Cultivate Mankato: June 2022 News

VOL. 25 JUNE 2022

This Month's News

Parent Resources

Save the Date Upcoming Art Show, Cultivate Kitchen, Alley & Parking

Positive Mealtime Solutions for Fussy Eaters by Rebecca Eanes

NURTURE. GROW. EMPOWER.

June News Index 03

2022 Center Closures

Packet, Cultivate Kitchen

04

Upcoming Study, Save the Date Art Show

05

Message from Anissa, Alley & Parking

06-07

Cultivate Volleyball Team, Bike Week

08

Sam Olsen Podcast, Hiring, Sibley Picnic

09

Community Room

10

Conscious Discipline Training

11

Infant Development Update

12

Partnerships

13

Workiversaries

14-15

Parent Resource Article

16-17

Menus

18-19

COVID Policies, Family Information

We were finally able to enjoy some warm weather this month!

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www.cultivatemankato.com

g!

Upcomin

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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

Family Information Packet We have created a family packet that includes links/resources/forms/etc all in one spot!

Whether you are a new family or a current family, this packet is where you can go to find the answers to your questions.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR FAMILY INFO PACKET

Baked Ziti and Take & Bake Pizzas COMING SOON!

Starting Friday

June 10th, we will have Take and Bake Pizzas and Baked Ziti for families to purchase. Feeds between 4-6 people. Pizza options: cheese, pepperoni, veggie.

PRE-ORDER HERE CULTIVATE NEWS | 4

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 Spring. This month we have begun our

Cultivate Community Art Show SAVE THE DATE!

Summer Study.

July is our Art Study at Cultivate Mankato and If you feel your family has something special to share in regards to our upcoming study, we would love family participation. Reach out!

we will be hosting an art show at the Carnegie Art Center! Did you know the

Carnegie Art Center is right next door to our administrative offices?

Opening Reception will be

Friday, July 22 from

5 - 7pm. The show will run through the end of the month.

We will be asking for volunteers to assist with the installation and take down of the exhibit.

Please watch for more details as we get closer to the event.

We are looking forward to growing this partnership with the Carnegie Art Center. So many WONDERFUL opportunities await! www.thecarnegiemankato.com

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www.cultivatemankato.com

Message From Anissa Hello everyone!

As you know, COMMUNITY is one of our CORE VALUES at Cultivate Mankato. We have a Community Give Back Initiative that actively works to raise funds, share awareness and volunteer with non-profit organizations in Southern Minnesota.

Some of our past activities have included: Selling MoonDogs Tickets for Partners for Affordable Housing fundraiser On-Line Auctions for the United Way & CADA Collecting food items to create Birthday Party Kits for ECHO Food Shelf Volunteering for Habitat for Humanity - She Nailed It Event Packing meals for Feeding Our Communities Partners

I am inviting YOU to be a part of our June Give Back.

Cultivate Mankato is sponsoring the children's activities at two Juneteenth Celebrations; Saturday, June 18 in St. Peter and Sunday, June 19 in Mankato. Here is the form to sign up for a time to volunteer.

https://forms.gle/o8HYKTjAqH59Pqye8 Feel free to sign up

for more than one time slot if you would like!

Activities will include: Bounce House

Drumming

Giant Bubbles

AND MORE!

Chalk Walk These are family-friendly events, so bring the whole family!

In other COMMUNITY NEWS… I am excited to announce a

NEW COMMUNITY PARTNER - the Carnegie Art Center!

July is our Art Study at Cultivate Mankato and we will be hosting an art show at the Carnegie Art Center.

Opening Reception will be Friday, July 22 from 5 - 7pm. The show will run through the end of the month.

We will be asking for volunteers to assist with the installation and take down of the exhibit. Please watch for more details as we get closer to the event.

We are looking forward to growing this partnership with the Carnegie Art Center. So many WONDERFUL opportunities await!

https://www.thecarnegiemankato.com/

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www.cultivatemankato.com

Alleyway and Parking

To help us with the flow of traffic and to try and avoid accidents, please enter the alleyway on E Walnut Street and exit on E Main Street. We appreciate your cooperation!

