
Parents as Teachers Newsletter
November 2022

WE NEED YOUR HELP!
National Parents as Teachers Day is November 8!
National Parents as Teachers Day is November 8, 2022 and we want to recognize our Parent Educator and their work they do with families through YOUR FAMILY'S story. We will be compiling your testimony, pictures, and/or videos into a video to surprise the Parent Educators on November 1, 2022.
Please submit your appreciation to your Parent Educator no later than Monday, October 31, 2022. You may submit them at this link: Shout out to your Parent Educator
If you would like to submit PICTURES or VIDEOS of your family and/or child, please e-mail those with YOUR NAME, PARENT EDUCATOR, and the media to: Leanne.Hilligas@nkcschools.org
Navigating visits during winter weather and illnesses
As we head into the winter months it can become a tricky time for home home visitors. Parent educators and families are faced with an increased exposure to illness. Due to the nature of our job and visiting multiple homes in day we want to ensure we are not taking illnesses from one home to the next. Parent educators also have an added challenge of navigating to homes during winter weather.
There will be times when visits need to be cancelled, however our goal as parent educators is to keep as many appointments as possible. Our number one priority is keeping your family healthy and safe.
HONORING THE APPOINTMENT
We know you have set aside an hour of your time to meet with us and we want to honor the time you are giving us. Your parent educator has also blocked out time in their schedule to meet with you and we ask you to honor that as well. When visits get pushed back, it may be 4-6 weeks before being rescheduled. These delays create challenges in providing continued supports for helping your child meet their goals by the end of the year.
ALTERNATE VISIT OPTIONS
Before you cancel a visit we ask that you please consider switching to a virtual visit. One good thing that came out of COVID was learning we don't have to be in-person to make a great connection with you and your family. Your parent educator is very skilled in meeting virtually as well as in person!! Depending on the situation they may drop off materials needed for the visit ahead of time, send you a list of items to gather from around your home, or they may play some games that don't need any materials at all! Virtual visits may also provide you with and extended time to chat one-on-one with your parent edcuator.
ILLNESS
Please switch to a virtual visit if you are someone in your home has experienced any of the symtpoms below within 24 hours.
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Congestion or runny nose
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Sore throat
- Rash
WINTER WEATHER / SCHOOL CLOSURES
Road conditions can vary wildly across the district during snow says. Your parent educator will work with you on a case by case basis to determine if the visit can still be held in person or if it needs to switch to virtual.
If you have any quesitons please chat with your parent educator or call me at 816-321-6530.
Thank you,
Jennifer Hansen
Lead Parent Educator
GROUP CONNECTIONS
Upcoming events
November 10, 6:00-7:30 PM Conscious Discipline (dinner provided, limited child care) See flyer below for details and to sign up
December 6th, Speech and Language Development presented by Meghan Sheldon, NKC SLP (virtual)
- 5:30-6:15 From Babbling to Sentences; Supporting language development in infants, toddlers and two's. Click here to join
- 6:30-7:15 Speech? Language? What is typical and when should I be concerned about my preschooler? Click here to join
February 23rd, 5:30-7:30 Romp and Stomp at the EEC
March 14th 5:30-7:30 PM Early Childhood Resource Fair at the EEC
Touch a Truck Was a Success
- The Reading Rocket
- Gladstone Police Department
- Gladstone Fire Department
- Gladstone Public Works
- Gladstone Animal Control
- Jim's Disposal
- Mrs. Clean
- BNSF Railroad
- NKC Schools Transportation Department
- Assisted Transportation
- Harvesters
- McCown Gordon
We loved seeing so many families out enjoying the weather thorughout the morning! We captured a few pictures but would love to see yours as well. If you posted pics on Facebook or Twitter please add #NKCPAT and share your fun moments with us!
Tips to Keep Your Kids Healthy This Fall and Winter
It might be a little cooler outside now that summer is over, but that shouldn’t mean fall is simply a time to hibernate away and fear that everyone will catch flus and colds. It can certainly be a challenge to keep children healthy during the fall and winter months. However, using this information might make it a little bit easier and small changes you can make may protect your child, and other children, from catching a cold or the flu. These tactics can also help reduce the intensity of an illness.
A child’s healthy development relies on the freedom to play, learn, and grow all year round and a parent shouldn’t shy away from letting their kids be carefree. However, it is important that you keep up good practices to prevent them from catching viruses as much as possible. Plus you don’t want them bringing a bug back home to the entire family.
If you want more information on 5 Simple Tips for Keeping Little Ones Healthy check out the link from Mom Collective at orlando.momcollective.com
- Up Their Fruit and Veg Intake
- Teach Them Good Hygiene
- Establish a Good Sleep Routine
- Still Encourage Outside Play
- Don’t Forget About Mental Health Too
FALL FUN
Check Out Some of These Books
STAYING SAFE
Charlie's House Safety Information
Our Mission: To prevent accidents and injuries to children in and around the home.
