Cultivate Mankato: February 2021 News

VOL. 10 FEB 2021

This Month's News

Parent Resources

CultivateMN

Rebrand, Cultivate Love Shirts, Month of Giving

Building Social and Emotional Skills at Home

Meet our Podcast Guests, Rent Podcast Room

NURTURE. GROW. EMPOWER

February News Recently, Norah and I set up the mobile Cultivate Cafe Cart (you’ll see this a lot more over the summer) as a way to connect with families and create some intentional time and space to show love and gratitude. We had great conversations and would welcome the opportunity to do this every month.

Stay tuned for more dates on that.

"Does the ball float or sink?" in Toddler 1

Making tennis ball puppets in Toddler 3

Message from Candice: I don’t know about you, but I’ve found that it has been challenging to connect with people during the pandemic. There is a lot of extra effort and questions that surface these days around connection: Where do we go? What do we do?

Should we hang out? Have you been exposed to anyone? What will people think? Connecting with friends for a good chat, drinks, food, etc. has become complicated.

What’s interesting, though, is that now more than ever people need connection. We need to feel love. What does love look like here at Cultivate? For us, love is the foundation of our program. We get to love the children every day. Even on the worst of days, we get to give and receive love from children. We get to love each other and

Learning how a pendulum moves in Preschool 3

advocate for each other’s success in whatever endeavor we are attempting. We get to love families and establish great relationships that help us to care for and educate children. Love looks like connection, relationships, transparency, having hard conversations, solving problems together, and showing an indefinite amount of mutual respect. Love is creating space for others and inviting them into yours.

What does love look like for you? How are you teaching your child/children to love?

Love is in the air~

Learning about different emotions in Infant 2

CULTIVATE NEWS | 2

CANDICE DEAL-BARTELL Executive Director www.cultivatemankato.com

Laura has years of experience in the classroom as a preschool and kindergarten teacher and also brings a plethora of leadership experience. She works

Click Here to Subscribe

directly with our teachers to ensure they are supported in early

Laura Walser, our Early Education

childhood education.

Coordinator will be creating short parent

“My name is Laura Walser and I am the

resource videos called Upskill for $10/month.

Early Education Coordinator at Cultivate

Upcoming topics will be:

Mankato. I am from Minnesota Lake. I graduated from Maple River Schools, then

Handling big emotions

got my Early Childhood Education degree

Emotion coaching

from Minnesota State University Mankato.

Keeping yourself calm

I worked at Maple River for 14 years as

Bedtime routines

Kindergarten teacher and then Early

Building independence

Childhood Director. Through my

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 Setting your child up for successful sleep at childcare Potty training The importance of sleep Knowing yourself as a parent Guiding your child’s behavior; positive

experience in working with children and being a parent, I have established a passion for social/emotional development and the important role it plays in laying the foundation for a child's life. It is so incredible to think of the impact we as early childhood care providers can have on children...it's an amazing feeling to know that our work truly makes a difference! I am thrilled to be part of curriculum development and ensure best practices with the team at Cultivate Mankato. I strive to provide the staff with the competencies, support and confidence they need to create a positive learning environment! I also enjoy

discipline

collaborating with families and the

Language development

community to empower them as well, in

If you have questions, please email Laura

meeting the needs of young children.”

laura.walser@cultivatemankato.com

CULTIVATE NEWS | 3

www.cultivatemankato.com

PARENTS WE

NEED

YOUR

HELP

SPREADING

THE

WORD

ABOUT

THIS

MEMBERSHIP

BE THE CHANGE #supportyouremployees

INCENTIVES FOR EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES

PROGRESSIVE THINKING ABOUT CHILD CARE & EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

INCREASE EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION & RETENTION

CHILD CARE DISCOUNTS FOR FOR EMPLOYEES & TAX WRITE-OFF FOR EMPLOYER

REDUCE EMPLOYEES STRESS ABOUT FINDING QUALITY CHILD CARE

Add a little bit of body text

w w w . c u l t i v a t e m a n k a t o . c o m / b u s i n e s s m e m b e r s h i p

CULTIVATING CONNECTIONS CHILD CARE BUSINESS MEMBERSHIP

We have Rebranded Daycare vs. Child Care vs. Child Development C U L T I V A T E N U R T U R E .

