Nurturing Knowledge

Get creative making the Apple Turkey with items you already have in your kitchen. An apple is used for the turkey’s body.

For the tail/wings:

• Use tooth picks to string Fruit Loops, Cheerios, gummies, rasins, marshmallows, grapes, popcorn or other candies
• Peel lemons and oranges (you can use the juice for snack time!) and use scissors to cut peels into long elliptical tail land wing feathers.  If necessary, help your young child to thread the peeling feathers through round coctail toothpicks and then to insert these into the apples.

For the head/feet:

• For the head, attach a large marshmallow to the end of a toothpick. Use candy corn for the beak and rasins for the eyes.
• Also for the head, attach an olive to the end of a toothpick. The pimento is the beak and you can attach rasins for the eyes.
• For the feet, attach three toothpicks to the bottom of the apple to it can stand. Use popcorn, gummies or other items for the feet.
• Draw and color turkey head and feet on paper and then cut out, and each is taped to a toothpick which, when inserted into the apple completes your Apple Turkey!

Eat and enjoy your creation which adds a healthy dose of fruit to your childs diet in a fun way!

U-GRO Learning Centres celebrates the wonder of childhood, one child at a time as the premier provider of childcare, daycare and preschool educational services in South-Central Pennsylvania with twelve centers in Cumberland county: Mechanicsburg; Dauphin county: Harrisburg, Hershey, TecPort, Union Deposit; Lancaster county: Brethren Village, Hempfield, Lancaster, Lititz; Lebanon county: Lebanon, Palmyra; and York county: York.

U-GRO recognized in Business of the Year awards program

Harrisburg, PA November 16, 2011- U-GRO Learning Centres is proud to announce that its President & CEO, Gregory T. Holsinger, was honored in the Central Penn Business Journal’s 8th annual Business of the Year Awards, in the category of “Executive of the Year.”

When asked, “What can others learn from your experiences?” Holsinger said, “If I can offer any advice, especially to young people as they are finding their way, it’s imperative to get your direction (purpose) right.  Start with a personal mission statement and remain true to your core beliefs.  Career decisions will consequently be instinctive and extraordinary output will seem natural.”

The prestigious Business of the Year Awards are designed to give for-profit companies and business leaders the recognition they deserve for creating jobs, contributing to the community and nonprofits and bolstering the region as a whole.

District Manager, Leslie Marley, nominated Holsinger for this award.  In regards to major challenges Holsinger has overcome, Marley says, “Our industry is recognized for extremely high turnover rates.  Fortunately, Greg is an intelligent individual who has a passion for leadership development and creating corporate character.  Greg continually puts the U-GRO employees first and has been able to retain quality people by upgrading U-GRO’s benefits and pay structure.  Greg also believes in living a life of service; consequently, U-GRO’s six guiding principles were born and determine how we act and make decisions in our work.  They include:

• Safety being our #1 priority
  
• Remaining forthright and honest in all aspects of our work
  
• Providing a child-focused curriculum that prepares children for success in life
  
• Recognizing and appreciating the uniqueness of every child
  
• Remaining positive, talented people who love children
  
• Living a life of service and respect
  

These guiding principles coupled with Greg’s values, drive, ambition, passion for the U-GRO mission, and ability to navigate and integrate himself seamlessly in a female-dominated-field helped shape a positive workplace culture for U-GRO. This inspires extraordinary employee performance which in-turn resulted in one of U-GRO’s biggest accomplishments: reducing staff turnover to a level twice as low as industry standard.”

To be eligible for nomination, businesses must be privately-held, for-profit entities that are headquartered (or have significant operations) in Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry or York county. Companies submitted a completed nomination application, which was reviewed and scored by a panel of independent judges from the local business community. For the executive leadership category, the honoree must have led his or her company to a position of strength in the marketplace either by way of growth through creativity, innovation, managerial ability and leadership skills or turnaround.

Finalists were honored and winners revealed at a black-tie awards event on Monday, November 7, 2011. In addition, a publication profiling the honorees, finalists and winners was published in a special supplement and inserted in the November 11 issue of the Central Penn Business Journal.

