VOL. 23 APRIL 2022
This Month's News
Parent Resources
New Team Members & Partnerships, New Family Packet, Professional Development Recap
Building Resilience in Children, UpSkill Parent Resource by Laura Walser
NURTURE. GROW. EMPOWER.
April News Index 03
2022 Center Closures
& Coffee is on Us, Pizza Kits
04
Upcoming Study, March Guests
05
COVID Policies, Key Fobs, Leave a Review
Packet, We are Hiring
06
Upskill Parent Resources
07
Community Room
08
Professional Development Recap
09
Infant Development Center
10-11
New Team Members & Partnerships
12-14
Parent Resource Article, Giving Back
15-17
Kindergarten Celebration, NEW Family
Initiative
Menus
18-19
We were finally able to enjoy some warm weather this month!
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www.cultivatemankato.com
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Covid-19 Policies updated February 2022
Review and download MN Department of Health COVID-19 Decision Tree for People in Child Care Programs
Click Here
Need a New Keyfob? If you need more than two key fobs or you have misplaced your key fob, you may request additional or replacement key fobs using this form. You will be charged a $15.00 fee to your Procare account.
Key Fob Request Form
Build Your Own Pizza Kits We have partnered with River Rock to create pizza kits for our families! Our Build Your Own Pizza Kits will be
LEAVE
A
REVIEW
HERE!
Once you've left us a review, email us at info@cultivatemankato.com with your choice of coffee. Check out our website to decide which
available to pick up every Friday at pick-up. Each kit costs $14.95 and will includes mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, pizza sauce, and River Rock pizza dough.
blend you would like:
www.cultivatemankato.com/shop Note: Pick up only at Cultivate Mankato Administrative Office; 110 S. Broad Street (located right next to our center).
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PLACE YOUR PIZZA KIT ORDER HERE
Upcoming Study Within our education curriculum, we use studies to guide our lesson planning. Studies
Thank You to All of Our March Guest
are a broad concept that we focus on for 4-6
Laura Marti and Jane Dow from Mankato Zero
weeks. Currently our study has been all about
Waste came to share with the preschoolers how
Recycle Reduce Reuse. This month we will
easy it is to recycle organic materials. All those
begin our
food scraps can be saved from the landfill and
Spring Study.
If you feel your family has something special
returned to the earth as compost. Pretty cool!
to share in regards to our upcoming study, we
Learn more at
would love family participation. Reach out!
www.facebook.com/mankatozerowaste
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www.cultivatemankato.com
Employment Package includes:
NEW! Family Information Packet
health, dental & vision insurance,
We have created a family
retirement plan, professional
packet that includes
We Are Hiring development stipend, child care benefits, and other employment perks.
links/resources/forms/etc all in one spot!
Please share this information to help us find caring, outstanding and
Whether you are a new
qualified individual to join our team!
family or a current family,
Open Positions: Teachers, Assistants and Supports in all programs
www.cultivatemankato.com/ employment CULTIVATE NEWS | 6
this packet is where you can go to find the answers to your questions.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR FAMILY INFO PACKET www.cultivatemankato.com
Laura Walser, our Early Education Coordinator will be creating short parent resource videos called Upskill for $10/month.
Upcoming topics will be: Handling big emotions Emotion coaching Keeping yourself calm Bedtime routines Building independence
Some more topics that will be discussed in the future include: Biting Morning routine Teaching a skill vs consequences Multiple environments equals multiple expectations Childcare drop off and pick up routine
Click Here to Subscribe
Setting your child up for successful sleep at childcare Potty training The importance of sleep Knowing yourself as a parent
HAVE YOU JOINED OUR FB GROUP?
IT'S FREE! 7CULTIVATE NEWS | 7
Guiding your child’s behavior; positive discipline Language development If you have questions, please email Laura
laura.walser@cultivatemankato.com www.cultivatemankato.com
s& U r e off Ref 0 2 ve $ on i e c Re uiti t r you
Community Room BEAUTIFUL EVENT SPACE FOR YOUR UPCOMING PARTY OUR COMMUNITY ROOM PROVIDES: • A large kitchen island with bar stools
• A kitchenette with a refrigerator, freezer, sink & microwave
• Tables, table clothes & matching chairs
• Access to a preschool room or an extra meeting room
• Three large windows for lots of natural lighting
• Access to bathrooms
• Beautiful artwork
ENROLLED CULTIVATE FAMILIES RECEIVE A FREE COMMUNITY ROOM RESERVATION
To reserve visit:
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www.cultivatemankato.com/community-room
www.cultivatemankato.com
Staff Professional Development Update Covid-19 Policies On Friday, March 25 our center was closed for Professional Development Day. Teachers were given the opportunity to finish their assigned professional development training* and were able to get many tasks done in their classrooms! (And as a bonus, they were given the A-OK to do all of this in their sweatpants if they'd like!) *All teachers and assistants were to complete 20 hours of professional development curriculum by the end of the day. The 20 hours of training is through Teaching Strategies, which covers the Creative Curriculum and GOLD assessment.
