April 1, 2021 by Christopher Hooker

What Is STEAM & Why Does It Matter?

Welcome to Creekside’s blog for April! We hope you and your family have had a good March and a restful Spring Break together. We spent time during the break organizing and cleaning our toys, books, and materials. We’ve cleaned the classroom thoroughly, and we hope to continue with our track record of excellent health among our staff and students. Mr. Mike has been busy sanitizing and cleaning the entire school, and we are all looking forward to a wonderful and healthy spring.

This month we’re looking at the importance of STEAM over STEM educational models and how that factors in for your child’s experience at Creekside Kids.

STEM is the push for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics in our schools. Giving kids the basics they need to understand and excel at STEM subjects is excellent but often takes the creativity, passion, and inspiration out of learning. The STEM movement came out of a national trend pushing for more students to go to college and not consider trades or other career paths. Many high schools dropped their vocational programs and work-study programs during the rise of the STEM movement. In the past few years, there has been a big push to bring vocational programs back, and high schools have formed some creative partnerships with corporations and junior colleges in response. Your children, who are at the beginning of their educational careers, will benefit from this improved and more broad approach.

By adding the Arts (A) to the STEM model and making it arts influenced, educators have restored the creative and inspirational pieces. If you take a moment, you can see how art involves math and science, so we should not exclude art from a STEM curriculum. No matter what study and career path your child chooses, your child needs to be inspired and creative. To take it a step further, even Physical Education has science– the physics of making a slam dunk, hitting the home run, and even the biology and mechanics of the human body. At Creekside Kids, we do not have a formal PE program, but we encourage age-appropriate physical activity and plenty of fresh air. Young children need to be outdoors daily. Did you know children need approximately three hours (or more) of outdoor sunlight to help their eyes develop properly? At Creekside Kids, we are taking a holistic approach to your child’s development, and the A in the STEAM model is essential to us.

Kids often don’t have enough expressive language skills to thoroughly discuss their thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of the world. Science is a kind of language, as is mathematics which is often described as the universal language. Art is a language, too. It is another way to help children speak, demonstrate what they understand about the world and how they feel about their place in it. At Creekside Kids, we enjoy asking the children about their drawings and their creations. Sometimes the children surprise us with very in-depth explanations for what looks like scribbles to an adult. Often, their artwork reflects their curiosity, their interests, and their emotional development. When asked about their work, the children can be quite articulate, allowing us to have a peek into their minds. It helps us plan our child-centered curriculum.

One of the most important questions we ask our students is, “Can you tell me about this?” and then to be quiet and listen. Asking a few follow-up questions shows them we care, consider their thoughts and feelings to be of significance, and are interested in them. This is the basis of love, and children need to love their teachers, parents, family and know that they are loved back in order to grow well.

In The Reggio Emilia philosophy, we speak about the Hundred Languages of Children. It’s the idea that children communicate in many ways other than words. Our job as educators is to provoke them to continue growing and learning and observing them and reading them–including their artistic products, body language, words, and behaviors. We believe that a holistic approach to guiding children is the best approach.

March 1, 2021 by Christopher Hooker

How To Enjoy Spring Break with Preschoolers

Welcome to the March blog for Creekside kids! We’re thinking about staycationing in Colorado Springs. How do you plan a spring break locally that your kids will enjoy and appreciate later on?

There are many wonderful activities around Colorado Springs if you want to have a great time and still stay within a short drive of home. Rather than suggest a selection of places to spend your time adventuring, I’d like to present you with five guidelines for sharing your spring break with your kids:

Don’t over plan the day. There may be a brilliant opportunity to see something unique or do something you remember doing as a child, and that may inspire you to cram in a lot of “significant moments” for your kids. But if you push your kids from event to event, they will want to escape. Keep it easy, breezy, simple, with events planned around the things they need in their schedule, like food, potty breaks, and naps.
Plan for naps. Naps are essential when doing things they might find exciting or stimulating! They need the rest, and they need to come out of that rest knowing that everything is still okay for them.
Expect meltdowns. If you are taking your kids out of their routine for something special, they may throw some pretty epic tantrums. The excitement and new things can bring out the worst in them because they aren’t their adult selves yet. They’re too young to appreciate the experience as finite and repeatable. Remember that they are each their own little bucket of neurosis and id. They may have a great time and then see a sibling have a great time and feel cheated somehow. Don’t take it personally if they become unreasonable. Remember that new things are difficult for them to process, and they may need more time and assurance from you.
Always have snacks. Activities and significant walking distances require snacks! Be sure to keep them on hand, and for yourself, too. You’re only human, and you need the energy, also.
Don’t forget to look after yourself. I recently took a trip back east to see my family, and on the airplane, the flight attendants went through their safety precautions. They noted that in the awful event that the cabin pressure drops in an aircraft and the oxygen masks fall, you should put your mask on first before helping someone else put their own on. You don’t need food and rest as much as your kids do, but you still need them. Always remember that self-care is also a part of organizing a great experience.

We hope your Spring Break is a great time with your kids. Things will not go according to plan, but you may just have a good time that they will remember for years between the struggles of parenting.

February 1, 2021 by Christopher Hooker

Guiding your child through superhero movies

Welcome to February! This month, we continue our November discussion about superhero play and how kids can potentially misuse it without proper guidance. It also tells us about a child’s emotional state.

So much of what happens in a superhero movie is mythic iconography. Subliminally, these elements work to move adults into the story and play on their emotional hotspots. However, kids can also pick up on these messages but are not fully able to understand the nuance. As a result, stories written mostly for adults are also resonating with children in very limited ways. And as writers elevate the material, the line between hero and villain becomes blurred and difficult to understand. As an example: do kids who love Venom, the Spider-Man villain-turned-hero, know and understand that heroes are not supposed to eat enemies? Children can more easily grasp a character like Batman who is consistently the good guy but characters who change from bad to good or vacillate between the two are confusing to young children.

Our kids will have the most trouble understanding superheroes: what is real and what is fantasy. A narrator does not step out into AVENGERS: ENDGAME and explain that there are no absolute heroes and no major villain to worry about in real life. That’s where parents and caregivers can be guides. Beginning at around age 4, children become far more aware of the dangers in the world around them and begin to worry about them. At 4 years, children often act out stories in which their mommy has died and the child has to cope without a mommy. They begin playing chase with the new elements of superheroes or good guy/bad guy themes because they have gained a new awareness that there are dangers in the world and they worry about these dangers.

Being the Narrator Our Kids Need

As parents and caregivers, we know a superhero story is a story that makes us feel secure about our chances of survival, about the importance of our best values, and the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. For our children, we have to be that narrator and explain that there is no Joker and no Batman, but there are a few people in the world that may want to harm people, as well as lots of people that will try to protect us from harm. We can focus on the real heroes in our world (police, fire fighters, doctors and nurses, etc.) to help ease their vague and only partially understood fears and feelings of powerlessness. They have only recently left toddlerhood and they are recognizing that the world is a very big place and that they are very small. They need to know they are safe and that they have a security net.

What about those kids that consistently choose to play the bad guy? Some kids will find themselves gravitating exclusively to the villain’s role, and while it can be upsetting to a parent to realize that your child is a bit too drawn to the darker characters and the violent play, we can think of it as the child acting out some of his/her fears and stressors in order to process them. It is a sign that the child is processing deeper thoughts about power and control, safety and security, and their awareness that the world holds dangers. If your child is constantly playing the bad guy it is time to explore the role of bad guy and why your child is identifying so strongly with it.

We all have a light and dark side. It’s very normal for a child to play both good and bad guys and it’s normal to go through a mild bad guy phase. A big part of understanding a child’s choice is to watch how he/she plays. Does the child use his/her play to scare other children or make them feel threatened or uncomfortable? This is a sign that a child has social/emotional needs that are not being met and need attention. It could be just a simple misunderstanding of what it means to play the villain. Children understand rules, and they understand roles. Without guidance, they are quick to parrot the mythic structure of comic book stories, which, as we mentioned in November, is in part based on the tropes of wrestling and it’s easy for kids to get carried away.

