Parents Archives - Page 6 of 6 - Little Cedars Day Nursery

Childcare, Early Years, Early Years Education, Nurseries, Nursery, Parents, Pre-schools, Preschool, Preschoolers, Reading, Streatham, SW16, Under-5s

THIS is Why You Should Read With Your Child

In April last year, we published a compelling article about the importance of parental involvement in the education of children. In today’s, we study the specific importance of reading with children and how doing so profoundly benefits those children. What’s more, those benefits have long-term positive effects on the education and outcomes for those children …

First, a Clarification

First, parents need to know that the biggest positive impact from reading is when parents read with children, not just to them. So, in other words, both parent and child need to be involved in the task of reading, in an interactive kind of way. In so doing, for example, the parent can be there to help the child tackle tricky words, perhaps pointing out individual syllables, how something should be pronounced, how it should be spelt, why certain things are spelt the way they are, and so on. As time goes by, those children will learn and begin to recognise the ‘shape’ of whole words, which will become more familiar to them and allow them to be instantly ‘computed’ by the child as they begin to read more often. This interactive help from the parent or carer will teach children the methodology as well as helping them directly with letter combinations, syllables, phonetics, etc.

The biggest positive impact from reading is when parents read with children, not just to them.

Some Obvious Benefits of Reading with Children

Reading with children also makes the task less daunting, particularly for the youngest children. Reading together also makes it more interesting and more fun. When it’s more interesting and more fun, the child is going to enjoy it more and naturally want to read more often — eventually independently — and all of that is priceless as part of their education and general knowledge going forwards. Reading can also bring parent and child closer through the time spent together. It can be great fun for the adult too, particularly when the child gets older and adults are exposed to classic children’s books that perhaps they were not, themselves, exposed to when they were young.

Fiction Books

Reading with children teaches them about English, spelling, punctuation, grammar, vocabulary, phonetics, comprehension and pronunciation. The regular and varied subject matter also helps children to open up their imaginations. This in turn will help them to become more creative, more imaginative individuals. This is true whether the reading material is fiction or non-fiction.

Non-Fiction Books

When it comes to non-fiction reading, of course there are a myriad of benefits to the child as they will be learning about many other topics along the way. So, reading carefully-selected factual material together will teach and benefit them on many levels. When they’re older, of course, this will help them to pinpoint and better comprehend relevant sections of text books when answering homework assignments.

Profound Additional Benefits of Reading With Children

Socio-economic Impacts

Sadly, children from lower socio-economic backgrounds are statistically shown to perform less well then those from higher socio-economic backgrounds. Parents reading with children, however, has been proposed as a solution to this deficit — it may well even up the playing field, which is incredible when you think about it. Indeed, research shows that children who do not receive reading help from parents are highly likely to perform worse at school and to end up with poorer outcomes in life. Again, that’s a profoundly important finding.

Children who do not receive reading help from parents are highly likely to perform worse at school and to end up with poorer outcomes in life.

The Nuffield Foundation Study

The Nuffield Foundation’s mission is to advance social wellbeing and educational opportunity. In a partnership with the University of Newcastle, the foundation funded a deep study¹ using data going back 40 years. Its findings are astonishing. When adults read regularly with children throughout their early years, it was found that the children’s language skills were improved by the equivalent of 8 months. This was for children aged, on average in the study, just 3¼ years old. That’s virtually in the middle of their early years education, so an 8-month leap in language skills at that incredibly young age is amazing when you think about it.

Adults reading regularly with children throughout their early years was found to boost the children’s language skills by the equivalent of 8 months.

Conclusion

The benefits gained from parents reading with children, particularly in their early years, are clear to see. Reading boosts so many areas of a child’s education and the benefits are even greater when parents oversee and help with that reading. So, if you want your child to hit the ground running with their learning and development, read with them from an early age. Their comprehension, vocabulary, language skills, creativity, use of English, reading itself and overall literacy and knowledge of a wide variety of topics will benefit enormously. So too will their skills of empathy, their ability to express themselves, creativity and imagination. What’s more, by the time they leave nursery or pre-school, they’ll be even better prepared to hit the ground running by the time they start school at age 5. And many will also learn to love books and this can only help to benefit them further and enrich their lives as they grow older.

