Cultivate Mankato: January 2022 News

VOL. 20 JAN 2022

This Month's News

Parent Resources

New Operations Coordinator, End of Year Giving CultivateMN, Spirit Week

Turning Toward Our Children: Answering Bids for Connection

NURTURE. GROW. EMPOWER.

January News More yoga in Toddler 3

Movie, hot cocoa and PJ Day in Preschool 3

Index End of Year Donations, Tax Statements, Meet Samantha

05 06 07 08

2022 Closures Cultivate Mankato Spirit Week Business Membership Future Closures, Holiday Auction Upcoming Study, COVID Policies, Weather Indoor sledding fun in Infant 3

Reminder, We are Hiring Gratitude Message from Anissa Upskill Parent Resources Infant Development Center Community Room Workiversaries Menus

Playing with a giant cardboard box in Infant 4

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Parent Resource Article

03-04

09 10 11 12 13 14-15 16-17 18-20

www.cultivatemankato.com

ARE YOU LOOKING TO MAKE AN END-OF-YEAR DONATION?

THE GIFT THAT

Keeps on giving!

Please consider donating to: SUPPORT EARLY EDUCATORS

SUPPORT CHILDREN

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

MOBILE SENSORY PROJECT

SCHOLARSHIPS

SUPPORT FAMILIES

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

COMMUNITY CHILD CARE FUND

DONATE TODAY www.cultivatemn.org

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www.cultivatemankato.com

How to Retrieve Tax Statements We’ve had many requests for retrieving tax statements. Procare makes it pretty easy for families to get their own, but please let me know if you have any questions. Please click the link below to view directions on how to do this. Please note, you may have to access your Procare account from a laptop to do this versus your phone.

Click Here for Instructions

Meet Samantha Our New Operations Coordinator My name is Samantha Laman and I am thrilled to have joined the Cultivate team as the Operations Coordinator! I was raised in Saint Michael, Minnesota and have always been enthralled by nature and the smaller, more fragile beings who surround us humans in our day to day lives.

My interests eventually led me into obtaining a degree in Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Services from Minnesota State University, Mankato, which allowed me to not only dive deeper into my curiosities, but also gave me the tools needed to educate others about the importance of not only taking care of themselves, but the world around them as well. I believe there is great importance and power in the emotion of awe, and that it can be the source of endless core memories for young children. I also believe that the Cultivate team has everything needed to encompass education, love, community, awe and authenticity in a way that will help create a lifetime of learning for each student and their families. Some fun facts about me are that 90% of my family lives in The Netherlands, I used to have 2 pet ducks named Jocelyn & Rolland, and scuba diving is one of my favorite vacation activities!

I am honored to have joined the Cultivate community and can't wait to see what 2022 has in store for us all!

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www.cultivatemankato.com

PARENTS

WE

NEED

YOUR

HELP

SPREADING

THE

WORD

ABOUT

THIS

MEMBERSHIP

BE THE CHANGE #supportyouremployees

CULTIVATE MANKATO CHILD CARE BUSINESS MEMBERSHIP

REMINDER!

Future Closures January 1st | New Year's Day

October 22nd | Teacher Appreciation

April 2nd | Teacher Appreciation November 25th | Thanksgiving May 31st |

Memorial Day

November 26th | Thanksgiving

July 2nd | Independence Day

December 24th | Christmas Eve

September 6th | Labor Day

December 31st | New Year's Day 2022

Thank you to those that participated in our Cultivate Mankato Holiday Auction This month as part of our Giving Back to our Community initiative, we organized an online Holiday Auction and raised $$$? for CADA! Thank you to all those that participated and to all the businesses that donated auction items: B's Bakes & Cakes, Smell the Roses Memory Creation, Wine Cat, Nicollet Bike & Ski Shop, Body Concepts, WOW!Zone, Pub 500, Hilton Garden Inn, Mankato Downtown, Mecca Tattoo, Children's Museum of Southern Minnesota, Drummers Garden Center & Floral, Bellissimo Paint and Coatings, River Rock Coffee, Giddie Skin, Sugar Belly.