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www.cultivatemankato.com

Cultivate Mankato Volleyball Team We have a volleyball team! If you'd like to cheer them on, they play on Thursdays at Caswell Park in North Mankato. Email Anissa Sandland, our Community and Culture Coordinator, for the schedule as the time they play varies between 6pm and 7pm. anissa@cultivatemankato.com

National Bike Week During National Bike Week we decided to challenge our team to ride bike to work (or on their break). In fact, we even hooked them up with Fun Bike Ride e-bikes! The program with the most participants, won a prize. (Yet another awesome Cultivate Mankato work perk). If you are interested in getting out on an e-bike, visit www.funbikerides.com

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www.cultivatemankato.com

If you haven't heard the news yet.... Cultivate Mankato has partnered with Sam Olsen from Persist Therapy! Sam Olsen specializes in occupational therapy for kids, family and sibling services and parent coaching. Sam already works with some Cultivate families and is very familiar with the Cultivate community.

Listen to Cultivate MN's latest podcast with Sam Olsen and podcast cohost Laura Walser, Cultivate Mankato's Early Education Coordinator.

LISTEN HERE For more information about Persist Therapy visit: www.persisttherapymn.com

We Are Hiring

Preschool Picnic at Sibley

Employment Package includes:

A few weeks ago, our

health, dental & vision insurance,

preschoolers got to ride

retirement plan, professional

a bus to Sibley Park to

development stipend, child care

see the animals, play on

benefits, and other employment perks.

the playgrounds, and

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

Open Positions:

have a picnic! We even had some parents who were able to join us!

You can view photos and videos here:

Teachers, Assistants and Supports in all programs

https://photos.app.goo.gl

www.cultivatemankato.com/ employment

/jwktXJnRxHCvaxtNA

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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 Our teachers took time out of their Saturday morning and attended this Conscious Discipline Training. We feel so fortunate to have had this opportunity. Thank you Kramlinger family!

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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 have completed two inspections (building and Health Inspection) and are awaiting two more (State Fire Marshal and Dept. of Human Services). Once those are complete, we should be all licensed and ready to go. Lexi and Cassandra have been busy getting things cleaned up and set up. We have large shipments of materials and supplies coming in this week. Open date is dependent on the timeline of the state departments.

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

Valley Veggie Partnership Update Our preschoolers have been learning all about plants, and it's time to put what they have learned to use! Yesterday our preschoolers walked to our community garden plots to plants some veggies with Miss Kimberly from Valley Veggies & Flowers. We are excited to harvest and eat some sweet bell peppers later this summer! We have a variety of vegetables including tomatoes, bell peppers, snap peas, bush beans, kohlrabi, cucumber, dill, thyme, mini lavender, rosemary, basil, and more! We welcome Cultivate families to visit the community garden located just down the block from our center, at 117 N Broad St, Mankato, MN 56001.

Also, Stephan, our property manager, has built raised garden beds or our friends who are too young to make the trip across the street so make sure to see what we’ve got growing on in the coming weeks!

For more information about Valley Veggies and Flowers, they can be found on Facebook and Instagram at Valley Veggies and Flowers, or their website www.valleyveggiesmn.com

Fit and Grit Training ABOUT US: At Fit & Grit Training our mission is to make sustainable, healthy living accessible to families. We use a holistic approach that focuses on fitness, mindset/stress management, and healthy eating. So whether you need a grocery store “tour guide” or strategies to help get your kids to eat their veggies, tools to manage your stress, or convenient babysitter-free fitness training that meets you at your home, at a local park, or online, we make it easy for you and your family to live a healthy lifestyle.

WHAT WE’RE DOING: In our partnership with Cultivate Mankato, every week we get to bring in fun and fitness for the preschoolers. We focus on some of the most important things for kiddos at this age, including controlling body states, proprioception (knowing where your body is in space), and balance. Each session we start with warm ups, then we let our bodies go wild and calm down, practice moving our bodies through space (ask your kiddo what animal was their favorite!), and finish with deep, calming breathing to transition back to the classroom.

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www.cultivatemankato.com

CELEBRATING ONE YEAR WORK ANNIVERSARY Jacob Huttner, Preschool 2 Co-Lead Teacher Kate Condit, Preschool 3 Co-Lead Teacher

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CELEBRATING two YEAR WORK ANNIVERSARY Caitie Lawin, Infant 1 Lead Teacher

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Parent Resource

Solution #1: Set Flexible Boundaries and

Positive Mealtime Solutions for Fussy Eaters

It’s important to set boundaries with your fussy

Remain Calm

eater at mealtimes, but it’s also important to take your child’s development into consideration and to be flexible where you can

Written by

afford to be. While it’s reasonable to want to

Rebecca Eanes

Link to Article Fussy eaters make mealtimes quite the

create a “family meals at the table” tradition, expecting babies and toddlers to sit for extended periods is unreasonable. So start the meal at the table with the understanding that you are working toward developing a good

challenge. We all want to establish healthy

habit that may take a couple of years to be

eating habits in our children and sit down to

entirely successful. Little steps are worth

enjoy a nice meal. It’s understandably easy

celebrating.

to become frustrated when they demand snacks constantly, refuse to sit in a high chair, throw their food, or simply won’t eat what we offer.

