Cultivate Mankato: August 2020 News

This Month's News

Parent Resources

Modern Family Story

Online Store, Picture Day, Update: Playground Plans

Play Confidently with Your Child

Stories Shared by Local Families

VOL. 04 AUGUST 2020

NURTURE. GROW. EMPOWER

August News Preschool 1 after playing water balloons

Infant play date

Message from Candice Toddler 2 taking a water break

"Let your smile change the world, but don't let the world change your smile."

As I was walking through the store last week, I casually kept my distance and moved about slowly, with a smile spread across my face. It took me a few moments to remember that no one could see my smile underneath my mask and so I quickly stopped and thought "who am I smiling for anyways?" I sat with that thought for a moment and then decided smiling was actually for myself, too. We sometimes underestimate the kindness we need to show ourselves and the positive energy that can radiate inside of us.

Smile often...yourself will love you for it :)

Preschool 3 on the Art Walk

CANDICE DEAL-BARTELL Executive Director

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www.cultivatemankato.com

One Year Anniversary Virtual Dance Party

School-Age Plans Fall 2020 Mankato Area Public Schools have announced that distance learning will be an

Our one year anniversary is coming up on

option for MAPS families regardless of what

September 9th and we would like to

learning delivery method is selected by the

celebrate by hosting a virtual Dance Party

state. Plans will be in place for those who

with all of our Cultivate Families.

prefer to keep their children home for

Mark your calendar for September 9th at 10:30am. More details coming soon.

medical reasons or are simply uncomfortable with sending them to school.

If you decide that public school isn't the right decision for you right now, we will

Online Store

continue to offer school-age care for current families throughout the year.

Did you know we have an online store?

Shirts for all ages, hats, adult sweatshirts, and

new masks and swaddle blankets.

Order your Cultivate apparel today!

www.cultivatemankato.com/shop

Diversity Study Within our education curriculum, we use studies to guide our lesson planning. Studies are a broad concept that we focus on for 4-6 weeks. In response to recent events in our world, we have decided that our next study will be on diversity. Within this study we will focus on all aspects of how people are different that will include race, culture, gender and varying abilities.

To support us with this study, we have connected with the Greater Mankato Diversity Council and are very excited to partner with them for our study!

If you feel your family has something special to share in regards to this diversity study, we would love family participation. Reach out!

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www.cultivatemankato.com

Covid-19 Policies Review and download our COVID-19 Policy and Procedures

Click Here

Preschool Openings We have preschool openings for fall 2020. If you know a family looking for child care, please have them check out our virtual tour:

https://youtu.be/Hg_ArtGZG74

Fall Picture Day

And fill out a contact us form at:

www.cultivatemankato.com

Angela Archer Photography will be here again this year to do fall pictures September 14th, 15th and 16th.

More information coming soon.

Snack Packs & Bread Orders

Outdoor Play Guidelines Click the chart below to few the guidelines we follow to determine if we can play outside or not.

We have snack packs, sour dough bread and multigrain bread available for families to order.

Email Candice to make a one-time

order or set up a scheduled weekly order!

Snack packs come with focaccia bread with green goddess dip, cucumbers, cheese cubes and chocolate OR multigrain crackers, cheese cubes, ham cubes and chocolate. Or talk to Candice about customizing your snack pack.

Monthly Fire & Tornado Drills Did you know that we do monthly fire & tornado drills? The children have practiced enough now that the process is not scary and they know what they need to do and what to expect. This practice is important so children stay calm and know what to expect in the event of a real fire or tornado.

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www.cultivatemankato.com

New Team Members Please Welcome our newest team member!

Hello this is Caleb Mead!

I am from Mankato. I am a senior at Mankato East High School. I have babysat many times. I want to work at Cultivate to meet new people.

Hi, this is Morgan Lindely! I am from the Mankato area but currently live in Nicollet. I'm going to school at South Central College for Multimedia Technology. I have previous experience in childcare but I have always watched my cousins and now we have a great relationship together. I was looking for a new experience in child care and I agree with the values here.

Hi, my name is Claire Ziegler. I am from Mankato and graduated from East High School in 2014. I then graduated from MSU with a degree in Social Work and played basketball all four years. I am currently in graduate school for social work. I am excited work here at Cultivate because I have a passion for working with children and helping them grow and succeed in life.

Hi, my name is Linnea Moore. I'm from Madelia, MN. I have a degree in Psychology and Women & Gender Studies from the College of Saint Scholastica in Duluth, MN. I love children and have worked in summer childcare, as a Behavioral Therapist with children with autism, and as a paraprofessional. I'm excited to work at Cultivate and get to know and grow with an amazing bunch of kids.

Hi, my name is Jada Straub. I am from Arlington, MN. I am going to school for Early Childhood Education, I have been babysitting for about 8 years. I want to work at Cultivate because I want to grow as a I start my career in childcare and teaching.

Hi, my name is Noah Gassman.

I'm helping in the kitchen at Cultivate. I'm from St. Peter, MN and I am currently attending UW La Crosse. I have previously worked at the St. Peter Food Co-op holding a number of positions, and have learned everything about working in a kitchen from the co-op. I am currently studying English Literature and Women's Studies, and I love to read and listen to music. Working at Cultivate has been a blast, and I'm excited to finish up my summer here!