The 2011 Business of the Year Awards are presented by Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC and sponsored by Capital BlueCross; Comcast Business Class; M&T Bank; McKonly & Asbury, LLP; Netrepid, Inc.; Harrisburg University of Science and Technology and Rutan Productions. For more information about the awards, contact the event coordinator, Colleen Jones, at (717) 236-4300 or colleenj@journalpub.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Anna Siewert
717.561.2201 x 111
asiewert@u-gro.com

U-GRO Learning Centres celebrates the wonder of childhood, one child at a time as the premier provider of childcare, daycare and preschool educational services in South-Central Pennsylvania with twelve centers in Cumberland county: Mechanicsburg; Dauphin county: Harrisburg, Hershey, TecPort, Union Deposit; Lancaster county: Brethren Village, Hempfield, Lancaster, Lititz; Lebanon county: Lebanon, Palmyra; and York county: York.

Problem-solving skills are an invaluable tool to help children succeed in school and throughout life. Children are natural problem solvers. They explore the world with a curiosity that generates thinking and understanding, one problem at a time. From their earliest days, children are experimenting with problem-solving. In the crib, a baby might be trying to find a way to reach a mobile with his foot. A toddler might be trying to figure out how to get from here to there without falling down. Problems in the preschool years may be related to how to build with toys or how to share.

Everyone needs problem-solving skills, and a preschooler is no exception. A young child can learn simple methods to work out problems, and learn to apply them independently, after repeated exposure to methods modeled by those adults around her.  By following a series of steps, a parent can help a child begin to apply problem-solving skills.

Click below to learn how to:

1. Model a passive problem-solving approach
2. Model an active problem-solving approach
3. Create opportunities for problem-solving together with your child
4. Recognize opportunities for problem-solving as they arise
5. Transfer the responsibility for problem-solving to your child in stages

U-GRO Learning Centres celebrates the wonder of childhood, one child at a time as the premier provider of childcare, daycare and preschool educational services in South-Central Pennsylvania with twelve centers in Cumberland county: Mechanicsburg; Dauphin county: Harrisburg, Hershey, TecPort, Union Deposit; Lancaster county: Brethren Village, Hempfield, Lancaster, Lititz; Lebanon county: Lebanon, Palmyra; and York county: York.

Helping Your Preschooler Develop Problem-Solving Skills.   (n.d.). Retrieved July 27, 2011, from http://www.helium.com/items/819091-helping-your-preschooler-develop-problem-solving-skills

When children are given the opportunity to choose, the time to puzzle over discoveries, and the permission to take a risk, they will learn to solve problems. As your child gets more and more practice at problem-solving together with you, she will be more prepared to solve problems on her own. You may hear her say in her play, “Well, Bear, what shall we do now? Shall we go for a walk, or shall we dance together?” Then later you may hear, “I don’t know where this puzzle piece goes, but I’ll put it aside for a moment, and work on some other pieces.”

U-GRO Learning Centres celebrates the wonder of childhood, one child at a time as the premier provider of childcare, daycare and preschool educational services in South-Central Pennsylvania with twelve centers in Cumberland county: Mechanicsburg; Dauphin county: Harrisburg, Hershey, TecPort, Union Deposit; Lancaster county: Brethren Village, Hempfield, Lancaster, Lititz; Lebanon county: Lebanon, Palmyra; and York county: York.

Helping Your Preschooler Develop Problem-Solving Skills.   (n.d.). Retrieved July 27, 2011, from http://www.helium.com/items/819091-helping-your-preschooler-develop-problem-solving-skills

As you spend your day together, talk with your child about her activities. When she comes to you complaining that she can’t get the block tower to stay up, instead of explaining how her tower leans, ask her why she thinks it keeps falling. Let her explain to the best of her ability, then build one together according to her rules, and if that tower falls, suggest “Let’s try another one. How can we make it different so it will stay up better?” Or if she insists on buying a toy while you are in the store, and you are not ready to buy one for her, have her put it on a wish list, and then when you are ready, let her choose one item from the wish list to buy.

