Posts

Little boy as scientist

The Benefits of Experiential Learning for Preschoolers

Preschool children have an instinctive desire to learn, discover and try new things. Their natural curiosity is attracted to anything they are unfamiliar with, so that makes children interested in trying everything. This interest in learning can be taken advantage of in schools and at home to maximize a child’s development, but only when done properly.

While preschoolers are naturally curious, they are also very active, mentally and physically. Oftentimes, they have difficulty paying attention to things they are uninterested in. So is there a way to make almost any topic instantly intriguing to children? The answer lies in experiential learning.

What is Experiential Learning?

Experiential learning is a method of learning where children actively participate in the learning process. It makes lessons personal to children by including them in the instructing process. Classes become fun activities for children in this way. For example, instead of the traditional approach of teaching them about cutting fruit, children would cut fruit themselves under adult supervision in the experiential learning approach.

What are the benefits?

Learning and growth happens quickest when a child is able to devote their full attention to a topic, especially if that topic poses an age-appropriate challenge. Experiential learning offers a fun alternative to traditional classroom teaching that can improve the following areas of growth and learning:

Memory retention: Children gain a deeper understanding of content when allowed to act on it, and when they are fully interested in the content. This causes synapses (nerves in the brain) to create stronger connections when a child associates motor functions to new information, which leads to higher memory retention.

Experiential learning demands effort and attention, simply by being an activity that children can participate in. Therefore, the lesson becomes a more personalized exercise of hands-on exploration.

Life-skill development: Practical knowledge is typically gained when children encounter obstacles and are given the opportunity to develop their problem-solving skills to overcome these challenges. Allowing preschoolers to actively participate in daily processes can establish life skills that will benefit their future growth and learning.

Emotional growth: Experiential learning gives children a sense of accomplishment that will develop their self-esteem and fuel their desire to learn. When they take ownership of a situation, with help from adults, children learn how to follow their ambitions without being afraid to try something new or struggle at first.

 

How Carpe Diem Uses Experiential Learning

At Carpe Diem Private Preschools, our educators utilize experiential learning to teach more effectively, and combine it with traditional interdisciplinary approaches to assist each child in reaching their greatest learning potential. Our unique teaching system challenges children with exciting projects that teaches them how to set goals, while also developing knowledge across multiple domains of learning.

Little girl feeding baby horse on ranch

5 Fun Things to Do with Kids in Southlake, Texas

Southlake, Texas is the place to be if you have kids! Located in the suburbs of Fort Worth, the city of Southlake is known for having a great public education system, as well as high quality private schools, like Carpe Diem Private Preschool.  As such, there are many kid-friendly places that you can take your kids to after school or on the weekend for some family fun!

Here are just a few family-friendly places that you can visit in Southlake, Texas:

Marshall Creek Ranch: For the family that enjoys the great outdoors, Marshall Creek Ranch offers 39 miles of trails to explore. From coyotes and white tail deer, to great blue herons and red-headed turkey vultures, there are plenty of beautiful sights to see while horseback riding at Marshall Creek Ranch.

Urban Air Adventure Park: With a warrior obstacle course, runway tumble track, trampolines, battle beams, a foam pit, and dodgeball, Urban Air Adventure Park is the go-to choice for families who enjoy an action-packed indoor venue.

Southlake Town Square: Every year in July, the City of Southlake hosts their annual Stars and Stripes event. Crafts, games, and inflatables for the kids are coupled with concessions and live music for the parents, making this event perfect for the whole family.

Taste Buds Kitchen of Southlake: Taste Buds Kitchen takes culinary entertainment to a whole new level by exciting culinary experiences and instructions for people of all ages. From classes for kids and private lessons for playdates to family classes and birthday parties, Taste Buds Kitchen of Southlake is perfect for the food-loving family.

Ride with Pride: This horsemanship school offers group lessons, private lessons, birthday parties, and a rodeo club. Focusing on building confidence and self-esteem, Ride with Pride teaches students how to care for horses and ride them safely.

From exciting events to a variety of kid-friendly attractions, there is never a shortage of fun things to do with your children in Southlake, Texas!

