Marian McQuade is recognized as the founder of National Grandparents Day. She wanted young people to understand the importance of older adults and their contributions to society. In 1977, congress requested that President Jimmy Carter proclaim the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day. President Carter followed through on Aug. 3, 1978, and the day was first celebrated in 1979.

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“Just imagine! A few kitchen chairs and clean bedsheets become a fortress deep in the Hundred Acre Wood. One wooden spoon is a microphone, and two more are drumsticks. A stack of old newspapers is a dragon egg of paper mâché waiting to happen. Oh, the possibilities!” (Healthline.com)

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According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), children aged 8-12 in the United States spend four to six hours each day either watching or using screens (and that’s not counting e-learning screen time during COVID for children learning remotely).

Is that healthy? How much time is too much?

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Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a form of depression that follows a seasonal pattern, emerging in the fall and winter as daylight lessens and letting up in the spring and summer as the days lengthen.

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“The environments infants and toddlers encounter, the relationships they form, and the activities they engage in before age 3—both inside the home and out—are key to healthy and positive growth, development, and learning outcomes that can last a lifetime.” (National Association for the Education of Young Children)

A strongly recommended practice for children, from the infant stage and up, is a community of care—or COC—which means that children have consistency in their caregivers for a length of time, perhaps two to three years.

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From a practical standpoint, quality programs allow parents to work while knowing their children are in a nurturing environment outside of school time. That by itself is quite important, so we’ll delve more into that benefit, along with four other valuable ones connected with high-quality afterschool programs.

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The benefits of afterschool care can be quite significant academically, socially and emotionally—and quality programming also helps children to develop skills they will use throughout their lifetime. Here are some of the ways a quality afterschool program can benefit your child and position them for lifelong success.

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Even if their worries are smaller, children can experience stress just like adults. And in the same ways that yoga can help adults decompress and work out that bad energy, we’ve found it works for children, too.

Horizon Education Centers now has 112 staff members trained to practice yoga with children through a program called Yoga 4 Classrooms. As a result, our teachers have seen an increased ability to manage student behaviors in a positive and productive manner. We’ve also been able to better manage high and low energy levels in the classroom.

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When people think about what’s important to develop in children before they start school, they often think about children learning to count and the alphabet, and other academic-related pursuits. Those are very important skills—but much of early learning takes place through the development of the child’s body, called their motor skills. There are two main types of motor development: gross and fine—and both are crucial.

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“One of a family's greatest challenges is to establish comfortable, effective routines, which should achieve a happy compromise between the disorder and confusion that can occur without them and the rigidity and boredom that can come with too much structure and regimentation, where children are given no choice and little flexibility.” (HealthyChildren.org)

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