Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Importance of Summer Holiday Camps for Kids


Summer time is great fun for children who look forward to the school holidays and many times dreaded by the parents. Keeping the children busy and entertained while attending to the day to day work is always a challenge. Many parents depend on a day care in Dubai to care for their children while they are at work. Parents young and old deal with this issue year after year and await the start of a new school term in their children’s Dubai nursery more eagerly than children.
Have you thought of how best you can utilize the summer holidays for the children while making it fun and educational? Many childrens nursery in Dubai offer various activities during summer holidays to keep children engaged and entertained. Many of these may be art and craft programmes for a few hours or even less. But summer holiday camps for children organized by a childcare nursery in Dubai are not only packed with fun for many hours if not days but they are also a great way to help children learn many new skills.
If your children are addicted to the television and electronic games, a summer camp will help get them started on spending the day more physically active. Camps are packed with various activities which may include climbing, hiking, running, jumping and swimming. Camps will also help towards developing the children’s self-confidence by letting them experience success in various activities.
Camps will also help children conquer fears and gain resiliency. They will be encouraged to try new things again and again to enable them to endure various setbacks. The skills they develop at these camps will stay with them for a life time. From various adventure, sports and/or artistic skills children will be able to discover new activities and develop skills in what they are most interested in.
Children will grow to be more independent in making decisions and caring for themselves and others. Good social skills will also be grasped through interacting with others. Camps also sets a good environment for children to learn social skills, connect with nature and make new friends which having great fun.
If you are one of those parents at a lost on how to spend the children’s summer holidays it is worth considering engaging them in an engaging summer camp. Speak to your school today to find out what they have in store this summer.

Sunday, August 10, 2014

How the Brain Develops During Early Childhood


Early year’s education in Dubai is given much importance as the children go through important development stages during their time in nurseries in Dubai. All activities carried out in any kindergarten in Dubai is aligned with aiding the children to learn in line with their brain developments.

Many nurseries in Dubai are able to observe great improvements in the childrens abilities comparatively to the time they joined the nursery. They will have better abilities in understanding and speaking and handling equipment’s. This is all related to the brain developments they are going through which makes the children capable of many complex cognitive and behavioral abilities.

The brain as we know it contains a right cerebral hemisphere and a left. It has been researched for many years and found that skills and competence related to logic, writing, language, mathematics are located in the left side of the brain while skills related to artistry, creativity, music, fantasy are found in the right hemisphere. But even if the skills are found in different areas the brain masses generally coordinate and work together.

But the development of these two areas happens at different times. The left hemisphere is more likely to full develop during early childhood years of two – six. The right hemisphere would go through its development till childhood years of Seven – Eleven. As the left side develops earlier the skills in those areas are likely to predominate for long. This explains why children are able to learn languages fast in the early years.

Brain development also determines if the person will be left or right handed. Some never develop a preference for the hand and are known as ambidextrous. The brains left cerebral is known to be associated with right handedness and vice versa for left handedness.

Ever wondered why old children do certain behaviors that the young children are not capable of? This is related to the nervous system, which develops in two stages. The glial cells (nervous system support cells) surrounding the neurons are do the role of insulating, nourishing and removing waste from the neuron, these gradually develop through infancy to early childhood.

Speak to your nursery care givers today if you are concerned about any delays in your child development and activities done at the nursery. Proper guidance is vital at this early stage to help them develop at an ideal rate.  

Friday, July 11, 2014

The benefits of sending my child to day care


As parents who have a supportive network of friends, neighbours, or family to look after young children while they are at work, then you’re one of the lucky ones, who will not have to make the decision between day care or nanny. However, caring for your child at home is not an option, then the choice between nanny or day care can be a tough decision.

The most striking fact when choosing a nanny over day care, is that day cares are certified professional child care individuals who provide a stable environment for young children to be in. If you have never had a nanny before and have to hire a new one who will need to start caring for your child on short notice, you may not always find the right one, immediately. You may have to go through a few nannies before, you know your child is in safe hands, and this instability can leave your child confused emotionally, as she gets comfortable with one, when a new nanny replaces the old one.

