One of the most important decisions a parent will make for a child is whose care the child will be placed under when the parent is at work or otherwise unavailable. A savvy parent will want a safe, stimulating learning environment that allows the child to grow, learn, have fun, make friends, and engage in age-appropriate activities with peers and interested adults.

Engage

Linda Stuhlman, who has run Red Barn Children’s Center in Clinton with her husband since 1979, says. “One of the first signs that a child care establishment is a good place to send your child is that the teachers are engaged with the kids.”

Engagement needs to be purposeful and go beyond mere babysitting or half-hearted entertaining. Stuhlman says, “There should be some intentional teaching on the part of the teachers. Meaning, they’ve made lesson plans and they’ve thought through what might be good activities for children. Not only should they be age-appropriate and planned out, there should be some built-in assessment. For instance, let’s say the children are playing restaurant. Are some children not participating? If so, is the teacher trying to help and encourage them to be part of the group?”

Once you’ve sussed out the level and quality of attention the children are receiving from those charged with supervising them, look around. Stuhlman says, “I would say as a parent, you’d want to look at the environment. Does the environment look safe? For instance, are outlet plugs protected? What’s accessible to kids? Are there obvious built-in safety factors ensuring children are observed at all times and not allowed in areas where they can’t be seen by the teacher?”

Of course the children should be It’s not enough that the children create projects. A lot about the child care center can be determined by the balance of creative freedom and guidance given to budding artists during creative time. “I would say look at the materials, look at what’s on the wall in the classroom. You want to see artwork that’s made by the children, not the teacher.”

Assess

Red Barn offers a school year program and a summer program. “In the summer we get children from Branford to Old Lyme participating, whereas during the school year they’re mostly Madison, Clinton, Killingworth, and Westbrook children,” Stuhlman explains.

Stuhlman swears by something called the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) to measure the quality of several program elements, including the artwork you see on the walls. “With that scale, you look to see if the artwork is creative in terms of ‘make one that looks like mine’ or if the teacher fixes the child’s project.”

According to the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute in North Carolina, which developed the scales, “Our scales are designed to assess process quality in an early childhood or school age care group. Process quality consists of the various interactions that go on in a classroom between staff and children, staff, parents, and other adults, among the children themselves, and the interactions children have with the many materials and activities in the environment, as well as those features, such as space, schedule and materials that support these interactions.”

Indeed, when it comes to creative projects, there are also the materials to consider. Stuhlman says, “A child care center shouldn’t have a ‘toy-store approach,’ but it should have some materials that are easily accessible to children, always things that they could draw and write with. There should be things like scissors, a math center set up where there are tools for counting. There should be science objects like collections, there should be observable things that are live, like plants. All of these things should be of interest to the children so that their curiosity is piqued.”

Set a Routine

As anyone who has ever cared for a child knows, it is crucial that structure and routine permeate the day. Stuhlman says, “The child care center should have some kind of routine or schedule so that there’s a flow to the day. The flow usually is that there’s a meeting time, open play, work time, then there’s gathering time for story and music, there’s gathering time for snack, there’s gathering time for lunch. At Red Barn we have a picture schedule with pictures of the children in the class. We would show that to new people entering our space because it shows the intentional teaching, that we have a specific schedule here and we’re going to follow it.”

She adds, “We find that children feel more emotionally safe if they know what’s going to happen next and for little kids who are just starting off, to know how long it’ll be before their parents or their caregivers come back to pick them up. Sometimes at the beginning of the year, we show them pictures and say, ‘We’re going to do this, this, and this, and then Mommy or Daddy will be here.’ So the schedule and routine (at a child care establishment) is very valuable and that should be obvious.”

Go Outside

After the tragedy at Sandy Hook, Stuhlman says some proponents of strictly indoor play have come out of the woodwork. Even though the gunman in that instance was able to enter the locked building, the thought is that keeping kids inside will help protect them from unknown threats.