If you want your child to hit the ground running with their learning and development, read with them from an early age.

Reading at Little Cedars Nursery, Streatham

It will come as no surprise, therefore, to learn that we put all of the above into practice at Little Cedars Nursery in Streatham. Getting closely involved in children’s reading, using a huge variety of reading material in an interactive way, gives our nursery children the very best start in life. Indeed, our childcare professionals prepare them thoroughly for school by the time they leave us. They take with them reading, writing, literacy, language, vocabulary and self-expression skills in the process — and all this accomplished at least in part through guided reading.

If you’d like to consider the possibility of a place for your baby or child at Little Cedars Nursery in Streatham, please get in touch while we still have a few places available. We’re a nursery and pre-school offering outstanding weekday childcare near Streatham Hill, Streatham Common, Streatham Park, Upper Tooting, Tooting Bec, Tooting Common, Furzedown & Balham in London SW16.

Apply for a Place Arrange a Visit Message Us 020 8677 9675

25 February 2021/by Mark

Activities, Childcare, Early Years, Early Years Education, Exercise, Health, Learning through play, Nurseries, Nursery, Parents, Pre-schools, Preschool, Preschoolers, Streatham, Under-5s

The Importance of Exercise for Under-Fives

It’s accepted that regular exercise and keeping active are important to human health. This also applies to children under five — in fact it’s incredibly important during this crucial time in their development. In this article, we’ll take a look at the many benefits of exercise for the very young — and how much physical activity is recommended for toddlers and children in their early years.

What are the Recommendations for Early Years Exercise?

The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) recommends¹ that children under five should engage in at least 3 hours of physical activity each day, spread out over the course of the day. They go on to say:

“Children under the age of 5 should avoid being inactive for long periods. Watching TV for hours or being strapped into a buggy for too long isn’t good for their health and development.” (NHS)

This should come as no surprise, of course, but it’s important to take on board; official guidance is likely to be based upon decades of historical health data.

Meanwhile, as cited in Downing Street’s 2017 ‘Action Plan’ to fight childhood obesity, the UK’s chief medical officers also recommended 180 minutes (3 hours) of physical activity for children under five. ^{(CMO UK Physical Activity Guidelines).} Once again the suggestion is that this should be spread out through the day.

What are the Benefits of Early Years Exercise?

Exercise and physical activity in preschoolers and under-fives has many benefits. These include:

Firstly, it’s great fun for children! Indeed, energetic games and activities for young kids should be seen as an essential part of childhood.
It helps build up muscle strength and fitness.
It helps children to develop stronger bones.
Right from birth, physical activity and movement are significant in the creation of nerve connections in the brain
It naturally burns off calories that have been consumed by children through food/drink intake. This is particularly important if they have been ingesting superfluous calories or less-than-healthy things like sweets, sugary drinks or fatty junk food (although it’s best to avoid those, of course).
Regular exercise, in tandem with healthy eating, thereby helps children to maintain healthy weights and body mass indices. This is important because overweight youngsters are more prone to become overweight adults. It’s therefore an excellent approach to nip any weight problems in the bud, at this early age.
Avoiding weight problems through regular physical activity — and healthy, balanced eating — also helps reduce the likelihood of heart disease, strokes and high blood pressure later in life.

Active play helps to improve social skills, behaviour and confidence in children.
Attention levels can also be seen to improve.
Regular exercise also helps children’s quality of sleep.
Physical activity helps the young to improve coordination and motor/movement skills.
It also helps to improve children’s moods and dispositions.

So, all in all, active play, physical activities and exercise are of huge benefit to children’s physical health and mental wellbeing.

