Friday, July 28, 2017

Take a Look in a Book


This week we had family volunteers come out and read some of their favorite books to the kiddos. Story time is one of our favorite things to do with the kids here, because who doesn't love a good book? We know that reading a book is like going on an adventure! You can go to so many different places and see so many new things just from the comfort of our own classroom. The kids love picking out different stories from the reading center and we quickly learn which ones are their favorites! 


PS2 is really enjoying this great book. Some of our listeners began to stand just to get a closer look! 

Check out PS3 sitting so quietly listening to their story. Who doesn't love the Llama Llama series? Llama Llama teaches us so many things like sharing with our friends!

Our Pre-K 2 class really enjoyed their volunteer reader. The loved to hear the different voices that came along with "The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Scared of Anything" We had so many smiles and laughter!

Can you tell that he loved the book? Just look at that face!


You're never to young for a good book! Look at how engrossed they are in the "Llama Llama" story! Some of our babies even wanted to read their own books!



Tod 2 had a very special reader come. One of our older siblings came to read them a couple of books. Doesn't that just melt your heart?

Tod 3 is loving this book about trains! I mean who doesn't love a good book about trains? Just look at the concentration on their faces.


Thanks to all of our volunteer readers! We all really enjoyed you and the great books as well. 




For more Information on AoFC and our Programs please click HERE


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Saturday, July 22, 2017

Look Before You Lock

A heat wave hit middle Tennessee this week. We reached temperatures of over 100 degrees. 
It is so important to take an extra look each time you get out of your car.
Wheresbaby.org says "Although it might be hard to understand how this can happen, most parents who leave their children behind simply forgot. In most of these tragedies, parents became distracted. They were distracted because they were thinking about work issues, or simply fell into a daily routine that, on a usual day, did not involve responsibility for a young child.
If you make it a habit to leave your phone (or, some other item) in the back seat area every time that you buckle your child into their seat, you will be giving yourself some added insurance against the unthinkable"

Tips to Avoid Child Heatstroke From https://www.safercar.gov/ -


"Always Look Before You Lock
  • Always check the back seats of your vehicle before your lock it and walk away.
  • Keep a stuffed animal or other memento in your child’s car seat when it’s empty, and move it to the front seat as a visual reminder when your child is in the back seat.
  • If someone else is driving your child, or your daily routine has been altered, always check to make sure your child has arrived safely."

"Keep in Mind a Child’s Sensitivity to Heat
  • In 10 minutes, a car’s temperature can rise over 20 degrees.
  • Even at an outside temperature of 60 degrees, the temperature inside your car can reach 110 degrees.
  • A child dies when his/her body temperature reaches 107 degrees".



On our Tadpoles App there is a great feature to help.  You can set up notifications via email as soon as your child is checked in. This is a great feature if you have more than one person who drops off and picks-up your child. To set up notifications go log-in the app, go under settings, the select yes for "receive real-time check-in notifications"

Other helpful websites:



For more Information on AoFC and our Programs please click HERE


Please click HERE to vote us Best of Parenting 10 years in a row




Friday, July 14, 2017

The Importance of Play

Our Summer program is all about the Power of Play! Here at the Academy, we are taking the opportunity to focus on meaningful play opportunities to educate and enhance our program. The American Academy of Pediatrics cites play as "essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth. Play also offers an ideal opportunity for parents (and teachers) to engage fully with... children."

The Academy of Pediatrics also states that play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play is important to healthy brain development. It is through play that children at a very early age engage and interact in the world around them. Play allows children to create and explore a world they can master, conquering their fears while practicing adult roles, sometimes in conjunction with other children or adult caregivers. As they master their world, play helps children develop new competencies that lead to enhanced confidence and the resiliency they will need to face future challenges. Undirected play allows children to learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills.When play is allowed to be child driven, children practice decision-making skills, move at their own pace, discover their own areas of interest, and ultimately engage fully in the passions they wish to pursue.

Play also is positively correlated with building active, healthy bodies. In fact, it has been suggested that encouraging unstructured play may be an exceptional way to increase physical activity levels in children, which is one important strategy in the resolution of the obesity epidemic. Perhaps above all, play is a simple joy that is a cherished part of childhood. At the Academy, play is also an important part of ADULTHOOD :)

Play is integral to the academic environment. It ensures that the school setting attends to the social and emotional development of children as well as their cognitive development. It has been shown to help children adjust to the school setting and even to enhance children’s learning readiness, learning behaviors, and problem-solving skills.

Check out examples of us learning through play below!


 Constructing ramps teaches us about speed, slope, distance and other science and engineering topics. We can make comparisons, predictions and analyze our results!

Sensory play includes any activity that stimulates your young child's senses: touch, smell, taste, movement, balance, sight and hearing. In this photo, our children are making silly slime! Sensory activities facilitate exploration and naturally encourage children to use scientific processes while they play, create, investigate and explore.

Science involves a lot of communication with other people. Science develops patience and perseverance in kids. Science teaches kids about the world around them.
Science can spark in kids' minds that they can be problem solvers. Pictured above, we are "extracting" bug fossils!

 Many of the motions involved in making art, such as holding a paintbrush or scribbling with a crayon, are essential to the growth of fine motor skills in young children. Above, we are painting with magnets!

 Among the many skills building teaches, problem solving, imagination, self-expression, mathematics, creativity, science, self- esteem are some of the most notable. Pictured above: How many cups can we stack until our structure collapses? 

Who knew you could walk on eggs? In this activity, we are learning about gravity and pressure! Our friends learned that they could walk on eggs without cracking them!

Play doesn't always have to be serious... we prefer it to be seriously FUN!

For more information about the importance of play, visit: www.naeyc.org/play
For more information about our program, please visit our website at: www.academychilddevelopment.com 

Please nominate us for Best of Parenting at: www.nashvilleparent.com/bop17

Friday, July 7, 2017

Center Enhancement Fair

Our 2017 summer program is focusing on center enhancements! 
We have been coming up with fun and new ways to make each center in our classrooms different and to think outside the box.  AoFC hosted a Center Enhancement Fair for all of our teacher to spend some time making some items to add to their classrooms. They had so much fun and it was great to see their creativity!







Popsicle stick connectors. Used to make letters and shapes


Pasta strainer lacing with pip cleaners is great for fine motor skills

DIY paintbrushes with clothes pins and anything fun to add to our art centers


Pool noodle blocks. Teachers cut them to make soft circle blocks for out blocks center

Movement ribbons are great for any age to dance to with music!

Infant ribbon mobile was made for infants to lay under and look up at the pretty colors


File folder games are perfect for small groups.
We had color matching. 
Number matching

Shape matching and patterns

Some of our infant teacher making sensory bags



All working together to get ideas for how to make their sensory bags

Ms. Emilee making a sensory bottle

Ms. Emilee making her infant ribbon mobile 




Ms. Shelby added glitter to her sensory bag!

We had a great time making our center enhancements and are looking forward to adding even more throughout the summer! 

For more information on AoFC and our Summer Program please click HERE