Blog

The pandemic has changed so many things in our day-to-day lives, the list is endless. One of the most significan impacts of the pandemic has been on children and families, especially working families. Jobs that were once office-based are now "at home" positions and schools that were once bustling wi...

The "new normal" is a phrase that we are hearing frequently these days and explaining to children exactly what that means can be challenging. The typical day of a child has changed drastically and helping children cope with these changes is a task that all families are currently working on. Now that...

The life of a parent seems to change and evolve as the year pass. Parenting techniques and strategies seem to also change like the seasons. Setting limits with your children is something that has been a topic of conversation for many parents. The ability to say "no" to children seems to be something...

Normalcy was shaken and stirred 4 weeks ago when companies and schools shut down and most people's worlds were turned upside down. Parents who were once working in an office with other adult co-workers have found themselves working at home with their new little team of co-workers who are much more d...

Living in this current day and age has become filled with daily stresses, uncertainties, new responsibilities and limitations on living that we have never encountered before. All of this is true for every individual on the earth but especially for parents! A large majority of parents have had the p...

STEM has been a buzz word in the early childhood and school age level for some time now, but what does it mean?  What does it look like? What is STEM? STEM is an educational curriculum that focuses on science, technology, engineering, and math. Instead of teaching each of these subjects separately...

As parents and teachers, we often underestimate the change that children can make. At home, school, and in the community, children can be leaders in caring for the planet. Below are just a few examples of what you can do to encourage your child and yourself to help make our planet the best that it...

There are a great deal of benefits for young children when they engage in imaginative play.  Four significant benefits being: -          Social and emotional skills development -          Language development -          Cognitive development -          Development of symbolic thinking Whil...

Key Children's Development When teaching is extended outside the classroom by parents it creates a more positive experience for the children as well as helping their performance and growth in the classroom Having a strong home to school connection is a key component to help further children's de...

Numerous working parents around the world are faced with the dilemma of choosing a childcare provider for their children.  It goes without saying that parents want what's best for their children and deciding what that is can be rather challenging. The two common types of care that are seen to...

    Every day, millions of children will laugh, learn, and play at one of the thousands of child care facilities across the United States.  Daycare is a great option both for parents who have busy work schedules and for their children who can gain from daycare's many benefits.  A good...

Choosing the Right Daycare Center Looking for a daycare center that you can trust? Whether looking for a pre-school, nursery, or daycare, every parent is probably a bit nervous about finding appropriate childcare. Though most childcare centers will have your child's best interest in mind, it is...

If You Are Expecting, It's Not Too Early to Start Looking for Child Care. If you're expecting and worried about when you need to start looking for child care, the answer is probably going to be "yesterday." Child care centers, pre-schools, and nursery schools in the U.S. fill up early. But somet...

              Our preschool friends in Canandaigua love to be active, so we find creative ways to get them moving.  In the activity, "Lumbering for Letters," our friends would lumber like a bear to find "food," which was a letter, to bring back to the cave. During this movement center, the...

Art is always a favorite of our toddler friends at the Henrietta Center!  Since we do art every day we like to be creative and keep it interesting.  When our theme was Healthy Food, why not paint with fruit and vegetables instead of brushes?  We used broccoli with green paint, carrots with orange...

The infants at the Canandaigua Center love practicing their balancing skills! They will climb on the mats and stand on different materials to practice balancing. One of the infants' favorite activities is creating a wide balance beam out of giant wooden blocks. They will step up on the blocks and...

Miss Gina, our Kitchen Manager at the Henrietta Center, occasionally chooses a child or two to help pass out the afternoon snack!  The children love helping and get very excited if they are chosen to be the helper!  They even get to wear an apron! The children learn so much while doing this activi...

              The song "Going on a Bear Hunt" is a hit in one of the toddler rooms in Greece.  After paying attention to what the teacher was doing, the toddlers were quick to catch on in doing the movements and singing the song.  Listening and following directions are acquired skills.  Sin...

The Greece preschool children enjoy playing Uno with their teacher.  It is during this time that they engage in conversations; they discuss the rules of the game, settle disputes, talk about colors, and focus on counting.  Children are very competitive in the preschool room and like to see their tea...

The Canandaigua infants love playing in the ball pit. They will dive in and have fun. They love to swim and crawl through the balls. They even have fun tossing the balls around. Ball pits provide children with a number of opportunities to foster learning. Playing in a ball pit allows the children...

Every August Miss Shannon, our Director, plans an end of the summer surprise. This year she rented a bounce house with a slide! The children are amazed when they see the large, colorful bounce house come to life on the playground (they also like watching it deflate)! We're so happy we have a large...

Our infants in the Greece program show how exploring paint can engage their interest and stimulate learning!  Their teachers cut pieces of construction paper and drop dabs of pain on them inside of zip-lock bags.  This provides the babies a safe way to explore and manipulate the paint. The childr...

  While learning about what lives under the sea, the Canandaigua preschoolers talked about  fish, whales, starfish, mermaids, and scuba divers. There are a lot of living creatures in the ocean!  On the last day of ocean week, the teachers helped to dress up the children who were interested as merma...

Young children find great pleasure in water play on warm days! At the Henrietta center, the teachers plan it for them at least once a week in the summer months! To encourage creative play, a variety of toys and materials are put into the water, including plastic animals, feathers, pouring/squirting...

The Greece toddlers enjoyed a week themed 'Carnival Week' over the summer!  A variety of new and different activities were offered.  These included taking funny pictures at the photo booth, playing games of toss the ball, and making homemade lemonade snow cones!  Great fun and many laughs were enjoy...

In the toddler room at the Canandaigua center, marble painting is a favorite art experience!  Marbles and paint are put into a low plastic pan with a piece of paper on the bottom.  The children then practice their shaking as they all say "shake, shake, shake" together!  When the shaking is done, a u...

All children thoroughly enjoy and benefit from outside play!  The Henrietta toddlers are no exception as outside play is one of their favorite activities! While outside, the toddlers are not only having fun, but working on their gross motor skills.  They are running, jumping, climbing, playing with...

Reading is important any time of the year, but especially during summer when school is out of session for the older children!  After a busy morning of active games, cooking projects, outdoor challenges, water play, competitions and art projects, there is a time for the school-agers to engage in quie...

Infants love music and making noise! At the Canandaigua center, our infants have lots of fun making their own music with a variety of materials. The babies play music on pots and pans with wooden spoons and also use shakers for some added rhythm. As the music is playing, teachers talk about what is...

Celebrating milestones is one of the many fun things we do at Care-a-lot! Many children join Care-a-lot when they are only infants and it's our great pleasure and privilege to watch them learn and grow through the years. One of the biggest milestones that we celebrate with families is graduation day...