Startling Facts

“One in five children are already overweight or obese before they start school” (NHS)

“[Only] one in ten children aged two to four meets the UK chief medical officers’ physical activity guidelines for this age group.” (NHS)

How Parents can Help

When at home, away from nursery or pre-school, parents can also encourage children to stay physically active so as to maintain their 180 minutes of active play each day. As well as all the usual activities that can be encouraged (football, netball, tag, formal exercise etc.) there are a number of excellent resources available for additional ideas. For example, Change 4 Life have a handy resource of physical activity-based games that young children can play. Even better, they’re inspired by characters from Disney and Pixar, so are going to prove very popular among the young. The character-based games are sure to inspire children to get active and have fun at the same time. Choose a game to see how it works.

“Remember, if you’re concerned about your child’s weight then your GP, practice nurse, school nurse or health visitor can give you help and advice.” (NHS advice)

Active Play & Exercise at Little Cedars Day Nursery, Streatham

As one of the key focuses of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework, physical development is at the core of the curriculum at Little Cedars Day Nursery. As such, children of all ages are encouraged to exercise through active play, every single day. Children are encouraged to be physically active via a variety of well thought-out physical activities and challenges, as appropriate for their particular age group. This is all carefully orchestrated and supervised by the staff and ‘Key Person’ allocated to each particular child. A whole myriad of high quality facilities, interactive equipment and toys also help to ensure that every child has a varied range of activities to enjoy. They have immense fun while their brains, minds and bodies develop along the way.

Nursery places for babies, toddlers and children in Streatham

Are you looking for an outstanding nursery in Streatham for your child? Or perhaps you’re nearby and are looking for high quality nurseries in or near to Streatham Hill, Streatham Common, Tooting, Furzedown or Balham? If so, we currently have a few spaces left, so please do get in touch while they’re still available.

Apply for a Place Arrange a Visit Message Us 020 8677 9675

28 January 2021/by Mark

Early Years, Food, Free stuff, Funding, Health, Healthy Eating, Milk, Nursery, Parents, Streatham, Under-5s, Vitamins

FREE Food, Milk & Vitamins! A Guide to the Healthy Start Scheme

Are you pregnant, or a parent with a child under four? If so, your family may be eligible for free healthy food, milk and vitamin supplements. In England, some of these free items are available under the ‘Healthy Start’ scheme, which we’ll explain in this quick-start guide.

At time of writing, the free items are available through vouchers that can be redeemed in any of the 21,000 or so physical shops, supermarkets and pharmacies that have signed up to accept them. Each voucher is currently worth £3.10 and you can get 1 every week if you are pregnant or have a child aged between 1 and 4 years of age, or 2 vouchers per week if your child is under 1.

LATEST UPDATE: the NHS has also begun testing a new alternative where money is paid into your account instead of supplying vouchers. This beta test is running right now, on an invitation-only basis via a letter from the NHS. Hopefully it’ll be rolled out country-wide if successful. If so, it could cure the current issue whereby vouchers cannot be used to pay for food, vitamins and milk online. Clearly, that’s a significant issue in view of the pandemic and the move to shopping more online.

So, what free stuff can you get?

Eligible individuals can get the following, absolutely free:

Cow’s milk;
Infant formula milk;
Fruit;
Vegetables;
Pulses;
Free vitamin supplements for breastfeeding mums;
Free vitamin drops for young children (6 months to 4 years).

Free milk

This must be plain cow’s milk that’s also pasteurised, sterilised, UHT or long-life.

It can be skimmed, semi-skimmed or whole milk.
It can’t be flavoured, coloured, evaporated, condensed, powdered (except for infant formula milk), sold as a milkshake, vitamin-enriched or have anything else added to it.
It can’t be anything other than cow’s milk, for example soya milk, almond milk, oat milk, rice milk, goat or sheep’s milk etc.).

Free infant formula milk

The infant formula milk:

must state that it’s a nutritionally complete stage one formula milk that’s suitable for use from birth.
mustn’t be ‘follow-on’ milk.
must be based on cow’s milk. You can’t get formula milk based on soya milk, almond milk, oat milk, rice milk, goat’s milk etc.

