Kids & Company Blog

Posted on: Wednesday January 18th, 2012

Posted by: Kids & Company

Recently, I wrote about power contests between parents and children. In her talk at the Kids & Company Parenting Conference, Alyson Schafer suggested that over time, we can’t “make” kids do what we want. Instead, we should drop the rope in our power battles and work toward getting kids to want to cooperate with us. This is where you pause to laugh heartily. But, I will swear on my beloved iphone that this is possible.

Posted on: Thursday January 5th, 2012

Posted by: Kids & Company

Guest writer Michelle Nelson talks about the presentation by Alyson Schafer, who spoke at our Parenting Conference in November.
Michelle Nelson is a marketer with 15 years experience in education and not for profits and enjoys a bit of blogging on the side. Food and parenting are her topics of choice. She lives in Toronto with her seven year old twins and husband.

Posted on: Tuesday December 20th, 2011

Posted by: Victoria Sopik

As many of you might already know, we have implemented some great computers in each of our centres. The computers are encased in beautiful Little Tikes work stations along with some great Canadian-made software from Kutoka.

These computers are intended to enhance your child’s learning and introduce them to different learning styles. As all children learn differently, this software is intended to promote co-operation, problem-solving and independent learning skills. Focusing on early literacy skills, science, math and co-operation this programming is self-correcting with immediate feedback for the children.

Posted on: Monday December 12th, 2011

Posted by: Linda Starr

Kids & Company’s Inaugural Parenting Conference on November 5 was a huge success!
Understanding that one of the biggest challenges of being a working parent is balancing professional responsibilities with the realities of raising a family, this conference addressed these challenges and offered advice on how to keep it all in balance.

The day began with a buffet breakfast at 8:30 a.m. at beautiful new hotel – Marriott Springhill Gardens in Vaughan.

Posted on: Thursday November 24th, 2011

Posted by: Kids & Company

How to Get Your Kids to Eat More Veggies:

My husband Derek and I grew up in households where at mealtime, we were served platefuls of what we were expected to eat, and we ate it. Sure, we each honed our different strategies for avoiding what we didn’t like, but our mothers didn’t alter their tactics. They continued serving up undisguised vegetables, plain and simple, like it or not.

Posted on: Wednesday November 9th, 2011

Posted by: Victoria Sopik

As a woman with 8 children I can tell you that the evolution of being a parent contains many events that repeat themselves. Having children at different stages of development meant that I tackled developmental hurdles like a juggler on a tightrope attached to moving cars. I can tell you this though, there are certain feelings that come up over and over again, and separating from your children – be it for child care, sleepover camp, or university – always feels the same.

Posted on: Tuesday November 1st, 2011

Posted by: Victoria Sopik

Children behave in such different ways. One small change to us could really be a huge change to them. I have children who really, didn’t even notice when something changed around them and others who if you changed the smallest thing, even the brand of cookies you were buying, they just could not handle it!

Posted on: Monday October 24th, 2011

Posted by: Kids & Company

October keeps catching me by surprise. The cold weather comes and stays. Then I’ve got to excavate the fall and winter clothes from storage and pull out my favorite autumn recipes. I flip the page on the wall calendar and start thinking about Halloween costumes, pumpkin carving, booking holiday travel, and buying new snowsuits for the kids (when will they stop outgrowing one each year?).

Posted on: Monday October 17th, 2011

Posted by: Victoria Sopik

There’s often a lot of emotions swirling around when you start dropping your babies off at child care. Sometimes it’s more likely for the parents to be more upset than the child. It’s an adjustment from being at home with your baby all the time to having to say goodbye on a daily basis and send your kids off to child care while you go off to work.

It’s important to remember that having your child in a social situation such as in a child care centre is highly beneficial for their development. I had all eight of my children in social environments at a very young age in order for them to develop their social skills and go through a far less intense period of separation anxiety.

Posted on: Friday September 30th, 2011

Posted by: Victoria Sopik

Some people think that the children that bite are “bad children”, this is not true. They are almost always just children that are trying to communicate and to get the attention of their friends and family members.

As a parent with a toddler in child care, you may find that yourself on one end or the other. Your child may be the biter or the bitee. This all might come as a bit of a surprise because most children don’t bite their parents! They are used to getting attention and having their “cues” met..