September Activities

This post is a little early, but most of the people looking at this blog look on the weekend and there are some fun activities occurring before next Tuesday (Monday is a holiday so I won't be working to post!).  So here is the list of community activities in September.

North Salt Lake:

~3rd Annual Patriot Day Army Band Outdoor Concert

September 8, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM @ Eaglewood Golf Course

Come help us commemorate September 11th with a patriotic concert by the Utah National

 Guard's 23rd Army Band. Please invite the police, firefighters, and veterans in your life to join

 you for this significant occasion and wonderful concert. We are holding the concert on the 9th

 fairway of the beautiful Eaglewood Golf Course. Bring your blankets and lawn chairs to enjoy 

patriotic music an idyllic setting.

Bountiful:

~September 14th - all day Main Street Music and Arts Festival

From 500 South to 400 North Bountiful

Art, dancing and music all along Main Street.  Live music, art exhibitions,dance, art 

demonstrations, and hands on music and art experiences.

~September 23rd, 7:00 - 8:30pm  Bountiful Davis Family Art Night.

28 East State Street, Second Floor, Farmington

Centerville:

~September 10th, 6:30 - 8:00 pm  Storytelling Night at the Museum

 Whitaker Museum  168 North Main Street

 Free event.  The second Tuesday of each month enjoy fascinating stories from some of our 

greatest residents as they recount the "early years" and unknown stories.  Be prompt in your

 arrival. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Kaysville:

~September 4th, 4:00 - 8:00 pm  Cold Cones and Cool Cars

City Block 44 North Main, Kaysville

Free ice cream cones as you look at the old cars. Other activities in the area: ~Free admission to Red Butte Gardens on Labor Day, September 2nd. ~Join Macaroni Kid for Free Family Fun September 2nd in Farmington village. The fun begins at 5:30 – 7:00 pm.   Family First Monday September 2nd Sofia the First Shindig! Come twirl around in your favorite Princess Dress or Dress up. We will have the FREE activities below. -Free Lego Brick Art -Free activities by Riot Conditioning and Mia Mama Fitness -Free Face Painting -Free Caricature Drawings -Free Storyteller -Free Balloon Artist Just to name a few! Can't wait ... ~Just Between Friends Next Sales Event: Davis County Legacy Events Center – 151 S. 1100 W. in Farmington Thursday September 5 – 9:00am Admission $5.00 9:30am Admission $3.00 10:00am – 8:00pm Admission FREE Friday September 6 – 9:00am-8:00pm Admission is FREE They’ll have many items at 25% off all day! Saturday September 7 - 9:00am – 2:30pm Admission is FREE Tons of items will be marked at 50% off You need to register if you want to participate.  Check out their website at layton.jbfsale.com for more information. ~Wednesday, August 28 through Sunday, October 13 - Oktoberfest Fun for the whole family. Running Saturdays, Sundays and Labor Day, Snowbird's Oktoberfest attracts more than 50,000 visitors over the seventeen-day celebration. Over its 40-years, Snowbird's Oktoberfest has grown to become one of the largest festivals in Utah, and includes Oktoberfest Halle featuring the tastes of Bavaria with entertainment from local and national German bands and yodelers.   Where: Snowbird When: 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM Who: all How: Every Saturday and Sunday Cost: Free admission ~Friday, September 6 through Saturday, September 7 - Brigham City Peach Days The Peach Days celebration is one of the largest festivals in Northern Utah quadrupling the population of Brigham City for the 2 days. Beginning in 1904 this is one of the longest running traditions in Utah and is, of course, what Brigham City is famous for.  Where: Brigham City Six North Main Brigham City, UT 84302 When: 10:00 AM Who: all How: The weekend event hosts 2 parades, a carnival, entertainment, a Jr. Peach Queen Pageant, the Miss Brigham City Pageant, a Motorcycle Show, over 200 craft and food vendors, and the largest free custom car show in the Western United States with over 1,000 cars on display Cost: *** For more info: This year Eclipse, an A Capella Group, is the headlining entertainment for Peach Days with a free concert on Saturday, September 7th at 7:30 p.m. on the Main Street Stage ~Saturday, September 7 - Alta Ski Area Tree Planting See a whole new side of Alta Ski Area by joining them to plant 2,000 Limber Pines! Rugged and rewarding; this will be a fun day to enjoy and give back to the beautiful Little Cottonwood Canyon. They will ride lifts to access the areas most in need of these vital new trees. Meet at the Albion Base Area for a light breakfast and to sign in. Where: Alta Ski Area East State Highway 210/Little Cottonwood Canyon Alta, UT 84092 When: 8:00 AM Who: all How: (801) 359-1078 Cost: free

Yoga Tots and National Parks

Our Family Training for Yoga Tots will be beginning soon.  Yoga Tots is a great opportunity to help your child get ready to crawl or walk (depending on what stage they are currently experiencing).  The Family Training will be offered on Monday mornings at 9:00 for the pre-crawlers and at 10:30 for the pre-walkers. September 9th will be a parent orientation following the same schedule.  If you are interested, please plan to attend the orientation or call Debbie at 801 402-5513 to get a spot in the class.

