Workshops include:

Enhancing Language and Literacy Skills in Young Children
(for parents, caregivers of children from birth to age 5)
All three workshops are 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 16 – Midwest City Library
Nov. 23 – Village Library
Nov. 30 – Choctaw Library

Temper, Temper! Handling Tantrums
Both workshops are 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 9 – Midwest City Library
Nov. 16 – Village Library

Mealtime Hassles
Both workshops are 3:30 to 5 p.m.
Nov. 9 – Warr Acres Library
Nov. 17 – Edmond Library

Lullaby & Goodnight
10:30 a.m. to noon on Dec. 3 – Warr Acres Library
3 to 5 p.m. on Dec. 15 – Edmond Library

Boosting Your Child’s Brain Power
3:30 to 5 p.m. on Dec. 21 – Ralph Ellison Library

Child Guidance Services also offers screenings in speech, language, development and health.  Call 425-4412 to schedule a screening.  For more information go to www.occhd.org.

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com

For all workshops, pre-register by calling 425-4412.

Unless otherwise noted, all sessions are for parents and caregivers of young children.

Here’s what’s in store for this summer:

Terrific Two’s: Learn about your 2-year-old. Focus is on their developmental milestones.  All are 6 to 7:30 p.m.
June 1, Choctaw Library
June 16, Midwest City Library
June 22, Southern Oaks Library
June 19, The Village Library

Sibling Struggles: Learn methods to prepare children for the arrival of a new sibling and how to deal with sibling squabbles. Find out about sibling rivalry and what normal behavior is.  Both are 6 to 7:30 p.m.
June 2, Midwest City
June 30, The Village

Just for Fun: Games People Play(for children ages 8-12): Includes active games, quiet games and brain teasers. Kids will play games from the past and games from other cultures. Both are 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
June 14, Southern Oaks
June 21, The Village

Toileting Triumph: Toileting doesn’t have to be a major challenge. Focus is on signs of readiness, why it can be frustrating and much more. All are from 3:30 to 5 p.m.
June 16, Edmond Library
June 29, Warr Acres Library
July 20, Ralph Ellison Library

Making Your Morning Manageable: Time to eliminate chaos and come up with a routine. Focus is what parents can do to make this part of the day more calm and enjoyable.
June 25, 10:30 a.m. to noon, Warr Acres

Lullaby & Goodnight: Find a routine that includes reading to your child, to ease bedtime and naptime challenges.  Sleep challenges will also be discussed. Both are 3:30 to 5 p.m.
June 30, Edmond
August 17, Ralph Ellison

Look Out, I’m Three!: Learn more about your 3-year-old. Focus is on developmental milestones. All are from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
July 7, Southern Oaks
July 8, Midwest City
July 13, The Village
July 20, Choctaw

Toddlers at the Table: Turn common concerns about toddler’s eating habits into opportunities to teach healthy habits. Both are 6 to 7:30 p.m.
July 12, Midwest City
July 21, The Village

Those Playful Preschoolers:Focus is behavioral characteristics and developmental milestones of 3- and 4-year-olds.  Activity ideas will be shared to keep little ones busy. Learn it’s OK for your preschooler to be “out of bounds.” Both are 3:30 to 5 p.m.
July 27, Warr Acres
Aug. 25, Edmond

Baby Basics: Main focus is typical concerns of parents. Colic/crying, separation anxiety, sleeping through the night and other issues will be discussed.
July 28, 3:30 to 5 p.m., Edmond

Reading Readiness: Workshop will explore the necessary reading readiness building blocks and parents’ roles in helping children become readers. Both are 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 4, Midwest City
Aug. 9, The Village

Fun to be Four: Learn about your fascinating 4-year-old. Workshop focuses on developmental milestones.  All are 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 3, Southern Oaks
Aug. 4, Midwest City
Aug. 10, The Village
Aug. 12, Choctaw

School Readiness: Facilitators will talk about support, encouragement and opportunity all children need for school success.
Aug. 10, 3:30 to 5 p.m., Warr Acres

Tripping Through Toddlerhood: Topics include, tantrums, biting, sharing and other common toddler challenges. Parents will learn how to minimize frustrations.
Aug. 11, 3:30 to 5 p.m., Edmond

Teaching Children to be More Cooperative: Focus is on when to discipline or ignore unwanted behaviors. Learn guidance techniques used by experts.
Aug. 27, 10:30 a.m. to noon, Warr Acres

To see the Oklahoma City-County Health Departments newsletters, including schedules for upcoming play groups, workshops, and health  and child guidance screenings, click here .