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www.cultivatemankato.com
CULTIVATE MANKATO INFANT
DEVELOPMENT
CENTER
SAME PROGRAM SAME VALUES SECOND
LOCATION
RENOVATION
NOW
ENROLLING
&
HIRING
|
UPDATE
COMING SPRING 2022
w w w . c u l t i v a t e m a n k a t o . c o m We are excited to announce a tentative opening date of May 9th! We have started to use the kitchen and soon food will be catered from the IDC Kitchen to our Main Street location. We are actively enrolling AND hiring for our Infant Development Center. If interested in enrollment, your first step is to fill out our enrollment contact form.
Our Infant Development Center, coming Spring 2022:
♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡
Conveniently located near Mayo Hospital & Mankato Clinic Space is designed specifically for infants 3-16 months Brand new facility with the same stellar infant program Exceeds policies & procedures expectations Detailed parent communication throughout the day Infant development checklists, lesson planning & activities Staff on-site training & professional development
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ENROLLMENT CONTACT FORM JOIN OUR TEAM APPLY HERE MORE INFO www.cultivatemankato.com
MEET OUR SITE SUPERVISORS!
Cassandra Theriault
Lexi Leichtnam-Fitting
Hey, I’m Cassandra! I am one of the Site
My name is Lexi Leichtnam-Fitting. I am
Supervisors at the Cultivate Mankato Infant
one of the Infant Development Center Site
Development Center. I have been working in
Supervisors. I have a bachelor's degree
childcare since 2018 but always had a
from Minnesota State University: Mankato
passion caring for children through
in Family Consumer Science: Child
babysitting or nannying here and there
development and Family studies. I am very
growing up as well. I received my degree in
family oriented. I have always helped out
Child Development and Family Studies from
with babysitting my nieces and cousins. My
Minnesota State Mankato in 2020. While I
family always tells me that I am the baby
was in school, I started at Cultivate Mankato
whisperer of our family. I’ve been working
in January of 2020. During my time here, I
in childcare since 2019 and I have been
have worked in the infant program and
with Cultivate Mankato since august of
gotten to make great connections with the
2020. I am looking forward to expanding
children, staff, and parents. I am looking
our center to provide even more high
forward to supporting all of the staff at the
quality and loving care for infants. I love
Infant Development Center by providing
building relationships with the children,
guidance, information and assistance with
their families and staff. I want families and
anything they may need. I also will strive to
staff to feel welcomed and safe when they
ensure the parents and children feel safe,
come into the Infant Development Center.
comfortable, and as informed as possible.
Please feel free to contact me through email:
You are able to contact me at
cassandra.theriault@cultivatemankato.com
Lexi.Leichtnam-Fitting@cultivatemankato.com
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New Team Members & Partnerships New Team Member: Alexis Benedict, Early Education Curriculum & Training Specialist Our former Preschool 1 Lead Teacher will be returning to Cultivate Mankato in a new role! As the Early Education Curriculum and Training Specialist, Alexis will be supporting our team with curriculum and in-person training. More information coming soon!