The classroom is fairly small, so please make arrangements for childcare for your other children.




Did you know that U.S. citizens with documented disabilities can get a free lifetime pass to all national parks and recreation areas?  The Access Pass is a free pass available to U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the United States that have been medically determined to have a permanent disability; it provides access to more that 2,000 recreation sites managed by five Federal agencies.  For the purposes of the Access Pass, a permanent disability is a permanent physical, mental, or sensory impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity, such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working.  A National Parks Pass usually costs $80 annually.  The Access Pass admits pass owner/s and passengers in a non-commercial vehicle at per vehicle fee areas and pass owner + 3 adults, not to exceed 4 adults, where per-person fees are charged.  In addition to free access to the parks and recreation areas, at many sites the Access Pass provides the pass owner with a discount on expanded amenity fees, such as camping, swimming, boat launching, and guided tours.

For more information, visit http://store.usgs.gov/pass/access.html

 

Toddlers and Challenging Behavior: Why They Do It and How to Respond

This article was submitted for our blog by Emily Farr, a Speech/Language Specialist.  

www.zerotothree.org

Home > Behavior & Development > Challenging Behavior

Toddlers and Challenging Behavior:  Why They Do It and How to Respond

The year between age 2 and age 3 is an exciting one. Toddlers are realizing that they are separate individuals from their parents and caregivers. This means that they are driven to assert themselves, to communicate their likes and dislikes, and to act independently (as much as they can!). Toddlers are also developing the language skills that help them express their ideas, wants, and needs. 

At the same time, toddlers do not understand logic and still have a hard time with waiting and self-control. In a nutshell: Two-year-olds want what they want when they want it. This is why you may be hearing things like “no” and “me do it” and “no diaper change!” more than ever before. 

Learning to Handle Strong Feelings
As a parent, your job is to help your young toddler navigate the tide of strong emotions she is experiencing this year. This is no small task, since the emotional lives of 2-year-olds are complex. This year they are beginning to experience feelings like pride, shame, guilt, and embarrassment for the first time. 

Older toddlers are a lot like teenagers. Their feelings may swing wildly from moment to moment. They may be joyful when getting a Popsicle and then despair when it drips on their hands. So toddlers really need your loving guidance to figure out how to cope with their emotions. Your child is struggling with this when:

·         He has a meltdown when you can’t understand his words

·         She says no when she means yes (you are offering her a favorite treat)

·         He gets so angry that he might throw a toy

·         She cannot settle for a substitute—if the purple pajamas are in the wash, she is inconsolable (even though you have offered the pink ones, the polka dot ones, the ones with the cupcake patch on the front, etc.)

·         He acts out when frustrated—will give up or get angry when he can’t figure out how to make the jack-in-the-box work

Your child is learning to manage strong feelings when he:

·         Uses words or actions to get your attention or ask for help

·         Talks to himself in a reassuring way when he is frustrated or frightened. For example, he might say to himself, Daddy will come back, after you drop him off at child care. Or, I can build this again after his block tower collapses

·         Re-enacts a stressful event, like a doctor’s visit

·         Uses words like I’m mad rather than throwing or hitting

·         Tells you the rules or shows that she feels badly about breaking rules. For example, your child might say no to herself as she does something off-limits, like opening the fridge. Or he might tell you at the park, Don’t walk in front of the swings.

Practicing Self-Control
When you see challenging behavior, it usually means that your child can’t figure out how to express her feelings in an acceptable way or doesn't know how to get a need met. What helps your child learn is when your response shows her a different, more constructive way to handle these feelings. 

Learning to cope with strong feelings usually happens naturally as children develop better language skills in their third year and have more experience with peers, handling disappointment, and following rules. While children won’t completely master self-control until they are school-age (and practice it all their lives!), here are some ideas for helping your toddler begin to learn this important skill: 

·         Talk about feelings and how to cope.  Read books and notice aloud how the characters are feeling: The dog is really happy that he got a bone. And share your own feelings: I just spilled the baby’s milk. I feel really frustrated!  Will you help me wipe it up? Wow, it feels so good to have your help. When your child can label how he is feeling, it helps him gain control over his emotions and communicate them to others. 