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com

The free parenting seminar will be at the Edmond library on Wednesday, Sept. 23, from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. It’s perfect for parents and caregivers of children from birth to age 5. The experts from Child Guidance Services will answer questions and address concerns, and give out great information about issues related to eating.  Techniques and resources will be provided.

To register, call Child Guidance at 425-4412 to register.  For more information about this program and others, call 427-8651 or go to www.cchdoc.com.

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com

Experts will be available to give hands-on instruction on installing car seats and booster seats. 

“We are urging everyone to have their child checked to be sure they are using the right restraint – a car seat, booster seat or seat belt.  When it comes to the safety of a child, there is no room for mistakes,” said Christy Cornforth, local coalition coordinator, in a news release.  “Parents should not guess on the installation of their child restraint.”

The coalition says that according to a 2008 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 4 out of 5 child restraints are critically misused.

Don’t be one of the 4.  Our children’s lives are too precious.

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com

Here’s what your day care should have been told:

1. Encourage all staff to get vaccinated.

2.  Make sure children’s and staff’s hands are washed often with soap and water, and especially after children cough or sneeze. Keep alcohol-based hand cleaner nearby if a sink isn’t readily available.

3.  Remind children and staff not to touch their eyes, nose or mouth as germs are often spread this way.

4. Clean the environment regularly. Dirty areas and items should be cleaned immediately, especially play areas and toys.

5. Day care staffers deemed to be high risk for flu complications and parents of children younger than age 5 who become ill with flu-like symptoms should call their doctor immediately to see if they are in need of antiviral treatment.

6. If a swine flu outbreak is severe, staff should consider closing the day care center to decrease the spread of infection. A decision to close should be made in conjunction with local public health officials.

7. Remind staff to stay home and parents to keep a sick child at home when they have flu-like symptoms.  Send sick staff home immediately. If a child become ill at the day care, move them to a separate, but supervised, area until a parent can pick them up.

If an outbreak becomes more severe or symptoms more dangerous as the fall and winter season approach, the following guidelines should also be considered:

1. Let high-risk staffers stay at home.

2. Increase the distance between children; separate children into small groups of six or less.

3. Have children stay home if there are others in the child’s household who have the swine flu.

4. Inform parents of sick children and sick staff  members that they should say home for at least 7 days.

5. Close the day care center either as a reaction to the outbreak or even as a preventative measure.

For more information about swine flu, go to http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/.

Here’s to hoping we and our children stay healthy this flu season.

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com

Discussions will allow for parenting questions in areas of speech, language, development and behavior.  Children don’t need to be present but may attend. 

Sessions are by appointment only.  To schedule an appointment, call 425-4412.  For more information about this program or others, call 427-8651 or go to www.cchdoc.com.

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com

Sponsored by the Oklahoma City-County Health Department, “Common Challenges with Toddlers” is a free program focusing on common issues of this age group, including temper tantrums, biting and trouble sharing.   Parents will learn how to minimize their frustrations with these behaviors and learn solutions to help put an end to them.

The program is from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the library, 10 S. Boulevard.

If you want to enroll, call 425-4412.  If you can’t go, no worries.  I’ll be there taking very detailed notes and I’ll be sharing what I learn and posting it here. 

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com

I started my search for information at www.okdhs.org.  From there, you can click on the ‘child care locator/summary of facility monitoring’  link and type in the name of the day care you want to know more about.  But you’ll only see general information.  It doesn’t cite specific complaints or violations. 

So I called the local DHS office and found out that anyone can go take a look at a daycare’s complete file.   Just call the DHS licensing division at 767-2650 at least 24 hours in advance so they can prepare the file for you, and you’ll be in the know. 

Most of the information should also be available at the daycare itself.  You can ask any provider to see their compliance folder and they are obligated to let you look through it.  If they won’t let you or if they say they don’t have one, contact DHS and let them know.

You can never be too careful or thorough when it comes to your child’s daycare.  

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com

These individual sessions will last about 30 to 45 minutes and will be with a speech/language pathologist and child development specialist.  They will go over what’s normal in early development and discuss any questions and concerns parents or caregivers may have about speech, language development and behavior. Children do not need to be present (although they may attend) and sessions are by appointment only.

Call the child guidance program at 425-4412 to schedule an appointment.  For more information, call 427-8651 or go to www.cchdoc.com.

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com