C A F E

G R O W .

E M P O W E R .

The work we do is often talked about and described in various ways. We often interchange the terms daycare, child care, early learning, child development, etc. For us at Cultivate Mankato, we

Cultivate Cafe Connect Stop by the Cultivate Cafe for a cup of coffee with Candice!

Once

a

month,

Candice

will

be

offering parents an opportunity to connect with her. Parents can stop by

the

Cultivate

Cafe

cart

where

Candice will be serving coffee. The Cultivate Cafe cart will be located at either one of our entrances.

CCC Hour with Candice One Friday a Month 7:30-8:30am **will be announced the monday before**

want to make sure to explain why we rebranded from “Child Care Center” to “Child Development and Resource Center.”

The terms “daycare” and “child care” have stigmas associated with them in society. They are typically understood and regarded with very little value. This can often be demotivating to employees who spend 8 - 10 hours a day pouring every ounce of emotional energy they have into developing children for very little pay. The term “care” also has implications that undervalue and misinterpret the work that we do with children every day.

For Cultivate Mankato, we wanted to rebrand to “Cultivate Mankato Child Development and Resource Center” as an effort to change the narrative and expectation of what early education and child development can look like. While part of our role is caring for children and ensuring we are creating a safe, welcoming environment for them, it is also our responsibility to help them develop

Feeding Every Baby Do you have a baby and struggle with assistance not being enough? Do you not qualify for assistance? Are you a foster parent, or caring for someone else's child? Are you affected by Covid19? At Feeding Every Baby, they help regardless of income, other assistance programs, or location (as long as

holistically, so we go beyond basic care needs and provide various opportunities for children to learn and grow. We believe that children are incredible members of communities and society and will do our best to provide experiences that allow them to develop themselves in that framework. We also added “Resource Center” because of our incredible partnerships with other early education agencies.

We know that developing children requires a variety of skills and individuals with specialties for helping children (specifically OT, PT, Special Education,

you can pick up in Mankato, they will help).

social/emotional services, etc) and have worked

They provide formula, breastfeeding supplies

hard to develop those relationships so that we can

including extra pumps, nursing pads, and

provide resources to parents and teachers. We

storage bags, diapers, pull ups and wipes.

want to make sure that we are hiring the best early educators dedicated to developing children and

Click Here for More Information

working as a professional group of early educators.

www.cultivatemankato.com CULTIVATE NEWS | 5

Did You Know?

Our building was once the Mankato Clinic? Candice found this picture of our

Love is in the Air! THE PERFECT VALENTINES DAY GIFT

building when it was the original Mankato Clinic. In five years, the building will be 100 years old.

cultivate

L

MN

VE

ORDER ONLINE C U L T I V A T E

M I N N E S O T A

S T O R E

ORDER YOUR T-SHIRT HERE

2021 Rates Our center-wide rate change went into effect January 2021. We believe that we are offering a high quality program with

Scholastic Book Orders Through the Scholastic Book Club, you have the choice to place an order each month.

Your orders will allow us to earn free books for

qualified teaching staff, excellent food,

our Cultivate library and will be used

educational resources, and other

throughout all of our classrooms. Books will be

resources that best serve the needs of

delivered to Cultivate and sent home with your

all children.

child. Orders will be due on the 2nd Friday of each month.

Use the link below to order.

Order will be due on Friday, February 12th.

