United Way of Morris County’s Success By 6® Coalition Addresses Kindergarten Cram at Parent Workshop Series

A recent New York Times article launched a discussion about the importance of allowing our children time to play. One Morris County mother shared her experience with Success By 6®.

“I was overly obsessive with my first child. She loved reading and writing. She could write her name by age three. My second child had no interest in reading or writing. He went to kindergarten not knowing the ABCs. Yet, he was slotted into gifted programs. While I stressed over his lack of academic interest early on, I also never had the time to really pressure him because I was working a full-time job. As a result, his abilities unfolded naturally.” “It is critical that we stop pressuring our preschoolers and give them time to be kids,” said Kathy Kwasnik, Education Community Impact Manager at United Way of Morris County. “By pushing kids to learn, we’re creating stressed out, anxious grade schoolers.”

Success By 6® will address this hot topic at a special parent workshop – Emotional Foundations of Learning: Getting Your Child Ready to Learn. Lorri Sullivan, Early Childhood Educator at the Youth Consultation Service Institute for Infant and Preschool Mental Health, will talk to parents about why it is important to understand your child’s development and how you can prepare your child for success in school.

The workshop is being held at the Morris County Library in Whippany from 7:00pm to 8:30pm on Wednesday, October 21. Admission is free, but space is limited! Please reserve your spot by Wednesday, October 14. Email kathy.kwasnik@uwmorris.org or call 973.993.1160, x130.

Additional information can be found at www.LiveUnitedMorris.org.

Parents find themselves in a crowded store, in a rush, and the checkout line stretches on forever. Just then the preschooler chooses that exact moment to have a major nuclear meltdown. Parents may try to negotiate, threaten, and as a last resort even beg, but still, the youngster screams, wails, kicks and puts on an incredible spectacle. What can parents do to avoid a nightmare like this?

The most important thing is to watch for telltale signs because the best way to deal with tantrums is to stop them before they start. Outright screaming fits do not just happen on a whim; parents can usually see them coming. When the child starts whining, becomes increasingly irritable, and does not respond to a parent's repeated efforts to distract or comfort him, the parent can almost guarantee that a tantrum is bound to occur. Sometimes, over-stimulation is the cause and parents can handle this by briefly removing their child from the situation to calm him down. If the child appears overtired while the parent is busy running necessary errands, parents could try to prioritize and perhaps cut the trip short to give the child a chance to rest.

Parents need to remember to stay calm. That is difficult because for most parents it can be difficult to ignore the disapproving stares of strangers as the youngster kicks and yells on the floor of a supermarket, but parents must stay calm and focused in order to resolve the situation. In some cases, a child acts out as a way of getting a reaction from the parent; when parents stay neutral the reaction will demonstrate to the child that tantrum tactics will not work.This is a very important step in putting an end to tantrums for good. Parents need to also remember that children can imitate. If parents respond to stress by losing their cool and yelling, so will the child. Parents should try not to place blame or start to feel sorry for themselves. Moms and Dads in this situation need to understand that most tantrums stem from the child's frustration.