Free fruit & vegetables

The free fruit and vegetables:

can include any that are fresh, frozen or tinned.
can include any that are supplied loose, packaged, sliced, chopped, mixed, whole or supplied in water.
can include fruit in fruit juice.
can’t include any that have had fat, oil, salt, sugar or flavouring added.
can’t include any that have been dried, pre-cooked or made into things like smoothies.

Free pulses

The pulses, including things like lentils, beans, peas and chickpeas:

can include any that are fresh, dried or tinned.
can’t include any that have had fat, oil, salt, sugar or flavouring added.

Free vitamin supplements

These free vitamin supplements are important for pregnant women, breastfeeding mums, babies and young children because many are deficient in them at this stage in their lives.

For children aged up to 4, they are in drop form and contain vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin D. They are suitable for vegetarians and do not contain milk, eggs, gluten, soya or peanuts. Each bottle should last for 8 weeks. Note that children who are consuming 500ml per day of nutritionally complete formula milk do not need the additional vitamin supplements.

For pregnant women and nursing mums, the supplements are in tablet form and contain vitamin C, vitamin D and folic acid. They are suitable for vegetarians and vegans and do not contain colouring, flavouring or preservatives. They also contain no gluten, wheat, salt, egg or fish. Eligible mothers are supplied with 8 weeks’ worth of tablets at a time.

The vitamin supplements are distributed to stockists by the NHS and are ‘Healthy Start’ branded. Only this brand is available free under the Healthy Start scheme.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for Healthy Start vouchers, you need:

to be 10 or more weeks’ pregnant and/or
to have 1 or more children under 4.

Eligibility also requires that you must* be in receipt of at least one of the following:

Income Support;
Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance;
Income-related Employment & Support Allowance;
Pension Credit;
Universal Credit (only for families earning £408 each month, or less, from employment);
Working Tax Credit (only for families receiving the 4 week ‘run-on’ payment after they’ve stopped qualifying for it);
Child Tax Credit (only for families with an income of £16,190 or less per annum).
* Except if you’re under 18.

How to apply for the vouchers

Currently, most people need to apply for Healthy Start vouchers, by filling in an application form. Download the application form here, print it out and fill it in. It will also need to be signed by your registered doctor, health visitor, midwife or health professional. Then it will need to be posted (free) to the following address:

Freepost RRTR-SYAE-JKCR
Healthy Start Issuing Unit
PO Box 1067
Warrington
WA55 1EG

Call the Healthy Start helpline if you have any queries (0345 607 6823).

Childcare services in Streatham, London SW16

We hope that this guide is useful to pregnant ladies and parents of babies or under-fives. We are an outstanding nursery in Streatham, London SW16, offering exceptionally high quality childcare services for babies, toddlers and preschoolers within this age group. If you’d like to learn more about our nursery, please call 020 8677 9675 or send us a message here. We’ll answer any questions and would be happy to book you in for a nursery visit if you are considering a nursery place here for your baby or child. We’re convenient for those looking for nurseries near Streatham Hill, Streatham Common, Streatham Park, Upper Tooting, Tooting Bec, Tooting Common, Furzedown & Balham.

27 October 2020/by Mark

Childcare, Early Years, Early Years Education, Education, Health & Safety, Nurseries, Nursery, Parents, Pre-schools, Sleep for Under-Fives, Streatham, SW16, Under-5s

The Importance of Sleep for Babies & Toddlers

We all know how detrimental a bad night’s sleep can can be to our general wellbeing. At the very least, it can make the following day a real struggle, perhaps make us feel irritable and certainly leave us underperforming. With this in mind, we thought we’d take a look at how sleep affects babies, toddlers and under-fives. It will be no surprise to hear that a good night’s sleep is even more important for the early years age group.

What are the benefits of a good night’s sleep to children?

Sleep has enormous benefits to the young and old and it has been the subject of many studies. Young children who get a decent night’s sleep are shown to:

be happier, have better moods and be more resilient;
have better attention spans;
be more alert;
have improved learning capacity and cognitive performance;
have better memory skills (e.g. improved vocabulary acquisition);
have improved development of motor skills;
have improved mental and physical health;
be less likely to be withdrawn, stressed or anxious;
have a reduced likelihood of developing high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and depression.
What’s more, children’s growth hormone is produced when the child is asleep. This is essential for healthy growth and function of the child’s body, particularly during early infancy.
Other hormone levels change when you sleep and this can help with anything from skin repair to muscle mass and even changes to body weight.