However, it is also possible that they may be latching onto the violent narrative of an adult comic book to process their unrecognized feelings and fears and are harming or scaring classmates as a result. If the child likes playing the Batman villain Bane and tries to wrestle another child against their will, it is time to stop the “play” and explain the importance of the role and how it harms other people. It’s important that children understand that villains are villains, that they are selfish characters taking unfair advantage in society, and not heroes in their own right.

As a villain, their ultimate place in the narrative is to be defeated, but they still have to play by the school rules: no touching and no aggressive ‘near-missing’ (which can turn into accidents). To perfect a villain’s role, they must learn to understand why villains almost always nearly win, only to lose. While they may be attracted to a particular villain’s iconography, a villain’s role is to be defeated by the heroes and heroines, and they have to find a way to present a play-threat (not a real threat) and to be surprised and ultimately defeated by the heroes.

If a parent or caregiver has concerns, the best thing to do is talk to their child about their play. Ask your child what he/she likes about the character and why he/she likes to play it. They may feel pressured into a role and take it too far out of frustration that they cannot be the hero they most like because another child has already claimed that role. It may be that they are processing fears and insecurities by trying to be controlling and powerful. Play along with them using action figures or dolls, and help them work out how to make their performance safe but fun for others, and how to insist on playing a hero when they want to be the hero.

Remember, there are thousands of superhero characters available– and for every Marvel icon, there is a corresponding DC icon. If Supergirl was already claimed, the child could always be Power Girl, or Captain Marvel, or Atom Eve. If the child wants to be Batman and someone has already claimed Batman, there’s Captain America, or Moon Knight, or The Question. There is room for every child to pick an iconic role that expresses their heroic alter-ego.

With Great Play Comes Great Responsibility

The most important element for kids to know in order to enjoy superhero play are the rules of the playground they are in and the structure of what a superhero story is. Heroes stand up for what is right, protect the weak and the strong, and tell the truth. Villains threaten the weak, exploit advantage, and lie. Actual violence, or the threat of violence, is unacceptable in play. For the adults, the number one concern is the physical safety of the children while allowing them to explore the world of good guy/bad guy play but it’s very important to understand the social/emotional function of this type of play and to be responsive to it.

January 1, 2021 by Christopher Hooker

The Things We Are Grateful For at the Dawn of 2021

Welcome to 2021!

2020 was a terrible year from many perspectives, with civil unrest, murder hornets, wildfires, the COVID19 pandemic, and the associated problems (food and toiletry shortages, layoffs, homelessness) all conspiring to make our lives difficult. It’s easy to focus on the hardships and struggles of the past year.

It’s very easy to be negative, in the face of bad things happening. And it takes courage to be positive in the light of hard times. Right now, our kids need us to model resiliency and confidence as we fight our way through the troubles we’re facing. It’s a good time for our kids to see that even when things get bad, coming together as a family with optimism and determination have transformative powers. We are modeling this for the children in our care each day.

We at Creekside have a lot to be thankful for as we close the door on 2020. We’ve managed to retain much of our staff, despite our numbers dropping off as families moved, worked from home and struggled to stay safe in the time of COVID19. We are still offering flexible customized scheduling for our families and are happy that our families like that convenience. We’re so happy to see everyone, glad we are open again, and glad parents are getting back to work, moving our lives closer and closer to the sense of normalcy we once had.

We have managed to remain COVID19 free (knock on wood), and we continue to maintain high safety standards at Creekside. This is not just due to the staff. It also comes from the good practices towards hygiene our parents are teaching their children and our children are bringing into the school. We are grateful to be able to be a part of the education and growth of your wonderful, imaginative, terrific children. For that, we are most grateful.