Any questions about ordering can be emailed to Ms. Tera at

tera.vankeulen@cultivatemankato.com

Link to order: https://orders.scholastic.com/R76H7

Class Code: R76H7 CULTIVATE NEWS | 6

www.cultivatemankato.com

Welcome to our New Lead Teachers

My name is Lizzie and I am excited to join Preschool 3 as a new Lead Teacher! I have a bachelors in Special Education from MSU,

I went to MSU and got my

Mankato and am able to

bachelors degree in

teach ages birth to 21. I have

psychology. I started my

spent the last 5 years as a Site Supervisor

Masters in School Counseling

with the ACES program, during which I

but took a break until I figure

planned a Kindergarten readiness program

out this crazy thing called

with Little ACES! In my free time, you can

life. have worked in a

find me hiking in state parks or hanging out

childcare setting for 4 years now and

with my 4 cats, family, and friends. I can’t

nannied my entire life! I absolutely love

wait to get to know everyone in the

working with and teaching kids! It’s amazing

Cultivate Mankato family & team!

to be able to watch them grow everyday – developmentally, physically, and emotionally.

I know it can be hard to leave your most prized possessions in other people's hands so

We Are Hiring

if there is anything I can do to help put your mind at ease I’m only an email away! Can’t wait to get to know you and your kiddos!

I am Angie Caven, the new Preschool 3 Lead Teacher.

I have lived in the Mankato area all my life, am married, and mom to two amazing girls! I have a Bachelor's Degree in Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Services from MSU, Mankato. I

We are in search of a new lead infant teacher!

have worked in childcare for almost ten

Salary: $15 per hour + Benefits (depending on

years now, most recently running my own

qualifications) + Sign On Bonus

in-home daycare. In my free time I enjoy wilderness camping, canoeing, throwing

Employment Package includes: health, dental & vision insurance, child care benefits, retirement

pottery, being creative, and hanging out

plan, professional development stipend and

with my family & friends! I am excited to be

other employment perks.

part of the Cultivate Mankato team!

Please share this information to help us find an outstanding, caring and qualified individual to join our team!

CULTIVATE NEWS | 7

www.cultivatemankato.com

Future Closures Friday, April 2nd

|

Friday, July 2nd

Reminders Weather: We want to remind you of our weather policy. Cultivate Mankato does not follow the district 77 weather closings.

However, we may have to close if it is deemed unsafe for families and employees

February Giving Back to our Community Feeding Our Communities Partners is our featured organization for this month.

"Feeding Our Communities Partners has a mission to engage our community in solving youth hunger. We envision a community in which hunger is not a barrier to success and believe that feeding hungry tummies allows for hungry and active minds during the school day.

getting to and from Cultivate. Also remember

FOCP fulfills this mission primarily through the

to bring all your child's winter gear.

work of the BackPack Food Program (serving

Safety: If you park on Broad Street to drop

elementary students) and Power Pack Program

off or pick up, please be sure you pull forward PAST the BIKE LANE SIGN. This allows some space between your vehicle and the corner on Main Street. Sometimes cars come around that corner really fast and we want there to be some time for them to see you and your vehicle.

Also, remember to make sure the side door leading out to Broad Street closes all the way. Many families exit out of this door which is totally fine. However, sometimes the door gets swung open too far and gets stuck open, which brings in cold air and causes safety risks as well. If you can please make sure to check behind you to ensure the door closes that would be deeply appreciated.

(serving middle school students). These programs provide youth hunger relief when access to food may not otherwise be possible and collectively serve over 1200 students each week at 28 area schools within 5 school districts in the greater Mankato area."

FOCP has specific needs for their food programs. To see the items they are able to receive click the button below.

Thank you for your continued support and living the Cultivate Mankato values of:

LOVE AUTHENTICITY RELATIONSHIPS and COMMUNITY Click Here for more information or to make a monetary donation Click Here to view items FOCP are able to accept

CULTIVATE NEWS | 8

www.cultivatemankato.com

Outdoor Playground Plans Update

COVID-19 Employee Vaccinations

I’m sure we can all agree that dumping out

As you know, Cultivate Mankato was randomly

sand from your child’s shoe after school

picked to participate in the COVID-19

has been less than ideal :) Even though our

Vaccination Pilot Program. At this time, the

playground plans took a bit of a change

state has limited vaccine supplies so

from our original intention, the kids did

introduced the pilot program to randomly

have fun playing outside this summer and

chosen sites. While we do not require

continued as the snow fell. That being

employees to receive the vaccine, we did have

said, we will start reconstructing our

about 75% participation with the vaccine pilot.

playground this Spring. This will happen in a couple of phases and can potentially be delayed based on how demand changes due to COVID.