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CELEBRATING ONE YEAR WORK ANNIVERSARY Kendra, Ashlie, Payton, Britni, Beth Ann and Laura

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August Menu

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 is at Cultivate. Payment is added to your tuition.

Click the menu to download a pdf

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To place an order: Email us at info@cultivatemankato.com or send us a message in ProCare!

www.cultivatemankato.com

Parent Resource

Acknowledgement can be a gesture, a facial expression, or verbal feedback.

Remember your child's discovery of what water can do? Here are some

Play Confidently with Your Child

phrases you might say that show you notice your child's discoveries: "You did

Content from:

it!" "Wow, look at that! The water made

https://www.naeyc.org/our-

the wheel turn!"-Extend play. Offering

work/families/playing-confidently-

other materials or modeling a new skill

with-our-children

based on your child's interests is a way to initiate interaction and suggest

Young learners enter this world driven

additional possibilities, extending your

to explore, experiment, learn, and grow.

child's learning while he continues to

We see this in the toddler who delights

play. For instance, if your child were to

in dumping a bin of blocks on the floor

build a ramp with blocks, you could

or in a curious infant splashing in a

offer him materials of different weights

puddle. For early childhood

to roll down the ramp. “Does the

professionals, there is no question that

heavier car go farther than the lighter

young children learn through play.

car? Is one faster than the other? What

Research has demonstrated that

else could we try?”-Play and learn

providing rich and varied play

alongside your child. Our children are

experiences for children boosts their

always watching us. When they see you

early learning.Here are some things you

making new discoveries, you are sharing

can think about the next time you are

a valuable lesson—that is, learning is a

prompted to get down on the floor with

lifelong process. While there is an art in

your little ones:-Take time to watch and

knowing how best to support a child’s

listen. Before joining your child’s play

playful learning process, the most

with your words or actions, take time to

important things to remember are to

observe how your child is playing and

relax, unplug, and have fun!

experimenting. Not only will you delight in your child's discoveries, you will also find that observing is a great way to get to know your child's interests and gain an understanding about what he is learning. You may be surprised at how competent your child is when you focus on what he is doing.-Say what you see.

As always, we are here to support you and your children during these times. If you need guidance or help supporting your child at home right now, Ms. Laura, our Early Childhood Educator, is

Instead of saying "good job," give your

available to set up a video/phone

child specific feedback about what she

conference with any parent who is

did or what happened.

interested. To set up a time, to connect email Laura at:

laura.walser@cultivatemankato.com

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www.cultivatemankato.com

Modern Family Story

By Angela Archer, February 2020

Cultivate Mankato had an opportunity to sit down with Angela Archer in February 2020 and hear her modern family story.

The interview below is from February.

Enjoy!

I’ve been a professional photographer for about 12 years now. I’ve had my own business for the past 10. My husband and I are very workfocused. I am a work-aholic.

When you have your own business, you kind of have to be. You have to have all your ducks in a row and all your goals organized to get things done. Because you wear a lot of hats. You are in charge of everything.

I have a benign brain tumor that is inoperable. I found out about it when I was

Our daughter Jaylin Grace is a year and a

in high school and I went through brain

half and she is a spitfire. She keeps us on

surgery and radiation treatments. It’s in my

our toes. She has given us a hard time since

pituitary which deals a lot with hormones.

the very beginning. Which is a good thing. As

So, I am not able to have children without

she gets older she is going to take charge.

treatments. We had gone through about 4 years of different IUI’s and medical injection

Jaylin is an IVF baby. So it took us quite a

treatments. It feels like not that long ago so

long time to even have a child. Through that

it’s hard to believe that Jaylin is now a year

process, I had to take a step back with my

and a half. The process of the official IVF

own business and down scale because the

treatment was all injections. Like months of

IVF process is difficult, it takes time and it’s

self injections. Jaylin was our first try. After

emotional and physically wearing.

the whole process, we had three embryos that survived and she was one of them. So we have two left now if we decide to do it again. I didn’t feel like I could just leave them. Right now they are frozen. But what happens, happens. If we do decide to do it again, it shouldn’t be quite as hard because we don’t have to go through the egg retrieval process. That was really hard. It’s an emotional process when you go through it. In total, the whole process took about 5 years.

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www.cultivatemankato.com

Angela Archer Photography Angela is the owner of Angela Archer Photography. Angela did our fall photos last year and she will be doing them again this year in September.

Visit her website at:

angelaarcherphotography.com Jaylin was 2 and a half weeks early. I was going in for a regular appointment and I realized I was in labor that morning. Once I got to my appointment, my OB confirmed that I was in fact in labor. It went really fast after that. Then Jaylin stopped moving and I had an emergency c-section and then she had an infection. So, she went straight to the nursery and she was there for a week, which, in the big picture, is not that long.

She had been unresponsive so they took her right away and then a few hours later I could hold her for the first time. So, like I said, she has been a little spitfire ever since she was born.

Now that she is here, I can’t even remember all the time I had before. Like once you have a kid you are so busy all the time. Nonstop.

Morning until night. And now Adam and I find ourselves saying, “Remember when we had the whole day to ourselves? And we thought we were busy?” What did we do with all that time? It’s so different now. So my business is ramping back up, now that we are getting into a little bit more of a pattern and a routine. But, it’s definitely made me put different priorities in different areas of life. Obviously after having a child, things change and your vision changes.

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www.cultivatemankato.com