Once your child has named his feelings, you can suggest what he might do to feel better or solve the problem. This helps him learn what to do in the future when he faces a similar challenge. For example, if he is sad because his grandparents just left after a two-week visit, you can suggest looking at photos of them or drawing them a picture.  

·         Offer your child ideas for how to manage strong emotions. Young children need guidance when it comes to figuring out how to deal with big feelings like anger, sadness, and frustration. So when your child is really angry, validate what he is experiencing:  You are really angry right now because I said no more television. 

Then suggest that he jump up and down, hit the sofa cushions, rip paper, cuddle up in a cozy area for alone time, paint an angry picture or some other strategy that you feel is appropriate.  What’s important is to teach your child that there are many ways to express his feelings in healthy, non-hurtful ways.

·         Empathize with your child. It’s okay to let her know that you understand the choices she is being offered are not the ones she wants: We have to leave now to go to Ms. Kelly’s house. I know you want to stay home with daddy. You miss me and I miss you during the day. But staying home is not a choice today. Daddy has to go to work. But when we get home, we will finish the puzzle we started and have a yummy dinner. Do you want to get into the car seat yourself or do you want me to put you in?



·         Give your child a visual aid to make waiting easier. If your child has to wait until his oatmeal has cooled down, show him the steam rising from the bowl. Tell him that when the steam goes away, you can test the oatmeal on a spoon to see if it is cool enough. If you need to help your child brush her teeth for 2 minutes each day, use an egg timer so she can watch the countdown. Need 10 minutes to fold some clothes? Set a kitchen timer so that your child can keep track. 

Timers are also great tools for helping children learn to share.  Give them each a few minutes—using the timer—to play with a toy they both want, like the shiny new tricycle parked out back.  It’s also helpful to state the obvious: It’s hard to wait sometimes, isn't it?

·         Let your child make choices appropriate to her age—about what to wear (perhaps offer 2 choices) and what to eat (within reason), what to play, who to play with. This gives her a feeling of control and supports her growing confidence and sense of competency (the belief that “I can do it”). 

Offering choices also helps head off the “Not That One” game where you keep offering your child different things and he keeps saying “Not that one, the other one!” Instead, try giving your child 3 choices and let him pick: You can have an apple, a string cheese, or a bagel for snack. What sounds good to you? 

·         Look for ways to help your child “practice” self-control. There are many daily moments when you can teach your child this skill. For example, games that require turn-taking are great for practicing how to wait and share. Rolling a ball back and forth is an example. This game gives children the chance to wait and control their impulse to grab the ball. You can also take turns hitting a soft foam ball off a tee. 

Or try acting out a story. Pretend play offers many chances to wait, take turns, and negotiate as children decide how the story will unfold. Another idea is playing “sharing music” where each of you chooses an instrument to play and set an egg-timer for 1 minute. When the timer goes off, switch instruments and set the timer again. 

Finding us on the Web

Have you ever had a day that ends up with you making an unexpected trip to the doctor or to the grocery store or on vacation and then you realize that "oh yeah, I had an appointment with my early intervention provider!  (It really happens!)  I should contact them and cancel!"  We have tried to make it a little easier to do just that.  

Staff emails are now available on the Davis Early Intervention website.  To find those addresses, just go to the Davis School District website at www.davis.k12.ut.us and click on Programs.  Then select Early Childhood (Birth-to-5 Preschool).  On the left navigation bar you will see Early Intervention (Birth to 34.5 months).  Sidenote - we work with kiddos from birth to 36 months, but we only take new referrals of kiddos from birth to 34.5 months.  Anyway, then you will see subcategories on the left navigation bar for Early Intervention North Team and Early Intervention South Team.  Our boundary divides between Farmington and Kaysville/Fruit Heights for the most part.  Just click on the subcategory and look for a familiar name to send an email.  You can also email to reschedule, ask a question, just say "hi" and "thank you", etc.  Hopefully this provides you with an easy way to stay in touch with your providers.

Let us know other ways we can help you as you help your child reach their potential!

The Dog Days of Summer

As we linger in the Dog Days of Summer, here are some things we can learn from dogs:

1. Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joy ride.
2. Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
3. When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
4. When it's in your best interest, practice obedience.
5. Let others know when they have invaded your territory.
6. Take naps and stretch before rising.
7. Run, romp, and play daily.
8. Eat with gusto and enthusiasm.
9. Be loyal.
10. If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
11. When someone is having a bad day, be silent.  Sit close by and nuzzle them gently.
12. Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
13. Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
14. When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
15. No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout . . . run right back and make friends.
16. Delight in the simple joys of a long walk.

Enjoy your summer days!