“There needs to be outdoor play,” Schulman stresses. “It’s exceedingly important and some places have taken it away. I’ve been getting a lot of questions because of Sandy Hook about our safety procedures. And I’ll say, ‘Well, children need to play outside, and you can lock the doors to your classroom building but you’re not going to eliminate going to the playground, and no child should have to live without the ability to play on the playground with groups of children in their school.’ Kids should be able to do group things outside like parachute and kickball ride tricycles, swing, and play in the sandbox. Children learn by play and that includes messy outdoor play.”

She provides an example from her own center. “At Red Barn we have a worm farm. You could take the worm farm inside, but you’re not going to get the same effect as if it were outside under a tree where you can put dead leaves into it for them to eat instead of compost.

“There have been books written about nature deficits, and kids even in cities can enjoy gardening and that kind of thing on rooftop playgrounds and rooftop decks. You can’t keep kids inside just to keep them safe.”

Golden Rule

Stuhlman says that any child care establishment should emphasize safety and kindness to others. “Our basic rules at Red Barn are to be safe and be kind,” she points out. “Children can be taught a lot about those things. With the ‘be kind’ rule, we try to teach children to recognize their emotions and deal with them and learn to negotiate with one another. That’s kind of built into our program. An observer going into a setting would want to see some evidence that children are being taught how to get along with one another.”

Red Barn Children’s Center is located on Kelseytown Road in Clinton and can be reached by calling 860-669-7246 or visitingwww.redbarncc.com.

Published in ”The Day – May 9, 2013“

Clinton’s Board of Education named Linda Stuhlman their “Business Person of the Year” in appreciation of her support of Clinton Public Schools.  The plaque was presented at the Clinton Chamber of Commerce dinner on Oct. 23, 2012 by Superintendent Jack Cross.

At the same dinner, Linda also received a citation from the CT General Assembly, presented by Jim Crawford, in recognition of being an advocate of Early Childhood Education by “unselfishly giving to help the community and profoundly impacting the lives of individuals in Clinton” and saluting “hard work, dedication, and generosity.”

Linda Stuhlman, 2nd from left

Saturday, November 10, 2012  at 10 a.m.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at 10 a.m.
Saturday, December 1, 2012 at 10 a.m.
Thursday, December 6, 2012 at 10 a.m.

• Bring your child and come tour our classrooms, the Little Barn and the Gray Barn
• Enjoy watching your child play on our playground or in the Big Barn (our indoor play area)
• Meet the director and the teachers
• Hear more about our developmentally appropriate curriculum for three, four, and five year olds, part day or full day
• Learn about our summer program that includes swimming
• Lunch Bunnies for two year olds and parents/caregivers have openings now!
• Three year old classes have openings now, too!
• Register for Summer and Fall 2013 classes

125 Kelseytown Road, Clinton, 860-669-7246

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Rabbit News – July 25, 2011

Big Boy was found dead today at the end of the summer program day. Last week’s heat and his advanced age of 6.5 years were not good for his health.

Please use this as a teachable moment for your child and allow him/her to write stories and draw pictures. We will display these papers and keep them in the bunny files.

Some of your older children may remember Pumpkin or Snickers and old timers remember Hoppy who hopped away and Carrot 1 and Carrot 2.

Scooter is 2 years old this September and seems to be in good health.

Red Barn Children’s Center

Discipline Policies

Teachers will express respect, acceptance, and comfort for all children regardless of the child’s behavior.

Teachers will recognize that the goal of discipline is to teach a child self control.

Teachers will guide children by setting clear, consistent, fair limits for classroom behavior.  They will help older children learn to set their own limits.

Our basic rules of behavior are “Be Safe” and “Be Kind”.

Teachers will help children learn self control by guiding children to resolve conflicts by using words and negotiating.

Teachers will redirect children, when necessary, to more acceptable behavior or activities.

Teachers will listen when children talk about their feelings and frustrations and help children learn to express these feelings in a positive manner.

Teachers will recognize possible causes of a child’s behavior and speak with the parents and the director about helping the child.

