUE PLAY (aka: play that IS COMPLETELY driven and owned by the player)from their schedule and replaced it with way too much teacher directed time.

WHY?

Kindergarten Readiness

The absolutely non-developmentally appropriate push(SHOVE) down of meaningless academics onto children younger and younger has to stop!!!

ABC's and 123's (which, arguably a young child has NO USE OR NEED FOR) are replacing VITAL life skills like:

•Independent thinking
Independent thinkers are viewed as "a behavior problem". They are often viewed as children who don't listen.

•Perseverance
Due to rigid schedules(full of organized Kindergarten readiness activities), children are not given the time or the opportunity to persevere. Perseverance requires the opportunity to struggle. All too often:
1. Adults overly control children, eliminating any opportunity for a child to fail or struggle
2. When a child does struggle, adults fear that the struggle will lead to challenging behaviors so they rush in and solve the struggle
3. Children are not given the freedom nor time to have their own ideas. There are so many opportunities to persevere when you get to test your own ideas. Ideas take time. Fixing an idea that failed takes time AND perseverance. Accepting that an idea is won't work fosters another life skill: resilience.

•Critical Thinking:
Critical thinking requires curiosity, the need to know, the need to apply knowledge and see what happens, the need to form a thought or make a decision. This skill is developed through all the organic trials and errors of play. It is developed through the right to explore your own interests and ideas. It is formed through the freedom of applying one's own ideas to open-ended materials.
It is not formed when we are told what to do and how to do it.
It is fostered when children have ample time to attach their ideas to a room full of open-ended opportunities (not just one basket of loose parts, but an entire environment that is all considered "loose parts")

What is the very best way for children to develop not only this very small list of life skills, but SOOO many more?

By gifting them with AMPLE time to LEAD THEIR OWN PLAY.

What does "AMPLE TIME" mean? At LEAST five hours of a child's day SHOULD be led by THEIR PLAY.

NOTE: This is a very small list of the VITALLY important life skills that children are NOT developing when our goals are too focused on Kindergarten Readiness.

Please do not let Kindergarten Readiness block the bigger, much more important goal of preparing children for LIFE

Parenting does NOT get easier...

Take note! So many freebies for those young readers this summer 📚

Via