Unintentional injuries remain a crucial public health concern as they persist as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children. More than 9.2 million children are treated in emergency departments for nonfatal injuries. Sadly, accidents and injuries claim the lives of 12,000 children and adolescents yearly. Unfortunately, it can happen to anyone, anywhere, and in a matter of seconds.
There is a solution.
Explore the link below for tips and tricks for your family!
What is World Nursery Rhyme Week?
Founded by Music Bugs and launched in 2013, World Nursery Rhyme Week promotes the importance of nursery rhymes in early childhood development and education.
Over 5 million children from 113 countries have taken part since 2013. The initiative is open to parents, Early Years practitioners and anybody who works with children under the age of 7.
The Rhyme A Day Challenge
Each year, we choose 5 rhymes and encourage children to take part in our ‘Rhyme a Day’ challenge by singing the nursery rhymes and taking part in supporting activities.
The 5 official rhymes for 2022 are:
The Big Ship Sails
1,2,3,4,5
Five Little Speckled Frogs
BINGO
Twinkle Twinkle
Nursery rhymes are excellent teaching tools and can help to develop:
- language and literacy skills
- numeracy skills
- social, physical and emotional skills – they are so much fun!
You can register for this event here:
CONSCIOUS DISCIPLINE CORNER
November I Love You: Ritual Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
Hold child’s hands raised up above head & wiggle fingers together
What a wonderful child you are!
Adult hands on child’s shoulders & child’s hands on adult’s shoulders
With bright eyes & nice round cheeks,
Using index fingers, adult touches near child’s eyes then cheeks
Talented person from head to feet.
Take child’s hands and swing them up high and down low
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
Hold child’s hands raised up above head & wiggle fingers together
What a wonderful child you are!
End with a hug
Click the star to the right to see a video of a family signing this
Why does everything turn into a power struggle?
People create power struggles when they feel powerless. With young children, power struggles often occur after giving the child a command or when the child is tired, hungry or otherwise stressed. Knowledge of child development, connection and active calming will help you to lessen power struggles.
Child Development
- Before age six, children process information 12 times slower than adults. We must slow down our speech and give only one or two commands at a time. If we speak at a normal pace and say, “Finish your snack, get your crayons and go color in the TV room.” The child may only process bits of information, hearing “crayons color the TV.”
- The brain is a pattern-seeking device. The more consistent your routines, the easier it is for the brain to pick up the pattern. If there is a consistent routine, the brain picks up the pattern, the child feels safe, and his neurological resources can be used for learning and exploration rather than for protection, and power struggles lessen.
Connection
- Research indicates that the motivation to behave comes from being in a relationship and that five minutes a day of focused play with children ages five and under reduces power struggles by 50%.
- Ten minutes of I Love You Rituals per day will improve a child’s motivation and willingness, and decrease power struggles. If you don’t use I Love You Rituals, be certain to make time daily for specific, focused bonding activity you can share.
Active Calming
- The absolute key for staying in control of yourself and helping to avoid power struggles is active calming. In Conscious Discipline, I call it “being a S.T.A.R.,” which stands for Smile, Take a deep breath, And Relax.
- Three deep breaths will turn the stress response off in the body. Once you are able to regulate your inner state through deep breathing, you obtain access to the highest centers of your brain. While you are taking these deep breaths, affirm to yourself, “I’m safe. I feel calm. I can handle this.” These words are chosen based on research: They unhook you from the survival center of your brain and plug you into the rational part of your brain.
Now you can respond calmly in the face of a power struggle, and access your inner wisdom to come up with solutions rather than entering into the fray. Practice active calming in your life and teach it to your children. Read Sophie is a S.T.A.R. over and over so this deep breathing technique becomes second nature. Demonstrate being a S.T.A.R. when you’re having a difficult time, and help your child learn to do the same!
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Thank you!
With Veteran's Day on November 11th, we wanted to extend our gratitude to our families who served or are serving in the Armed Forces. Thank you to our Veterans!
Social Media and #NKCPAT
We need your help spreading the word about all the great work happening in Parents as Teachers. When you post pictures of your family having a great time at a Group Connection or engaged in an activity during a personal visit, we would love it if you'd add #NKCPAT.
Speaking of #NKCPAT...did you know we are on Facebook, and Twitter? Click the links at the bottom of the newsletter to follow us. You'll find great parenting tips, updates on events, and connections to the community every week!
NKC Schools Parents as Teachers
Email: jennifer.hansen@nkcschools.org
Website: https://www.nkcschools.org/Page/699
Location: 6479 North Prospect Avenue, Gladstone, MO, USA
Phone: 816-321-5453
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NKCParentsAsTeachers
Twitter: @NKCPAT