These are significant benefits, so high quality sleep — and the right amount — is incredibly important.

“A quarter of children under the age of 5 don’t get adequate sleep” (National Library of Medicine, Biotech Information)

How much sleep should young children and babies get?

Studies suggest the following recommendations when it comes to the number of hours of sleep that children should regularly receive during their early years …

Recommended sleep time

4-12 months old: 12-16 hours of sleep (per 24 hours, including naps)
1-2 years old: 11-14 hours of sleep (per 24 hours, including naps)
3-5 years old: 10-13 hours of sleep (per 24 hours, including naps)

Source: Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) / The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM)¹

Sleep Hygiene

‘Sleep Hygiene‘ is a term that refers to the whole routine around bedtime and sleeping, including important preparation measures during the run-up to bedtime A good sleep hygiene regime will help children get to sleep and to sleep soundly.

Parents can help to optimise children’s sleep quality in a number of ways:

Caffeine is a stimulant, so encourage children to limit their intake during the day and completely avoid it from lunchtime onwards. It can be found in hot drinks like tea and coffee as well as cold drinks including energy drinks and fizzy drinks like coke.
Conversely, a drink of warm milk in the evening before bedtime can have a soothing effect and help a child to get settled, ready to sleep.
Avoid giving children large meals too close to bedtime, as these can stop them from getting to sleep.
Exercise can play a big part in a child’s sleep pattern but it needs to be approached in the right way. While exercising vigorously soon before bed can lead to problems getting to sleep, exercising during the day can burn off excess energy and help children sleep well once it comes to bedtime later on. Some fresh air in the evening (for example, a leisurely outdoor walk) can also help children to feel sleepy once they get home.
Children’s bedrooms should have the right set-up. For example, they should not have access to anything that might stimulate their brains in the run-up to sleeping. Toys could be an unwanted distraction from sleep if present, however screens (TVs, handheld tablets, mobile phones etc.) should be totally avoided several hours before bedtime. Not only do they distract from sleeping but screens have also been shown to stimulate the brain even after they’ve been switched off — greatly hindering sleep.
Bedrooms should also be away from noisy areas of the house and the room should also be a comfortable, but slightly cool, temperature.
Children’s rooms should also be suitably lit to suit the child in question. Some young children sleep best in total darkness while others may sleep better if there is a night light in or close to their bedroom.
Giving them a suitable cuddly toy may also help them to feel more safe and secure.
Children should also be encouraged to visit the toilet immediately before bed. Doing so decreases the chances of them having to interrupt their sleep for a visit to the loo during the night.
Baby monitors are also useful so long as the child doesn’t end up using them simply as a way to communicate with parents in another room.
If children leave their bedrooms to seek out parents during the night, it’s a good idea to quietly lead them back to their beds, without debate where possible, and to be consistent about it. Otherwise, a precedent is set and they might do it more and more often. Such a habit would be detrimental to their sleep pattern. It’s important to be consistent and not to ‘cave in’ to the child, even if they try to be with parents repeatedly throughout the night. They’ll eventually get the message and their overall sleep pattern will benefit from doing so.

The biggest message is that setting up — and sticking to — a set bedtime routine will greatly help with the quality of your child’s sleep. It sets a pattern that their minds and bodies will become used to naturally. A regime of this nature can include winding-down activities like a warm bath or shower, a peaceful book-reading session, dimmed lights and so on in the approach to bedtime. The routine will prepare them automatically for sleep even during the run-up to actually sleeping.