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www.cultivatemankato.com

Upcoming Study

Covid-19 Policies

Within our education curriculum, we use

updated 10/18/2021

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 Winter. This month we will begin our

Review and download MN Department of Health COVID-19 Decision Tree for People in Child Care Programs

Click Here

Health Study. If you feel your

family has something special to share in regards to our upcoming study, we would love family participation. Reach out!

We Are Hiring Employment Package includes: health, dental & vision insurance, retirement plan, professional development stipend, child care benefits, and other employment perks. ​Please share this information to help us find caring, outstanding and qualified individual to join our team!

Open Positions: Preschool Co-Lead Assistants and Supports in all programs

www.cultivatemankato.com/employment

Weather Reminder As the snow has already fallen this month, 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 getting to and from Cultivate. We have only had to close early once last year so hopefully early closures will be minimal.

Some pictures from our Winter Study the last few weeks.

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Also, please remember to bring snow boots, snow pants, hats, mittens and a coat every day. We do have some extras but our extras are limited. www.cultivatemankato.com

Message From Ms. Anissa Happy New Year!!!

THIS MONTH'S ORGANIZATION

and North Mankato. You will see more messages from me in Procare. And be

The beginning of the new year always

on the lookout for some good ol’

brings a sense of excitement for me. I

fashion fun!

set some goals and make some plans and try to find ways to be the best

During 2022 I want to grow our

version of myself. In the past I have set

Neighborhood COMMUNITY. I will be

weekly and monthly intentions with a

reaching out to our neighbors and

single word. Things like nutrition, joy,

inviting them to share their skills and

water and music; these words give me

talents with the children at Cultivate

focus for the week or month. I will

Mankato. We will add more special

continue to do these weekly and

guests to our monthly studies and take

monthly intentions, but this year I am

more field trips into the community.

also choosing a word of the year: COMMUNITY.

During 2022 I want to grow our Cultivate Mankato Team COMMUNITY.

COMMUNITY is not only a core value at Cultivate Mankato, it is a long-standing personal value of mine. I can trace it back to elementary school when I was a Brownie (Girl Scout). One of the lessons I learned all those years ago was to leave things better than I found them. That was the beginning of my desire to help others in my community.

During 2022 I want to grow our

We will deepen our connections with one another through on-going training, team celebrations and recognitions and finding ways to be playful throughout the day.

We are all a part of so many different communities. It’s exciting to think of all of the ways we can come together and strengthen our communities, making them a place to grow and thrive.

Cultivate Mankato COMMUNITY. I want

Anissa Sandland

to deepen our connections with one

Community & Culture Coordinator

another through service, through communications, and through gatherings. I will be inviting parents and families to get involved with service opportunities within Mankato

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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

TWO NEW VIDEOS NOW

AVAILABLE!

Knowing yourself as a parent Guiding your child’s behavior; positive discipline Language development If you have questions, please email Laura

laura.walser@cultivatemankato.com CULTIVATE NEWS | 11

www.cultivatemankato.com

Because we are at capacity, we need to expand. But we are only able to expand because of the hard work and dedication of our current infant team at Cultivate Mankato. We have created a stellar program at Cultivate Mankato, and now we plan to take what we have learned and created at our Main Street location and open an Infant Development Center.

To enroll and/or to apply, visit:

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www.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

CELEBRATING ONE YEAR WORK ANNIVERSARY Lizzie Rossow: Preschool 1 Lead Teacher Katie Nance: Toddler 2 Lead Teacher Sam Kuethe, Claire Rasche, Kayla Jensen: Assistant Teachers

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CELEBRATING two YEARS WORK ANNIVERSARY Adrienne Trahms, Infant Assistant Teacher (Shout out to Adrienne for being our opener, arriving at 5:45am every single morning)!

Cassandra Theriault, Infant 4 Lead Teacher

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Jan 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

To place an order: Visit our Cultivate Mankato shop!