Phase 1: Deconstruct all current boxes Phase 2: Pour new blacktop Phase 3: Install rubber mats Phase 4: Install equipment (this will be semi-mobile so that we can change out equipment from time to time) Again, our hope is that we can move through these phases quickly and utilize other grassy areas as we need (such as Washington Park) while under construction of our play area.

In an effort to be fully transparent and ensure you can create a backup plan, we have heard that the second dose of the vaccine around Feb 12th (which is typically delivered 1 month after the first dose) does have the potential to cause more symptoms than the first dose. We do not intend to close, but if we have trouble with staffing at any point due to the vaccine trial, we may have to suddenly shift gears or ask families to volunteer to keep children home in order for us to keep within child:staff ratios.

Again, we would need to come up with a backup plan only if we had too many staff members out due to COVID vaccine symptoms.

While we are grateful to participate in the pilot program, this was an important detail that wasn’t considered, so we will need to all work together on this one.

Snack Cart Did you know we have a snack cart for children to take a snack home at pick up? Our snack cart is next to the island in our community room and it is stocked with healthier snack options; apples, bananas, fruit snacks, pretzels, graham crackers, goldfish etc.

CULTIVATE NEWS | 9

www.cultivatemankato.com

Message from Anissa Mr. Rogers’ favorite number was 143. For

AND SO MUCH MORE! It is the little moments throughout our day that add up to BIG love.

him, it was shorthand for I (1) LOVE (4) YOU

Caring for your children is an honor and a

(3). When I first learned of those magical

privilege. We do not take that lightly. Know

numbers, I immediately made them my

that they are loved.

favorite number too. It is such a beautiful and simple way to express your feelings.

At Cultivate Mankato, LOVE is one of our CORE VALUES. It shapes how we move through our day. We are “cultivating and

With love, Anissa

“Love is the root of everything, all learning, all parenting, all relationships.

Love or the lack of it.” Mr. Rogers

nurturing children as individuals and providing a loving and safe environment.”

What does that look like?

It looks like smiles and laughter.

Conversations at the lunch table. Helping children identify their feelings. It is sitting on the floor and reading every book that is handed to you. It’s putting on a silly wig and making faces through the window or crawling around like a prairie dog and

Upcoming 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. Currently our study has been all about balls. Soon we will begin our

music study.

popping up to see the children. It looks like

If you feel your family has something special to

having expectations that help them stretch

share in regards to our upcoming study, we

and grow and do things they didn’t think

would love family participation. Reach out!

they could do. It’s celebrating the successes and sharing in the disappointments. It’s daily greetings and songs in the hallway. It’s lots of hugs. It’s rubbing backs at rest time. It’s music at lunch and spontaneous dance parties. It’s the attention and care given to our menu and the beautiful rainbow of foods we get to eat each day. It’s the snack cart. It’s the mood updates. It’s the extra time given to keep our classrooms and community spaces clean and safe for everyone. It’s the continuing education of our team. It is the communication between the teachers and parents. It is the relationships we are building with each other. It is kindness and respect for our space and for one another.

CULTIVATE NEWS | 10

www.cultivatemankato.com

CELEBRATING ONE YEAR WORK ANNIVERSARY Alexis Osland & Hanna Wilson

CULTIVATE NEWS | 11

Feb. 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

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

Message from Becky "I want to take a moment to let you know what we are working on for the new year. Last February we partnered with River Rock Bakery and they have been wonderful to work with. They've provided us with organic muffins, their famous midwest multigrain and sourdough bread and this fall they provided us with delicious pumpkin bread, focaccia bread, green goddess dip, granola bars and homemade organic tomato soup which the kids love with grilled cheese sandwiches. In the next few weeks I will be working closely with the team at River Rock as well as reaching out to other local businesses to create a more diverse menu.