Important Side Note: The importance of sleeping position when babies are in the womb

Aside from the obvious positive effects of sleep on children and adults, one surprising aspect of sleep has a direct impact on the wellbeing of unborn babies. Statistics suggest that the sleeping position of the parent can have a direct bearing on the foetus’s chance of survival. This is important stuff! According to NHS Start 4 Life², mothers-to-be should try to sleep on their sides, when possible, by the 28th week of pregnancy. Doing so will statistically reduce the risk of the baby being stillborn. Of course, once asleep, it’s only natural for you to move around into different positions, so the message is not to worry unduly if you wake up on your back when pregnant — it’s totally normal for this to happen. Simply go onto your side before returning back to sleep. Bending your knees will help you get comfortable on your side, facilitate easier breathing and put less pressure on your uterus. As an added bonus, it also helps to alleviate backache.

Sleep at Little Cedars Nursery, Streatham

At Little Cedars Day Nursery in Streatham, we understand the importance of sleep, particularly for babies and the youngest of the children. For that reason, we ensure that children have the opportunity of a nap both in the morning and in the afternoon. For example, babies sleep for about half an hour to an hour around 9.30am and then again after lunch, for 1 to 2 hours between about 1pm and 3pm. Preschoolers don’t have to sleep if they don’t want to, but are given the opportunity to do so — every child is different. We also take a lead from parents who may prefer their child to keep to a particular sleep pattern. If you would like more information about this topic, and how we approach it at the nursery, please do get in touch.

Contact Little Cedars Day Nursery

Little Cedars Day Nursery offers weekday childcare services in Streatham, London SW16, for babies (from 6 months) and children aged up to 5 years old. We’re based in Aldrington Road, so are convenient for anyone looking for a nursery or pre-school in and around Streatham, Streatham Park, Tooting Bec, Tooting Common, Furzedown and Balham. Call 020 8677 9675 for more details. You can also request more details, send us an email or arrange a visit here, so we can show you around the nursery.

^{Please note that this article is for general guidance only and does not constitute medical advice. If you are at all concerned about your child’s sleep, health or wellbeing, please seek advice from your child’s doctor or health professional.}

14 October 2020/by Mark

Early Years, Healthy Eating, Nurseries, Nursery, Parents, Pre-schools, Preschool, Preschoolers, Streatham, Under-5s

Healthy Eating for Under-Fives — A Complete Guide

With families living busy lives these days, it’s not always easy to provide the very best nutritious meals for children. This is compounded by an abundance of ready meals and convenience food available in shops and advertised everywhere. However, healthy, balanced diets are incredibly important for children in their early years. Adopting a healthy diet early on can mean that some diseases associated with later life can be avoided. Healthy food also has other beneficial effects on growing children including sustained energy levels, improved cognitive activity, the evening out of a child’s moods, help with mental wellbeing and maintaining a healthy weight.

What should children be eating as part of a healthy lifestyle?

As a rough guide, toddlers need three meals per day plus two or three snacks. They also need to drink six to eight drinks per day.

“Experience of a variety of different foods at an early age increases acceptance of new foods, and provides a more diverse diet with the range of nutrients, vitamins and minerals needed for health.” (Public Health England)

Young children need a balanced diet, i.e. one that gives them all the elements that they need to remain healthy and thrive. There are four main food groups that form a good basis of healthy living. A rough guide is to try and include something from each food group in every meal, or within their snacks. The four core food groups are:

STARCH, which is found in bread, potato, rice cereal and pasta. Starch provides the energy children need as well as Vitamin B and calcium. You can choose wholegrain versions of these food types if you wish to introduce more fibre and nutrients, but this should only be introduced gradually.
FRUITS & VEGETABLES. These will provide a source of Vitamin C as well as many other nutrients. A rough guide is about 5 hand-sized portions of fruit and vegetables per day. Fresh is great, but it can also be canned, dried or frozen.
DAIRY, which can include cheese, yogurt and milk. Full fat versions are best for toddlers but semi-skimmed options can be given from the age of 2. A rough guide is about 3 portions a day.
PROTEIN, which is typically found in meat, fish, nuts, pulses and eggs. You can also use pulses like tofu and soya. These foods provide iron and zinc. Also try and give children an oily fish now and then, like salmon or fresh tuna. Try to include roughly two portions a day of the foods in the protein group.

How big is a portion?