At Carpe Diem Private Preschool, we believe in the importance of families spending quality time together. While doing fun activities with your children, you can often discover many learning opportunities! Our preschools make learning fun with active, engaging curriculum. At our Southlake campus, we have three age appropriate playgrounds so that we can balance work and play, and sometimes even combine the two!

summer camp autocorrected

The Top 10 Benefits of Summer Camp

Summer camp is so much more than just a way to keep children occupied and entertained throughout the summer months. You may be surprised to find out that summer camp actually has many positive effects on children, some of which can last a lifetime. In fact, many child development experts agree that the summer camp experience is valuable in guiding children to become more mature socially, intellectually, emotionally, morally, and physically.

Although the benefits of summer camp are seemingly endless, we have provided our top 10 picks on how we believe children benefit from this experience:

  1. Boosting self-esteem and confidence – Because summer camp isn’t about grades or test scores, it removes the somewhat consuming sense of competition that the school year brings with it. A less competitive atmosphere, coupled with a wide-range of opportunities to succeed and explore, gives summer camp the potential to really boost a child’s sense of confidence and self –esteem.
  2. Finding unique interests – Many camps specialize in certain subjects or sports, such as video game design, archery, golf, STEM, and many more. If something interests your child, summer camp is the perfect place for her to discover and explore new interests.
  3. Staying physically active – Summer camp programs incorporate many different sports and outdoor activities for children to participate in daily. From running and jumping to dancing and swimming, summer camp allows children to spend their day being physically active.
  4. Developing life-long skills – Through their social experiences at camp, whether it be through daily activities, sports, or field trips, children are constantly evolving. Some important life-long social skills such as leadership, communication, and participation are developed during summer camp.
  5. Gaining independence – Something as simple as letting your child choose what kind of camp he wants to attend can help build independence. During camp, there are often many opportunities for children to foster that sense of independence. For instance, your child may revel in the fact that he gets to participate in activities of his choosing during an unstructured play time.
  6. Experiencing new things – Camp is full of opportunities for taking a child out of her comfort zone. At camp, kids get to try new activities, explore new topics, and dive deep into areas that they might not have otherwise known about.
  7. Reconnecting with nature – Instead of being stuck inside glued to the TV or tablet all day, summer camp allows a child to be outside and develop a deeper appreciation of nature.
  8. Sharing a sense of community – Through their interactions with other children and teachers at summer camp, children develop a sense of community and hone in on some important life skills. Caring, fairness, citizenship, and trustworthiness are some of the many community-oriented service skills that can be developed during camp experiences.
  9. Building good character traits – Attending a summer camp helps a child gain self-respect and helps them build other life-long character traits such as responsibility, resourcefulness, and resilience.
  10. Making true friends – Summer camp is the ideal place for kids to make new friends and strengthen existing friendships. At camp, kids are free from the stressors and pressures of school. This often allows children to relax and open up more. Through singing, laughing, playing, and talking, camp experiences can help develop new friendships and bring friends closer together.

Summer Camps at Carpe Diem Private Preschool

At Carpe Diem Private Preschool, we offer an exciting 11-week summer camp program in arts, humanities, sciences, and more! Each week features a different theme, which allows children to discover many new interests throughout the summer.  We also offer a special STEM program that allows children to explore topics such as marine biology, engineering, archaeology, sports science, coding and gaming.

 

Kindergarten teacher and children with hands raised in library

Preparing Your Child for Kindergarten

The first day of Kindergarten can be an emotional experience, for both you and your child. You might be riddled with worry about how well your child will do in this new learning environment. Your little one might be scared to walk into a classroom full of other children he doesn’t know and adults he hasn’t met before. Thankfully, there are some easy ways to make your baby’s transition into Kindergarten as painless as possible.

Prepare socially                    

  • Set up play dates with children of various ages so that your child can get used to interacting with other kids. Observe your child’s behavior and notice if he struggles with concepts such as sharing or taking turns. These are social behaviors that you can easily teach your child before they start Kindergarten.
  • Leave your child with other trusted adults, such as an extended family member or a highly recommended babysitter, for a few hours at a time. If your child is not used to being in the care of someone other than mommy and daddy, this is a good way for her to adjust to being under the care of a teacher that she has never met prior to walking in on the first day of Kindergarten.

Prepare verbally

  • Give your child simple and specific directions and encourage him to complete the tasks. It’s important for your child to be able to listen attentively and follow through with what is requested of him before he goes into a classroom environment where this will be expected of him.
  • Read to your child daily and pause occasionally to ask questions. This will ensure that she stays engaged while you read to her. Here are some ways to make story time a more interactive experience.