Partnership: Fit and Grit Training We have partnered with Fit and Grit Training! Once a week, Fit & Grit Training will be coming to Cultivate to do fun large motor activities with our preschoolers! Mention that you heard about Fit & Grit Training at Cultivate Mankato and get a FREE fitness or nutrition assessment. To learn more about Fit & Grit Training visit: www.fitandgrittraining.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/FitAndGritTraining Instagram: @fitandgrittraining
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Partnership: Sam Olsen, owner of Persist Therapy Hi Cultivate Family! Cultivate “officially” introduced our partnership in the March newsletter and this month I’d love to tell you more about Persist Therapy and the Persist + Cultivate partnership. My name is Dr. Sam Olsen and I am the founder of Persist Therapy. We have been in business for a little over a year and we are so excited to be partnering with Cultivate--a company that shares the same passion as we do for working with children. Currently, our Persist Therapy team consists of Occupational Therapists (we hope to continue to grow our team in the future). The thing that I love most about being an occupational therapist is all the different things that we can work on and the unique lens that we bring to the professional table. An overarching definition of occupational therapy (OT) is allowing people of all ages to feel accomplished in their lives. We help people to be independent, find joy and success within the activities that we do daily and find meaning and value within their roles and routine. For children in (OT), that can mean so many different things—helping improve independence level with daily cares, assisting with coordination that impacts play, dressing, sports or academics, modifying environments to fit sensory needs, teaching emotional regulation, and the list goes on and on (and on). Our goal is for kids to feel motivated, confident and capable in completing the things that matter most. We do things a little differently at Persist Therapy and I’d love to share a little background and the why behind it. We are the ONLY occupational therapy practice in southern Minnesota providing mobile occupational therapy. What does that mean? We come to YOU! If your child is struggling at home, we are in your home. If your child is struggling at child care, we are in their child care. If your child is struggling in the community, we will meet you there. While working in the clinic, a parent once said to me “it’s great that things are working here, but it isn’t working anywhere else” and she was right, therapy needs to happen where the struggles are happening and that is exactly what we are doing. We focus on collaborating with the entire team to meet therapy needs. We want to work hand in hand with the people that know the child best-- parents, caregivers, teachers, and other professionals to teach what we know and how to use it. Our philosophy—the more people, the more progress.
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Persist Therapy Continued... Let’s talk about the Persist + Cultivate partnership and why it is SO great! From the moment I walked into Cultivate, almost one year ago, I immediately felt welcome. I could tell that the Cultivate team was a team of passionate pediatric providers willing to work together to meet the needs of each child. I wanted to share a few reasons why I am so excited to work with the Cultivate team. We share the same passion for early intervention. We know the “wait and see” approach doesn’t work. The longer we wait, the further behind a child becomes. It is incredibly important to identify areas of struggle and address them as soon as possible.
We share the same passion for collaboration and recognize that many heads (from many different perspectives) is WAY better than one. The more resources, the better.
We focus on the strengths and abilities of each child. Children should be known for their personalities, individualities, and uniqueness. We understand the importance of relationships and connection between children and their families, children and their peers and children and their teachers. It takes a village.
We want kids to feel confident in who they are and empowered to share it with others. In the next few months, we will be navigating our new partnership and defining our goals of working together. I am excited to meet all of the children at Cultivate and their families too. If you see me floating around the Cultivate community, please feel free to say hi or ask questions. In the meantime, please feel free to reach out via phone (507-382-7273) or email (info@persisttherapy.com) if you need anything. Best,
Sam, OTD, OTR/L
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Parent Resource Building Resilience in Children
In today’s environment, children and teens need to develop strengths, acquire skills to cope, recover from hardships, and be prepared for future challenges. They need to be resilient in order to succeed in life. That is why Kenneth Ginsburg, M.D., MS Ed,
Written by
FAAP, a pediatrician specializing in adolescent Healthy Children Magazine
medicine at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), has joined forces with the
Link to Article
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to author A Parent’s Guide to Building Resilience
The world can be a frightening place. As a
in Children and Teens: Giving Your Child Roots
parent, I am constantly aware of choices that I
and Wings. The new book provides a dynamic
make to minimize my perception of fear and
resource to help parents and caregivers build
uncertainty. Death, illness, divorce, crime, war,
resilience in children, teens, and young adults.
child abductions, tsunamis, and terrorism — both here and abroad — have defined an evolving landscape for raising our families. How do we manage to parent from a place of love and understanding, not fear and paranoia? It’s not possible to protect our children from the ups and downs of life. Raising resilient children, however, is possible and can provide them with the tools they need to respond to the challenges of adolescence and young adulthood and to navigate successfully in adulthood. Despite our best efforts, we cannot prevent adversity and daily stress; but we can learn to be more resilient by changing how we think about challenges and adversities. Today’s families, especially our children, are under tremendous stress with the potential to damage both physical health and psychological well-being. The stress comes from families who are always on the go, who are overscheduled with extracurricular activities, and ever-present peer pressure. In the teen years, the anxiety and
Dr. Ginsburg has identified seven “C”s of resilience, recognizing that “resilience isn’t a simple, one-part entity.” Parents can use these guidelines to help their children recognize their abilities and inner resources.
Competence Competence describes the feeling of knowing that you can handle a situation effectively. We can help the development of competence by:
Helping children focus on individual strengths Focusing any identified mistakes on specific incidents Empowering children to make decisions Being careful that your desire to protect your child doesn’t mistakenly send a message that you don’t think he or she is competent to handle things Recognizing the competencies of siblings individually and avoiding comparisons
Confidence A child’s belief in his own abilities is derived from competence. Build confidence by:
pressure are related to getting into “the” college.