Make sure you give the correctly sized food portions. As a rule of thumb, one portion is generally about the size of the child’s cupped hand for things like rice, beans and other starchy foods of that nature. For proteins like meat and fish, the size of the palm of the child’s hand is about right. For cereal and fruit, an appropriate portion is about the size of the child’s fist. For a portion of one vegetable type, you can start something about the size of a child’s cupped hand but you do not need to limit it so much. For example, give them more vegetables if they are still hungry after eating everything on their plate and are asking for seconds.

Drinks

Don’t forget to make sure your child stays hydrated. Aim for 6 to 8 drinks per day. Water is best, but also include milk. Try to avoid sugary drinks, which can cause tooth decay and will be laden with calories.

Recognising when children are overweight

Our young children grow at different rates and come in all different shapes and sizes. It can therefore be difficult to gauge whether your child is overweight and the correct quantities of food are being given. Warning signs may include your child struggling to keep up with others when exercising or playing energetic games, wearing larger clothing that’s really meant for an older child, wanting portions better suited to someone older, or asking for more food once they’ve finished eating a reasonable sized meal.

If you are at all worried, seek professional advice. Your GP or health visitor should be able to advise you. On the flip-side, occasionally children’s diets may need boosting with extra vitamins. If you suspect this is the case for your child, also seek professional advice.

“Research shows children who stay a healthy weight tend to be fitter, healthier, better able to learn, and more self-confident.” (NHS)

The Impact of Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity is a growing problem in the UK, with nearly a third of children aged two to fifteen being overweight or obese. What’s more, data shows that children are becoming overweight at ever-earlier ages and are generally eating less fruit, vegetables, oily fish and fibre than is recommended. The lack of a varied diet will leave children lacking in some essential vitamins and minerals. This is all of major concern. Obesity alone can lead to health issues in later life such as diabetes, heart problems, high blood pressure and even cancer. It may also lead to bullying and self-consciousness which may adversely affect a child’s self-esteem and mental wellbeing.

Apart from medical conditions, the main causes of obesity are a poor diet rich in sugar, fat and salt and children consuming more calories than they are burning up. This is not helped by the media, which is overrun with adverts promoting unhealthy food, and some children having too little exercise. So, parents, nurseries, educational settings and parents alike all need to play their part in ensuring that children eat what’s good for them, and in appropriate quantities.

How can nurseries & pre-schools help?

“Children’s food preferences and eating habits are formed early in life and the time that they spend in early years settings provides an ideal opportunity to shape healthy behaviours.” (Public Health England)

Little Cedars Day Nursery recognises the incredibly important impact of a healthy diet on the young. For this reason, the nursery is committed to delivering a very healthy, high quality eating programme to all children at the setting. High quality, fresh ingredients are used each day and are prepared by our own on-site chef. Children attending for a full day will receive 3 meals plus a snack during the morning and another during the afternoon. Water is also available to drink all day. Our chefs are also happy to provide vegetarian and vegan meals and to cater for any other dietary requirements.

Get in touch

If you’d like to know more about healthy eating for under-fives at our Streatham nursery in London SW16, call us on 020 8677 9675 or email us here. We’ll be happy to answer any questions. You can also book a visit to the nursery here if you’d like to see the nursery/pre-school in action during the working week — we’d love to show you around.

This article is for general guidance only. Always seek professional medical advice if you are concerned about your baby or child’s health and wellbeing.

30 July 2020/by Mark

Childcare, Early Years Education, Education, Nurseries, Nursery, Parents, Pre-schools, Preschool, Streatham

The Importance of Parental Involvement in Education

It has long been accepted that the involvement of parents in a child’s education and development is incredibly important, with many benefits for the child. It’s even more beneficial when involvement begins in the child’s early years. Helping children right from nursery means that they’re more likely to get their education foundations set up well. For example, a good foundation in reading and writing will help improve just about every other topic of learning going forwards. That’s why, at Little Cedars Nursery in Streatham, we encourage parents to involve themselves in their children’s learning, right from the start.