Some nannies can be fun to be around with, and are in the habit or helping your child’s development needs along. They may give your child one-on-one attention, having fun learning activities planned for the whole day, but many do not do more than feeding, clothing, bathing and putting your child to sleep. Your child will certainly be well taken of, but they will not gain as much as being in a day care. When your child attends day care, they learn new things, develop their social skills, and make new friends.

Day care is structured, and works according to a schedule. A good structured schedule is beneficial to children in more ways than one. Having a set time to wake up means, they will fall asleep each night and have naps at the same time too. This also helps to prepare them for school, and additionally good sleeping habits for children promotes physical development and strong immune systems. Structure can be developed at home too, and although children as young as one, do not require routine, by the time they reach two, sending them to day care, will help them get ready for pre-kindergarten in Dubai.

Day cares prevent children from being depressed. If depression runs in your family, then leaving your child alone with a total stranger may lead them to linger in thoughts of loneliness and anguish till you return home. However, children who have a family history of depression are able to better cope with the condition as they are distracted from feeling lonely, when surrounded by children their own age and by taking part in activities.

One thing that all children need is space to run and play. In many cases, a child’s diet is different from that of us adults, and are mostly fed nutritious food that contains energy. Staying at home is certainly a good choice if they are provided with enough space to play in safely. Growing children do need an area to play in, which helps them to burn the energy they gain, strengthen muscles and bones.

If you have the choice to hire a nanny or choose a good day care, then there are other factors that you may need to consider, like costs of hiring a nanny vs. putting your child in day care, how many hours of the day does your child need to be taken care of, is it for the whole day or just a couple of hours, how reliable is the nanny compared to a day care, and most importantly would your child be comfortable alone in the hands of a nanny? Leaving your child at home with a nanny does have its benefits, but unless the nanny is passionate about caring for children, an approved day care with flexible hours will meet the child’s needs and keep them safe for you while you are away.

Kids Island and Cocoon Nurseries is an approved day and nursery in Dubai with teachers and care givers ready to take on the responsibility of caring for your child fulltime. Our nursery has a certified nurse on call for emergencies. In addition to looking after children, our facilities are designed for young children to learn things, play, and develop their own character and independence, while all their needs are met. If you are looking for a flexible day care in Dubai, drop by for a visit of our facilities with your toddler and explore our nurseries and talk to our team of loving child care professionals.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Encouraging Good behaviour


Kids Island Nursery and Cocoon Nursery in Dubai are professional early childhood educators in Dubai who lead by example. We encourage good behaviour by mimicking what we want children to follow. We are governed by the EYFS framework which guides our education activities, and the kind of educators we hire as your child’s caregiver. We believe that teaching children to behave positively means, we have to behave positively ourselves so children will follow.

Kids Island and Cocoon Nurseries leads by example, and we try to follow the right code of conduct in every situation. We understand that children are mainly influenced the actions of adults and not by our words, and therefore setting the right example is key to bringing up kind, considerate and compassionate children in Dubai.

Many parents say that at times, they are frustrated by the fruitless attempt to get their child to behave when out in social situations. And no amount of yelling out rules gets to them. Although we are inclined to correct our children at every corner, the best way to influence good behaviour is by modelling that behaviour in every situation. So if you want your child to say, “Please”, “Thank you”, and “May I?” we have to do the same when interacting with other adults and the children as well.

Our curriculum entails varied subject matters, but we include many learning opportunities to help children practice good manners. The stories we read are selected on good moral endings which help them see opportunities where others succeed by being nice. We include role plays, to encourage kindness to each other. We use role play and games to create situations where they can show off their good behaviour they learn. It is important that we teach and also let them practice.

The staff at Kids Island and Cocoon Nurseries in Dubai are trained to observe good behaviour and offer praise and encouragement as positive reinforcement. Children love to gain recognition for things they do, and by appreciating good behaviour, each time, children are motivated to keep at it.

We encourage many parents to try these simple steps at home too, and although at times, you may find yourself pulling your hair out in anger, it is always best to not show your frustration to your child and instead try the talking and reasoning method. If you find that your three year old is constantly drawing on important documents and presentations, they may repeat this action, because they think it’s funny, and also to get your attention. Furthermore, they are inclined to react the same way towards another sibling, should the same happen to them. Instead of yelling, sit down with him, and explain to him how important your work documents are, tell them how long it takes to complete, and how you would much rather spend that time with them at home. Children always want to know that they are the centre of your world, and by relating this fact to them, your young toddler will see to it that he never draws at the back of your project proposal again.