Questions? Email us at info@cultivatemankato.com

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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

Parent Resource

and ready to play. Let’s make it a date!” This helps the child feel acknowledged and important. Each time you turn toward your

Turning Toward Our Children: Answering Bids for Connection

By Rebecca Eanes Link to Article

child in this way, Gottman says you are making a deposit in their Emotional Bank Account.

A negative response would be “Can’t you see I’m busy?” or a flat “Not now.” Too many negative responses significantly damage the relationship.

No response might be a scowl and a waving away of the hand or completely ignoring that the child even spoke, which may be the most

World-renowned relationship researcher and co-founder of The Gottman Institute, Dr. John

painful response of all.

Gottman, has conducted 40 years of research

Bids are offered both verbally and nonverbally,

with thousands of people. From his research

and it isn’t always easy to discern that a bid is

has emerged a practice that is important to

being made, which is why being aware and

the emotional connection between two

positively responsive is key in building

people – the act of “turning toward” your loved

emotional connection. A toddler who holds his

one when a bid is made. What is a bid?

arms up to be picked up is making a bid for

According to Gottman, a bid is an attempt to get attention, affection, or acceptance. It is a bid for emotional connection. “Will you play with me?” is an obvious bid, but not all bids are so clear. Therefore, it is good to familiarize ourselves with what bids are and to be mindful, being on the lookout for what our children say or do that may be a bid for connection. How we respond to these bids has a great impact on the connectedness we share with our loved ones. There are 3 responses to bids: positive (turning toward), negative (turning away), and no response (turning away).

attention or affection. Poor behavior may also be a bid. How should we respond if a child makes a bid in a negative way, such as through misbehavior or a tantrum?

Conventional parenting wisdom says to respond negatively so as not to reinforce the poor behavior or tantrum, but children are often doing the best they can in that moment to get their needs met. No matter if the bid comes in the form of a sweet “mommy or daddy, let’s play” or a screaming tantrum, the message is exactly the same. “Notice me.

Show me I matter.”

By giving a positive, loving response to the bid

Take for example a simple bid for attention.

no matter what form it comes in, we fill our

“Will you play with me?” A positive response

child’s emotional bank account and build

would either be “Yes, let’s play” or something

connection. A child with a full bank is less likely

like “Oh, I would LOVE to play with you. You

to make bids in negative ways.

are my favorite person in the whole world to play with. At 6:00, I’ll be finished with my work

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www.cultivatemankato.com

Here are some ways to “turn toward” your children when a bid is made:

Be attentive when they’re speaking to you.

When we are too busy to look up and pay attention, we miss an important chance for connection.

Be intentional about putting away distractions and focusing on your loved ones as often as possible.

4 Parental Behaviors to Avoid Horseman #1: Criticism Parents often use criticism in an attempt to motivate a child to do better, but criticism rarely motivates. It tears down. Criticism is pointing out something negative – basically shining a spotlight on the child’s flaws and negative traits. The problem is that, according to Dr. Julie Gottman, “kids take in all that criticism as a way of reflecting who they are.” It makes children believe

Be concerned about what they are

that there is something wrong with them. I’ve said

concerned with. Even if what they are

before that parents should be the people who see

concerned about seems trivial, showing

the best in our children and shine the spotlight on

that you are concerned because they are

their good qualities. Children can’t see and live up

builds the relationship.

to the best in themselves if we’re always pointing

Convey the message “you are known and

out the worst.

accepted” as much as you can. Avoid

Examples of Criticism:

criticism and these 3 other relationship destroyers

(see column to the right).

“You’re so clumsy.” “Why can’t you ever remember to make your bed? What is wrong with you?” “Look

Say “yes” to play. We have lots of other

at this mess! You’re too lazy to clean your room.”

things to do, but nothing more important.

“You’re spoiled rotten and don’t appreciate

Greet with enthusiasm. In the morning,

anything!”

after school, or after any extended separation, greet your children with warmth and a smile. Showing our children that we delight in them is a very simple but powerful connection builder.