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Focusing on the best in each child so that he or
Contribution
she can see that, as well
Children need to realize that the world is a
Clearly expressing the best qualities, such as
better place because they are in it.
fairness, integrity, persistence, and kindness
Understanding the importance of personal
Recognizing when he or she has done well Praising honestly about specific achievements; not diffusing praise that may lack authenticity Not pushing the child to take on more than he or she can realistically handle
Connection
contribution can serve as a source of purpose and motivation. Teach your children how to contribute by:
Communicating to children that many people in the world do not have what they need
Developing close ties to family and community
Stressing the importance of serving others by
creates a solid sense of security that helps lead
modeling generosity
to strong values and prevents alternative
Creating opportunities for each child to
destructive paths to love and attention. You can
contribute in some specific way
help your child connect with others by:
Coping
Building a sense of physical safety and
Learning to cope effectively with stress will
emotional security within your home
help your child be better prepared to
Allowing the expression of all emotions, so that
overcome life’s challenges. Positive coping
kids will feel comfortable reaching out during
lessons include:
difficult times Addressing conflict openly in the family to
Modeling positive coping strategies on a
resolve problems
consistent basis
Creating a common area where the family can
Guiding your child to develop positive and
share time (not necessarily TV time)
effective coping strategies
Fostering healthy relationships that will reinforce
Realizing that telling him or her to stop the
positive messages
negative behavior will not be effective
Character Children need to develop a solid set of morals and values to determine right from wrong and to demonstrate a caring attitude toward others. To strengthen your child’s character, start by:
Demonstrating how behaviors affect others Helping your child recognize himself or herself as a caring person Demonstrating the importance of community Encouraging the development of spirituality Avoiding racist or hateful statements or stereotypes
Understanding that many risky behaviors are attempts to alleviate the stress and pain in kids’ daily lives Not condemning your child for negative behaviors and, potentially, increasing his or her sense of shame
Control Children who realize that they can control the outcomes of their decisions are more likely to realize that they have the ability to bounce back. Your child’s understanding that he or she can make a difference further promotes competence and confidence. You can try to empower your child by:
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Control continued from previous page... Helping your child to understand that life’s events are not purely random and that most things that happen are the result of another individual’s choices and actions Learning that discipline is about teaching, not punishing or controlling; using discipline to help your child to understand that his actions produce certain consequences
Giving Back to Our Community Initiative During the month of March we collected personal care items to be given out at the Project Community Connect Expo on April 19. "Project Community Connect is a collaborative, one-stop resource expo to help
Dr. Ginsburg summarizes what we know for sure
reduce barriers and connect people to
about the development of resilience in kids by
essential resources and services for a
the following:
healthier, safer and more stable community. This free event raises awareness of hunger,
Children need to know that there is an adult in their life who believes in them and loves them unconditionally. Kids will live “up” or “down” to our expectations.
homelessness and poverty in our region. By bringing more than 70 service providers to one place, this event aims to provide ease of access to a broad variety of services and
There is no simple answer to guarantee
knowledgeable service providers to improve
resilience in every situation. But we can
lives in our community."
challenge ourselves to help our children develop the ability to negotiate their own challenges and
Thank you to all who donated to this initiative!
to be more resilient, more capable, and happier.
Overview of Stress There will always be stress in our lives. Stress is an important tool that can aid in our survival. Our body’s reaction to stress is mediated through a complex interplay of sensory input— sights and sounds—as well as the brain and nervous system, hormones, and the body’s cells and organs. Emotions play an important role in how we experience stress because the brain is the conductor of this system. The way we think about stress and what we choose to do about it can affect the impact of a stressful event.
This article was featured in Healthy Children Magazine. To view the full issue, click here.
Learn More About PCC CULTIVATE NEWS | 17
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April Menus
We would like to give families the opportunity to order the bread that River Rock makes for our children. There are two different options to choose from: Sourdough and Midwest Multigrain. Pick up at Cultivate in 1-2 business days.
Click the menu to download a pdf
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To place an order: Visit our Cultivate Mankato shop! Questions? Email us at info@cultivatemankato.com
www.cultivatemankato.com
We would like to give families the opportunity to order snack packs for your child(ren) or upcoming event. Choose between a meat or vegetarian option or send us a message to create a custom order. Pick up at Cultivate in 1-2 business days.
Click the menu to download a pdf
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To place an order: Visit our Cultivate Mankato shop! Questions? Email us at info@cultivatemankato.com
www.cultivatemankato.com