U-GRO Learning Centres celebrates the wonder of childhood, one child at a time as the premier provider of childcare, daycare and preschool educational services in South-Central Pennsylvania with twelve centers in Cumberland county: Mechanicsburg; Dauphin county: Harrisburg, Hershey, TecPort, Union Deposit; Lancaster county: Brethren Village, Hempfield, Lancaster, Lititz; Lebanon county: Lebanon, Palmyra; and York county: York.

Helping Your Preschooler Develop Problem-Solving Skills.   (n.d.). Retrieved July 27, 2011, from http://www.helium.com/items/819091-helping-your-preschooler-develop-problem-solving-skills

When you help your child put away her toys, talk to her about how to organize her toys.  “Shall we put all the baby dolls in this bin, so you can find them more easily?  Where shall we put your cars?  Why do you think they should all go in that bin?  Where would you like them to go, so you can find the book you want?”  Be prepared for a different organizational system than you would establish; the goal is not necessarily to have the best organized toy closet, but to help your child to begin to see that by exploring possibilities, she can begin to exert some control in her world.  Other opportunities can be created by choosing two out of three cracker boxes at the store, or by letting her choose which of two kinds of socks she would like to wear.  And when she finds exactly the book she wants you to read for bedtime, congratulate her on finding the book quickly, and credit her organizational system.

U-GRO Learning Centres celebrates the wonder of childhood, one child at a time as the premier provider of childcare, daycare and preschool educational services in South-Central Pennsylvania with twelve centers in Cumberland county: Mechanicsburg; Dauphin county: Harrisburg, Hershey, TecPort, Union Deposit; Lancaster county: Brethren Village, Hempfield, Lancaster, Lititz; Lebanon county: Lebanon, Palmyra; and York county: York.

Helping Your Preschooler Develop Problem-Solving Skills.   (n.d.). Retrieved July 27, 2011, from http://www.helium.com/items/819091-helping-your-preschooler-develop-problem-solving-skills

When you have multiple errands to run on a tight schedule, talk to yourself in front of your child.  “Where shall I go first?  The gas station, the grocery store, or the library?  The library is the farthest away, and the gas station and the grocery store are both on the way back home.  I think I’ll start at the library, and then go to the grocery store, and fill up the gas tank last.”  As your child hears you thinking out loud, she will begin to understand that you make your decisions based on your best judgment, not some automatic formula that she cannot discover.

U-GRO Learning Centres celebrates the wonder of childhood, one child at a time as the premier provider of childcare, daycare and preschool educational services in South-Central Pennsylvania with twelve centers in Cumberland county: Mechanicsburg; Dauphin county: Harrisburg, Hershey, TecPort, Union Deposit; Lancaster county: Brethren Village, Hempfield, Lancaster, Lititz; Lebanon county: Lebanon, Palmyra; and York county: York.

Helping Your Preschooler Develop Problem-Solving Skills.   (n.d.). Retrieved July 27, 2011, from http://www.helium.com/items/819091-helping-your-preschooler-develop-problem-solving-skills

A child learns much by observing others, particularly parents and siblings.  If a young child watches a parent persevere with a task without becoming frustrated, that child has a model to follow.  When you lose your keys, rather than vocalizing your frustration, take the opportunity to silently model a problem-solving approach. Trace your comings and goings throughout your home, and when you find them, verbally congratulate yourself within your child’s hearing.

U-GRO Learning Centres celebrates the wonder of childhood, one child at a time as the premier provider of childcare, daycare and preschool educational services in South-Central Pennsylvania with twelve centers in Cumberland county: Mechanicsburg; Dauphin county: Harrisburg, Hershey, TecPort, Union Deposit; Lancaster county: Brethren Village, Hempfield, Lancaster, Lititz; Lebanon county: Lebanon, Palmyra; and York county: York.

Helping Your Preschooler Develop Problem-Solving Skills.   (n.d.). Retrieved July 27, 2011, from http://www.helium.com/items/819091-helping-your-preschooler-develop-problem-solving-skills