What are kids really hearing in these phrases? Be more careful to not spill your drink? Please be responsible and make your bed? I’d like for you to tidy your room? I wish you were more appreciative? No. They’re hearing: You’re clumsy.

You’re stupid. You’re lazy. You’re spoiled. Any

It isn’t possible to always give positive

motivation to do better is squashed under the

responses to bids, and that’s okay. The

weight of shame.

intention is to try, and when we fail, we can

The Fix:

always come back to repair by making our own bids to them. As with all relationships, it’s about the quality of connection, not the presence of perfection.

Leave out character judgments and use “I statements” to state what you want. “Oops, it spilled. I want you to get a cloth and wipe it up.” “I want you to make your bed, please.” “I want you to clean your room before you go to your friend’s house.”

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www.cultivatemankato.com

Horseman #2: Contempt

Horseman #4: Stonewalling

Contempt is criticism coming from a place of

Stonewalling is withdrawing from the conversation

superiority. It comes out as name-calling, sneering,

before everyone feels the issue is settled. I can

eye-rolling, sarcasm, hostile humor, and mockery.

think of primarily 2 instances of parental

Interestingly, contempt not only predicted how

stonewalling. One is a withdrawal of emotional

relationships would go but it predicted how many

presence when frustrated with the child. Giving a

infectious illnesses the listener would have in the

child the cold shoulder or the silent treatment is a

coming year! I can only conclude from that

form of stonewalling. The other is ending the

information that talking down to a child tears

conversation with a blatant disregard for the

down more than his self-esteem.

child’s position. “We’re not going to discuss this. My

Examples of Contempt:

decision is final.”

“Stupid brat!” “Are you ignorant? Why would you

Understandably, there are times when something

do that?” “You wouldn’t even think of picking up

is not up for discussion and the parent must put

your clothes, would you?” “Aw, look at the little

their foot down, but when this is the norm in the

baby crying again! Wah wah!”

relationship, the child feels he has no voice and no

The Fix:

one to appeal to. When children feel that their

The antidote for contempt is respect. Treat your child with the same respect you want her to treat you with.

Horseman #3: Defensiveness Defensiveness is described as a reaction against feeling personally attacked; self-protection through righteous indignation or playing the victim.

viewpoint doesn’t matter to us, they’ll eventually stop trying to communicate with us at all.

Examples of Stonewalling: Ignoring your child in an attempt to manipulate behavior. “This is not up for discussion.” “It doesn’t matter what you think. My decision is made.” “I don’t want to hear it.”

In the parent-child relationship, the parent may

The Fix:

feel defensive when he realizes he was actually in

If anger or frustration is causing you to put up an

the wrong or when a child points out the parent’s

emotional wall, then the antidote is learning

flaws (criticizes the parent). Basically,

physiological self-soothing. Take a break from the

defensiveness says “the problem is not me, it’s

conversation to calm down, then come back to it

you.” It’s avoiding taking responsibility by placing

20 minutes or so later. If you’re purposefully

blame on the child.

stonewalling in an attempt to manipulate a child’s

Examples of Defensiveness:

behavior, consider if this is a behavior you’d want

“I wouldn’t have yelled if you’d have done what you were told!” “I shouldn’t have called you stupid, BUT you made me so angry.”

The Fix: Accept responsibility for your part in the problem, and listen to how your child is feeling with an attempt to truly understand her position. “I shouldn’t have called you stupid. I’m sorry.” “I apologize for yelling. I lost my temper.”

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your child to use. Chances are you’d be pretty upset if given the silent treatment by your child until you changed your mind about letting her see that movie she wants to go to.

The one tip that will help you avoid all of the 4 horsemen is to create a culture of respect in your relationship with your child. It’s not only possible to respectfully correct and discipline a child, but it is key for a healthy relationship.

www.cultivatemankato.com

Happy New Year!

FROM ALL OF US AT CULTIVATE MANKATO

FROM THE CULTIVATE MANKATO TEAM Not Pictured:

Summer Haven, Hailey Rudd, Samantha Laman