Prepare cognitively

  • Teach your child his numbers. You can practice with him by counting aloud during car rides or helping him count objects in your home. Make sure he is able to identify the numbers 1-10 before beginning Kindergarten.
  • Talk about concepts with your child. It’s usually a good idea to start with an easy concept like opposites. Some common opposites include big/little, empty/full, and slow/fast. Positional and directional concepts are also important to go over with your child. Make sure they know the basics like up/down, over/under, in/out, behind/in front of, top/bottom, beside/between, off/on, and stop/go.

Prepare physically

  • Go outside and let your child run wild (under your supervision, of course)! Things like running, jumping, and climbing allow your child to naturally develop you his gross motor skills. Playing catch and skipping around are also great ways to do this.
  • Practice name writing. Not only will your child most likely need to know how to write her name on the first day of school, but name writing exercises are also one of the best ways to develop her fine motor skills.

At Carpe Diem Private Preschools, we believe that the best early childhood education starts with a good foundation. We believe that where a child learns has a direct impact on how well a child learns. This is why our preschool classrooms and teachers are so well-equipped to prepare the little ones for their big transition into our Kindergarten classroom. We have put careful thought into creating the perfect learning atmosphere for all of our students.

Piggy bank isolated

College Savings 101 – Your Guide to Getting Started Now

Like many parents, your dreams for your child likely include going to college.  As much as you want them to grow up and become independent, it may be difficult to think about your children leaving ‘the nest.’ But the day will eventually come when you must let your little one go out into the world on his or her own. As hard as it may seem for you emotionally, it might be equally as hard for you financially if you do not have a college savings plan.

Here are some ways that you can start saving money now for your child’s college:

Open a 529 Account

Every state has its own 529 plan. As long as they’re used for a higher education, these plans will not be taxed by the federal government when you choose to take the money out. Another upside to this plan is that you can often start an account with just $25. You do, however, have to keep up with the annual fees and operating costs.

529 savings can be used at any accredited college or university in the country. And for many, the best part is – you will always stay in control of the money.

Get into a Saving Habit

This can be as easy as logging your spending habits for a month to see where you can make some cut backs. You can also set aside money in your savings as soon as you get your paycheck, that way you save a little before you have the chance to blow it all on the “essentials” or spend it impulsively.

Another thing you can do is take whatever unexpected bonuses, cash gifts, or tax rebates you may receive and put these monies straight into your child’s college saving account.

Get Your Child Involved

It’s never too early to start teaching your child about financial responsibility.  Instead of planning to write a check on the way to their dorm room, how about getting them involved in saving?  Even the youngest child can begin to understand the value of hard work and helping out with family responsibilities.  When they’re old enough, they can begin saving money from household chores or gifts.  Once they can get a part-time job, encourage them to divide their earnings into ‘buckets’ for saving and spending.

Help them set up a budget for spending on things they need or want right now.  Then work with them to determine what portion of their earnings they can set aside for college savings, and possibly another percentage for something they’d enjoy doing or buying in the near future. And never underestimate the power of talking to them early about the value of higher education and savings.

Invest in Prepaid Tuition Plans

These plans vary by state and each one has their pros and cons. In Texas, the Texas Tuition Promise Fund requires the account holder must purchase tuition units (or semester hours) and these units must be paid in full before redeeming it.

The units and required fees can only be used at Texas public colleges and universities, so this is a limiting option if you would prefer your child to attend college out of state. The upside is that these units will not be affected by market fluctuations and will always retain their value.

Consider Custodial Accounts

With a custodial account, you can decide how much to money to put in, how it will be invested, and when to take the money out of the account. However, because the account is under your child’s name, this control must be given up to the child once he turns 18.

The Coverdell Education Savings Account is one type of custodial account that’s specifically for a child’s college education. The con to this account is that you can only put in a maximum of $2,000 per year.

Our Take

At Carpe Diem Private Preschool, we believe that it’s never too early to start thinking about your child’s future. Our teachers recognize the importance of building a foundation of learning that will stick with each child throughout their formative years and as they carry on to higher grades.  One of the best ways that you can prepare for their future is by saving money for their college education so that they continue their learning experience as young adults.