Our nurseries Dubai are centred around encouraging good behaviour as well as cultivating a need to learn.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Early Years Education Dubai


The first most important choice you make as a parent, is probably the hospital that your little one will be born at, but the next big decision comes when selecting a good day Care Dubai, at which your precious toddler will be spending a majority of the day at. A day care should mimic your home, allowing your child to feel comfortable. The teachers should be caring surrogate parents, who your child can turn to in your absence. Every child requires a safe environment, secure from dangers, surrounded by positive behavior, showered with love and it won’t hurt to have them learn and develop at the same time.
There are two types of day cares; one type that simply watches over your child while you work and the other will work to help your child develop as well as keep them safe and comfortable. The first, focuses solely on providing a safe haven for children to play and spend their time, while the parents work. The latter, is one that is structured, aims to improve language skills, math skills, and also plays a huge part in transforming your child into a well rounded, intelligent, social little person.
Kids Island Nursery strives to be a well rounded environment for children to play and learn. A comprehensive day care that focuses on the comfort and wellbeing, as well as the learning and developmental needs of every child, is one that follows protocol, has an open environment, accepts children and their differences, and welcomes parents ideas too. Children require plenty of stimulus and planned activities to develop successfully. Some of the most important developmental aspects would be language and communication, personal and social development, emotional and mental improvement, and intellectual understanding. When a child is given the right foundation to excel at the right pace, they become happy and successful members of social groups, are able to grasp information quite easily, and this type of day care benefits them in the long run throughout their schooling years.
Kids Island Nursery sets the right condition for Early Years Education Dubai whether it’s at our Nurseries in UAE for older children, or the day care for children from 6 months to 2 years. Our family of well trained professional teachers, child care personnel, or preschool educators, we remain on the same page when it comes to caring for your children; we nurture the right attitude, by setting a good example for children to follow. We have two different facilities; Kids Island Nursery and Cocoon Nurseries Dubai, are two nursery schools governed by EYFS; Early Years Foundation Stage education system, which is a comprehensive and effective protocol developed around the needs of children below six in the UK. EYFS is followed globally as a standard early education guideline for its versatile recommendations that accommodates each child as an individual, their personalities, difficulties, and cultural background.
Kids Island and Cocoon Nurseries is multi-cultural Child Care nursery Dubai, with teachers of various nationalities, with years of experience and specialized training in Nursery Education.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Discovering your Child's Hidden Talents

Children are eager learners and have a tremendous ability to display amazing talents early on. Child prodigies are a common phenomenon in any kind of society, one rich with resources and ones that offer nothing but a large dumpster. Children are able to display great amounts of curiosity in things around them, and as care givers we try our best to lead the road open for especially talented kids to discover themselves.

Kids Island Nursery functions in collaboration with EYFS (UK) in caring and educating young children in their first years of life. The standards and protocols of the EYFS framework that outlines our curriculum, and daily activities; demand creativity in our teaching methods.

The EYFS nursery system strategizes that children are unique and are not just bundles of joy, but are also bundles of immense talent, and power. By seeing children as individuals learning and discovering their own unique place in this world, the EYFS recommends that nursery activities reflect this of children.
There is a never a dull moment at our children’s day care and pre-kindergarten school in Dubai. We incorporate interesting and exciting activities that are meant to drive the sparkle in your child’s mind to learn and develop special skills.

Our daily plans includes the basics, of language, maths, numbers, and play time, but to ensure your child receives a well rounded bundle of stimulation, we include activities like free play, show and tell, art, storytelling, cooking, music, dance, theatre and various other fun activities that keep children engaged and active throughout the day.

We believe our daily learning plans should be outlined to accommodate different interests of children, in hopes that each child will find at least one thing they enjoy, which they may pursue as a talent or hobby for a life.

Along with mental and emotional developmental aspects, our days are filled basic sports activities that are child friendly and age appropriate. Our teachers allow children the freedom to discover their likes by encouraging freedom of expression.