The truth is, we cannot force children to eat their vegetables or the meals we spend time preparing. We can’t expect toddlers to sit for long meals and have an engaging conversation with us while we eat peacefully together for 45 minutes.

When your fussy eater refuses to eat something, throws food, or otherwise does something undesirable at mealtimes, try your best to remain calm and not make a big deal of it. Big reactions can elicit more of the same behavior.

A calm, controlled, polite demeanor is best.

Hard to master, of course, but best.

Solution #2: Compassionate Meal Planning In our efforts to encourage healthy eating, we might fill our children’s plates with broccoli and

However, there are positive solutions for

salmon so they get those Omega 3’s and

fussy eaters and mealtime troubles.

phyto-nutrients. Our intentions are good, but not serving anything familiar or good to them is unfair to our little ones. Remember a time when you were hospitalized and you just had to hope something decent came on the dinner plate?

That’s probably what it’s like to be a toddler every day. Plan healthy meals that include something you know your fussy eater will enjoy, even if you hold it back and ask them to try the salmon first.

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www.cultivatemankato.com

Solution #3: Don’t Punish or Reward with Food Threatening to make a fussy eater go to bed without dinner or offering candy as a reward sets up more problems than it solves. If you say to a child, “You can only have dessert if you eat your vegetables,” then you’re implying that the vegetables are a hurdle they must get past in

No wonder he looked at me like I was silly! I really like the occasional Oreo Pop Tart but if I want my children to make healthy choices, they need to see me making healthy choices.

Ah, parenthood.

Solution #7: Offer Choices You Can Live With

order to get to the good stuff. When you reward

I’ve often heard complaints that the kids are

with sweets or junk, you make it seem extra

eating too many snacks or having too much

good. If dessert is on the menu, it’s on the menu

junk food, and I have to wonder who is buying

with no strings attached.

all the snacks and junk food. Surely it’s not the

Solution #4: Set It Aside for Later So your child didn’t like much of dinner and ate very little. So many articles I’ve read warn

kids! We buy it, put it within reach, and then get aggravated when they eat it. Either keep them all out of sight and reach or only buy snacks you’re okay with your child eating.

against being a “short-order cook” and every

Likewise, if you and your partner are craving

parent has the right to choose if that’s important

liver and onions for dinner and you know your

to them. For me, it wasn’t a big deal to throw

fussy eater won’t touch it, then offer him or

something else together for my fussy eaters. If

her two choices you can live with for dinner

you prefer not to do that, simply put their plate

and allow them to choose what they want.

in the fridge for later, and when they say they’re starving, offer it back to them. If they still don’t like it and you know they are truly hungry, see solution #2 and then offer

a healthy but filling

snack such as yogurt and granola, whole grain cereal, or cheese and fruit kabobs.

Solution #8: Set a Routine If there’s a predictable schedule and routine around snacks and mealtimes, it just makes things much easier. Post your routine on the refrigerator and stick to it as closely as you

Solution #5: Keep Trying

can. Having snacks at the table just as you do

Sometimes a food needs to be offered many

routine. Call it “tea time” and make it special.

meals might prove helpful in solidifying the

times before a fussy eater musters up the courage to try it, and they may need to try it several times before they decide if they like it. If you take Brittany Ferrell's

advice, you cannot

claim to 'dislike' a food until you have tried it three times, prepared three different ways.

Don’t give up!

Solution #9: Leave It Where It Lies If your fussy eater is throwing food on the floor, she’s probably not all that hungry.

Having a big reaction over it or fussing about picking it up several times will only make it more appealing. Just a simple, “Oops, guess

Solution #6: Set a Good Example

you must not be hungry right now. We’ll try

Just this week, I grabbed an Oreo Pop Tart for

throw again.

breakfast and then told my son his breakfast choice wasn’t healthy.

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again later” will make it much less tempting to

For more tips for dealing with your fussy eaters, check out these

mealtime activities.

www.cultivatemankato.com

June 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