Something we are also very excited about... Since several of our CM families have asked for the recipe of something their child ate and liked, we were inspired to create a Cultivate Mankato Community Cookbook. This book will not only include recipes from the CM kitchen but our hope is to include recipes from local restaurants in and around the Mankato area as well as your favorite family recipe. Illustrations will be done by the children at CM. Watch your emails for more information in the next few weeks."

CULTIVATE NEWS | 12

- Ms. Becky

www.cultivatemankato.com

Parent Resource

Read bedtime stories. There is something magical about this end-of-the-day routine that makes it the ideal time for talking

Building Social and Emotional Skills at Home Written by NAEYC www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/buildingsocial-emotional-skills-at-home School classrooms are busy places where young children learn all sorts of things, including social and emotional skills such as how to express feelings and how to work together with friends on a project.

Here are some suggestions for helping your child develop social and emotional skills at home.

Puppets. Teachers sometimes talk with children about conflicts and help them think about solutions while using puppets and families can try this technique at home. Puppets are a great way to introduce children to feeling words like

about feelings. Discuss the characters and events in the story. Invite your child to share her thoughts and feelings by asking questions: “What do you think he should do? How do you think she feels? What would you do if you were this character?”

Do a job together. Instead of asking your child to do a chore alone, do it with her.

The two of you might fold laundry, set the table, rake leaves, or paint a wall. Help your child join in by shortening the handle of a broom to make it child-size or providing a small paintbrush or roller.

Play games. Card and board games and outdoor games such as tag or hop-scotch offer built-in opportunities for helping children learn to take turns, cooperate, handle frustration, and more. While playing games together, focus on fun instead of winning or losing.

happy, sad, angry, and children will

Prevent potential problems. Before a

sometimes talk to puppets about their

friend comes to play, help your child put

feelings. Puppets can also help in

away toys he does not want to share.

discussions about challenging topics, like

Before taking a bus to the zoo, provide a

getting to bed on time.

step-by-step explanation of what you will

Think out loud. When your child hears your thinking process, it helps her understand how to cope with frustration and solve problems: “Whoops. My favorite shopping bag has a hole in it. I’d better take another one with me to the grocery store.”

do: “We will wait at the bus stop for 5 minutes, then get on the bus and sit together and watch the sights go by for about 30 minutes [explain this as the length of one episode of a favorite TV show]. Then we will walk three blocks to the zoo and tour the lion house before anything else!” During the trip, remind your preschooler of what will happen next.

CULTIVATE NEWS | 13

www.cultivatemankato.com

Cultivate MN has a new private podcast studio available to rent ‣

$25 per hour private podcast recording room

for each microphone

‣

Audio interface

‣

‣

Two dynamic microphones

‣

Mic boom

System designed to be compatible on MacBook

All you need is your own computer! And we will help you install audio interface software. Don't want to edit your podcast? We partnered with Nulifestyle Co: Meraki Marketing to offer podcast editing for an additional cost. To book our podcast studio, contact us at info@cultivatemn.org

What is Cultivate MN? CultivateMN is a non-profit advocacy group dedicated to promoting awareness within early childhood programs, family services organizations, and child welfare programs. We believe sharing stories promotes awareness and cultivates connection.

CULTIVATE NEWS | 15

www.cultivatemankato.com

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CultivateMN is a non-profit advocacy group dedicated to promoting awareness within early childhood programs, family services organizations, and child CULTIVATE NEWS | 16 w e l f a r e p r o g r a m s . W e b e l i e v e s h a r i n g s t owww.cultivatemankato.com ries promotes

COMING

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CultivateMN is a non-profit advocacy group dedicated to promoting awareness within early childhood programs, family services organizations, and child CULTIVATE NEWS | 17 w e l f a r e p r o g r a m s . W e b e l i e v e s h a r i n g s t owww.cultivatemankato.com ries promotes

COMING

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CultivateMN is a non-profit advocacy group dedicated to promoting awareness within early childhood programs, family services organizations, and child CULTIVATE NEWS | 18 w e l f a r e p r o g r a m s . W e b e l i e v e s h a r i n g s t owww.cultivatemankato.com ries promotes