Thank you for continuing to put your trust in us as partners in your child’s development. If your children aren’t currently enrolled, and you’d like to discuss a place at Creekside Kids for your child, we’d like to invite you to schedule an appointment. Let’s get to know each other! We’re located at 1201 W. Cheyenne Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80906, and we can be reached at (719) 635-9111. Our normal hours of operation are 6:30 AM until 5:45 PM, Monday through Friday; however, we have a shortened schedule during COVID of 7:00 AM to 5:30 PM.

December 1, 2020 by Christopher Hooker

Holidays in the Time of Crisis

Photo by Prateek Gautam of Unsplash

As December is the calendar end of the year for most of the northern hemisphere, this month holds many rituals and traditions associated with the ending of the cycle and the beginning of a new one. The winter solstice (December 21st) arrives when our hemisphere is tilted away from the sun and reaches its most extreme angle.

Experts agree that ‘rituals foster a sense of belonging and identity and are especially important for children with insecure attachments. Children from families with meaningful rituals do better academically and socially.‘ The people of Colorado Springs have several traditional observations to mark the end of the year. Of course, there are the commercial/secular and spiritual aspects of Christmas, as we celebrate the hope of salvation in new life. Still, there’s also spirituality and steadfast faith in Hanukkah’s Festival of Lights that our candles will hold out, and in Kwanzaa, which celebrates family unity in the creation of new traditions to replace those deep cultural rituals lost to the evils of slavery.

All three of these holidays center around survival against oppression and terrible odds. They are moved from their natural place on the calendar to mark a time when we most need to remind ourselves that the long nights of December will soon pass as Mother Earth tilts back into position slowly, and Spring returns in a few more months.

With the advent of COVID19, we’ve had to let go of many traditional rituals that sustain us and guide and comfort our children, like trick-or-treating in October, or large extended-family meals for Thanksgiving, to protect our kids and each other. These traditions are essential for children and families, and as we lose them, we must take care to replace them, using the spiritual core of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa to guide us in how to do this. Even if your family is not particularly religious, there are many elements of these holidays which can help your family bond during these strange times.

Rituals are an essential part of child development. The American Academy of Pediatrics calls our rituals’ powerful organizers of family life that offer stability during times of stress and transition’. 2020 would certainly be categorized as a time of stress and change. Human beings need the rhythms in our life to remember how to dance through the dark hours. As parents, our children need to see us dancing, and cherishing the rituals and traditions of the season. The children need to know that even though things are hard now, we believe everything will be fine.

As we reach the end of the darkest days of the year and reach a new beginning with the promise of spring, let’s work to create stronger rituals and develop deeper connections with our children. The simplicity of being at home more with our families and being more present when celebrating holidays is good for children. Consider adding some of these rituals from across the world as things you can do to see out a hard year on a positive note, with a teaching moment for good measure:

Martinmas: a celebration of a patron saint of France, St. Martin du Tours, that teaches kids the value of sharing and sheltering with each other so that we all survive and thrive. If your family is not religious just take the message of sharing and sheltering each other and run with it.
Santa Lucia Day: a special ceremony of making bread that reminds us that there’s enough for everyone and that we all can take part in the ritual of looking after each other. The religious aspect can be honored or removed to suit your family’s needs.
The Spiral of Light: a tradition to mark the Winter Solstice in seeing out the darkest day of the year. This is a great way to sneak in an astronomy lesson and to celebrate the coming of more light each day.

We hope that whatever rituals you and your family see out 2020 with, you enjoy them together and in safety this year. If you’d like to discuss a place at Creekside Kids for them, we’d like to invite you to click this embedded link to schedule an appointment. Let’s get to know each other! We’re located at 1201 W. Cheyenne Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80906, and we can be reached at (719) 635-9111. Our normal hours of operation are 6:30 AM until 5:45 PM, Monday through Friday; however, we have a shortened schedule during COVID of 7:00 AM to 5:30 PM.

What Is STEAM & Why Does It Matter?

How To Enjoy Spring Break with Preschoolers

Guiding your child through superhero movies

The Things We Are Grateful For at the Dawn of 2021

Holidays in the Time of Crisis

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