Parental involvement in education is shown to lead to a more rounded education and better grades overall. An improved comprehension of topics in turn leads to improved outcomes for the children involved. For example, the pupil may end up with a wider choice when it comes to choosing a university. It’s the same for their career path too, like a domino effect, increasing chances of a more successful career. The importance of parental involvement in a child’s education can therefore not be overstated.

“Parental effort is consistently associated with higher levels of achievement, and the magnitude of the effect of parental effort is substantial.” (Conway & Houtenville study, 2008)

“Students with […] parents operating in supportive roles are 52% more likely to enjoy school and get straight A’s than students whose parents are disengaged with what’s going on at school. This is especially the case during the earliest years of schooling, […] when students with active parents are almost twice as likely to succeed.” (Pinantoan, 2013)

Benefits of Parental involvement in education

The benefits of parental involvement in education include:

Improved focus on school work;	Better social skills;
Greater comprehension of topics;	Improved self-esteem;
Better grades;	A more positive, optimistic attitude;
Enhanced organisation skills;	The child becoming a more confident and rounded individual;
A higher level of responsibility in the child;	A stronger bond between parent and child;
Lower truancy rates;	Better communication skills;
Improved behaviour;	A wider choice of topics being available e.g. when it comes to further education;
A greater capacity in the child to keep trying;	Acceptance, potentially, at better university courses;
Moral support, making learning more pleasant for the child;	A wider skill set for the child;
Encouragement when it’s tough e.g. when tests are near;	Ultimately all of the above can lead to more opportunities for success, for example a better career with higher pay.

Studies have shown that parental involvement in a child’s education results in benefits regardless of parents’ education levels, their socioeconomic status or ethnic/racial background¹.

“Parental involvement in children’s learning improves children’s morale, attitude, academic achievement in all subjects and promotes better behaviour and social adjustment. It also helps children to be productive, responsible members of society.” (Centre for Child Well-Being, 2010)

How can parents involve themselves in their child’s education?

Parents can involve themselves in their child’s education in a number of ways. Discussing the child’s strengths and weaknesses with teachers and nursery staff is important. Actively engaging with educational settings at parent evenings and by joining school boards is also beneficial. A collaboration between parents and educational settings can lead to measurable improvements in a child’s academic and physical performance.

The educational involvement of parents while at home with their child has an immense, long-term, positive impact.

Parents can help their children educationally in a number of ways. This can include something as simple as proactively listening to their child reading at home. Similarly, helping the child understand and improve in areas where they are struggling at school is of huge benefit. Helping children with homework and encouraging them with sports activities are other great ways to support them.

Educational support from parents can come in many forms. This includes teaching directly, of course, but also mentoring, to support, encourage and inspire the child. Importantly too, parents must ensure that the child has a home environment that facilitates and encourages learning. They should also express high, but realistic, expectations for their child in terms of possible achievements and career paths.

Helping children throughout their school years works best when it’s approached in a natural, caring kind of way rather than enforcing it as a strict ‘discipline’. It could even be thought of as a kind of teamwork, in practice. This approach means that the child is encouraged, not forced. They will genuinely feel helped and given moral support. Home educational help then motivates the child in question, rather than being made to feel like a chore. And, of course, overall comprehension of topics is greatly enhanced when a parent takes their time to explain things in a relaxed home setting.

“When parents come to school regularly, it reinforces the view in the child’s mind that school and home are connected and that school is an integral part of the whole family’s life.” (Mapp K. and Henderson, A., 2002)

Contact Little Cedars Day Nursery to learn more

If you’d like to learn more about how you can support your child through nursery, pre-school and beyond, we’d be delighted to discuss it with you. Your support can hugely improve your child’s potential outcomes. Call us on 020 8677 9675 or come in and see us when the coronavirus crisis is over (arrange an appointment online here) and we can chat it through. We are a nursery and pre-school based at 27 Aldrington Road in Streatham, London SW16 1TU (click the link above to see a location map). We’re ideal for parents looking for nurseries and childcare services near Streatham, Streatham Park, Tooting Bec, Tooting Common, Furzedown and Balham.

14 April 2020/by Mark