Teachers will exhibit patience in helping children understand rules and the rationale for rules.  Teachers will demonstrate coping skills and model behavior for children.

Teachers will not humiliate, ridicule, cause fear, physically punish, neglect, or abuse any child.

Red Barn Guidelines for helping children and parents with separation

• Bring your child to visit at open house in May, visit days in June (1 hour). August (1 hour), and orientation week (2 hours while parent is in meeting at the Yellow House). These allow the child to slowly adapt to the setting, get to know the teacher, and recognize that there are other children and playthings that they might like to enjoy. The parents can feel more confident that their child will be safe and happy.

• Set a comfortable pace at home prior to school.  Know where the backpack, shoes, jacket, etc. are before you are ready to go out the door.  Make school part of routine.

• Develop a ritual to follow; some examples are:
• Bringing a piece of blanket or favorite animal.
• Leaving stuffed animal in car seat for child to look forward to seeing.
• Visiting rabbit when you arrive or leave.
• Kissing your child’s hand so child can “save the kisses”

• Recognize that tears and clinging are more likely if you hang around.  When you are ready to leave, make a clear signal to the child and the teacher. Say good-bye to your child and reassure your return. If necessary, hand the child to the teacher. You are welcome to wait in the parking lot for a report!  Sometimes coming back early to pick up your child is a good idea.

• Sometimes separation occurs at a time other than the beginning of the year, such as after a vacation, the birth of a baby, grandma leaving after a vacation, etc.

• Sometimes children say things like, “I don’t want to go to school because no one plays with me” or “The teacher won’t let me play with the blocks”.  A positive parent response would be,”I’ll mention that to the teacher.  I’m sure she will help you”.

• The more confident and comfortable the parent, generally the more confident and comfortable the child.   We know, however, that learning to separate is a developmental task, one that each individual human handles according to his/her personality.  Our goal at Red Barn is to help children and parents, alike, feel comfortable in our setting.

Teaching Children About Trees

At home and at school, children benefit from learning about trees. Engaging in scientific inquiry is a benchmark for preschool children and using nature with lots of hands-on activities is developmentally appropriate. Some activities to do with your child include:

1. Collect leaves and sticks to use for matching and sorting by size, shape, and color.  As children get older, notice and count leaves in patterns and begin to identify the trees by the leaves.
2. Pick a tree to observe changes which occur with the seasons.  Take photos and make a book or a poster to use in conversation
3. Draw trees by taking paper and drawing tools or paint outside.  Learn to identify trees by their shape.
4. Use trees to identify boundaries in play areas and name the trees to go along with pretend play. Examples would be “That could be the fort” or “I think that is a waterfall tree at a big castle”.
5. Plant a tree and watch it grow or pick a small tree that has started itself in your yard and nurture it.
6. Read books about trees. Write your own books about trees.
7. Go on hikes to see trees that may not be in your yard or may be different than the ones in your yard.  Talk about sameness and difference.  Visit www.clintonlandtrust.org for local hikes.
8. Learn about animals that live in and under trees.
9. Learn about fruits and nuts that grow on trees.
10. A quote to remember, “children who play in natural areas-those with bushes and trees-have been shown to engage in more creative and cooperative play” – Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder.

Please help us in our efforts to minimize food and packaging waste by packing a waste-free lunch for your child.  We ask that you bring lunches that include as many items as possible that can be eaten, reused, recycled, or composted and as few items that must be thrown away.  Please pack only what you think your child will eat, using reusable containers, or buying non-perishable foods in bulk.  In planning your child’s lunch, remember that we refrigerate lunches until lunch time, but not after.  All uneaten food may spoil and will need to be thrown out.  By packing only what your child will eat, you are not only making a wise environmental choice, but saving money as well  We can help save the Earth and money at the same time!  Thank you for your support and for helping us to make the Red Barn GREEN with a waste-free lunch program.

This information was organized for you by Coralie Williams, Red Barn teacher