Cultivating interest in learning and development is a process, a fun process, and interest cannot be forced. Keeping this in mind, and using the guidelines set forth by EYFS, our teachers constantly stay updated on the latest news and studies concerning early child development. EYFS emphasizes on using creative ways to teach children to help them develop their own unique set of skills.

We understand that children should have time to play and time to study & learn, making sure that kids can be kids without having to conform to expectations. Some children are born with special gifts, and an institute responsible for caring for young children, we take it upon ourselves to help them discover these hidden traits without ever feeling that they have to.

Many parents make the mistake of forcing young children into hours of training for one specific ability for whole days, in hopes that they may become child prodigies. This has been proven to leave children frustrated when they fail at these activities or have no interest in pursuing such interests. Find the right nursery, that offers children all the resources to develop, and possibly discover their interests while at school and still be able to come home and relax. Forced developments should be trust on children, as their love for a particular subject, or profound ability to succeed in special area, should be discovered naturally.
If you’re interested in visiting the Kids Island and Cocoon Nurseries, drop in with your child and explore our facilities, talk to our team of international teachers who will be more than happy to show you around, and answer any questions that you may have about early child development.

Monday, May 5, 2014

A healthy Preschooler

As preschools Dubai, Kids Island and Cocoon Nurseries are responsible for making sure that every student in our care is healthy and able to actively take part in their development. Keeping young toddlers free from infection and disease, is a joined effort of parents and teachers. Working together will ensure information is shared, hygiene practices perfected and the children themselves benefit from consistent guidelines from both environments.

Keeping your preschooler healthy is as important ensuring they reach certain milestones. You child will first start mingling with lots of other children when they first start Dubai day care or preschool. It is a time when they will catch illness, injure them and also strengthen their immune systems for the future. They become fussy eaters, cuts and bruises become an everyday cry. Whether at home or at school, they will be curious and touch everything, and sometimes even want to taste it all too.

It is not to say that you should keep your child locked up 24/7 so they are arms way from danger, but taking precautionary steps to help them overcome their injury if it happens, as well as take necessary steps to ensure they remain healthy is responsibility that falls on us adults.

Children are prone to illness and in most cases, catch it from each other at school or in the playground. Falling sick is common and necessary as they build their immune systems, gaining resistance to each disease as they grow older. If you feel your child is sick keep them at home, until they are not contagious and are well enough to attend to school. Preschool activities demand physical activity, which may exhaust a sick child greatly pushing him to relapse no sooner they are well again. Avoid being around your child, if you feel you may have caught something as well, hand over responsibility to the other parent for a day or two, and maintain high standards of hygiene when anyone in the family is sick.

Preventing disease is as important as curing it. Make sure you child understands the importance of washing their hands before and after eating, playing outside, or touching something that might be filled with germs will go a long way in disease prevention. Help your child learn the right way to wash their hands as well. This will help to educate and improve their own levels of personal hygiene even when not under your supervision.
Let them get lots of sleep at night as it strengthens their mind and body. Sleeping also helps to fight disease and infection, and a common cold or fever will break soon after a long nap.

Young children generally require between 10 and 12 hours of sleep every night. A short nap in the afternoon is a recommendation made by many paediatricians, as children actually tire easily and aren’t able to go long hours without actually taking a rest. Tired children become fussy eaters, have bad mood swings, can become angry and unwell quite easily.

A healthy diet inclusive of lots of fruits, vegetables, proteins, and water is important in a child’s diet. In modern times, many parents depend on take-away meals or quick-fixes to make up for the lack of time to cook wholesome well rounded meals at home. If you feel your family is not getting the required nutrients every day, make it a point to ensure your child has plenty of fruits and juices to snack on during the day, compensating during the weekend.

Some doctors recommend giving your preschooler a dose of multivitamins each day. But there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. So unless your toddler is a picky eater, has a iron deficiency, is lactose intolerant, or has some kind of food allergy, substituting vital minerals and vitamins with a supplement is a good move, but it is not necessary to give them whole doses of vitamins and minerals unless prescribed by your paediatrician.

Always consult your doctor for health advice when it comes to your toddler, but following a few good routines everyday to keep your child on the right track will do them a world of good.