Pittsburgh Public Schools announces new Afterschool Program!

This content has been compensated as part of an Early Childhood Education promotion for Pittsburgh Public Schools. However, all opinions remain my own. #ppsafterschool

Before the babies were born (and even for a few months afterwards) any time someone would bring up the topic of "preschool" I would try to change the subject.  The subject was not my favorite for a few reasons.  I hated considering the financial reality - how would we afford a quality program for twins?  I was in baby bliss - how could I give up valuable "together time" in their short childhoods? I was in denial - believing that through the magic of pinterest, I could teach them everything they'd ever learn in preschool.

Today I'm speaking as a convert.  I've seen the light!  After numerous conversations with people whose opinions I trust, and some reading on the subject, I've come to realize that all of my objections truly had feasible solutions.  As a parent who wants the absolute best for her children, how could I keep them from something that research proves to be an imperative part of early school success?

As it turns out, Pittsburgh Public Schools agrees with the all the available research that tells us that investing in our early childhood education programs will give us the best "bang for our buck" in ensuring that all students have the opportunity to achieve.  Their goal is to help all preschool aged children obtain better school readiness and social competence skills by providing an environment and experiences that cultivate these skills.

The focus on early childhood education programs comes from the very top down with President Barack Obama, in his February 2013 State of the Union address, saying  “In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children…studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, form more stable families of their own.  We know this works.  So let’s do what works and make sure none of our children start the race of life already behind.”


So how does a busy family (with multiples or singletons) make it work?  With reports showing that only 7% of households have a "stay at home parent," the need for after school care has become a "deal breaker" for families who want to offer the best preschool programs to their children while juggling multiple schedules.

Luckily for Pittsburgh families, Pittsburgh Public Schools has recently announced the launch of their new Afterschool Program to make sure the students enrolled in their Early Childhood Education programs are offered a high quality learning experience, both during and after the traditional school day.  Programs will serve students throughout the city at Pittsburgh: Brookline Pre-K - 8, Colfax K-8, Crescent Early Childhood Center, Morrow Pre-K - 8, and Phillips K-5.  Children in pre-K through fifth grade we invited to participate.  And it's not only about convenience for families.  Their afterschool program offers so many benefits to participants!  Here's my top five favorite things to consider!

1 - Qualified Instructors and Research Based Curriculum: While I love my teenage babysitter as much as the next girl, she can't provide the meaningful and purposeful activities like Pittsburgh Public School's Afterschool Program will.  There's no channel on television that can provide age-appropriate activities in a safe environment either.  Appropriate child-adult ratios are maintained to ensure that each child gets the attention they need. I like high standards, and PPS agrees!

2 - FUN for Kids: Lets face it - if the kids are happy, the parents are usually pretty happy too.  This program offers amazing opportunities for kids of all ages to have a great time - whether that be little ones practicing gross motor skills through music and dance, or older children participating in enrichment programs with program partners like the Carnegie Science Center or Gateway to the Arts.  Parents can be confident that all this fun is had in a safe, reliable supervised environment.

3 - Relationship Building:  While having twins does offer my children the benefit of having a built-in playmate, our family believes it's critical that they reach out and build new relationships with their peers as well as with other adults.  It was this realization of what I was unable to offer my children in my own home that decidedly led us to the decision that preschool would be an important part of our children's experience.  Both in Pittsburgh Public School's Early Childhood day program, as well as in afterschool care, there are abundant opportunities to make new friends, learn to take turns, share, and work together as a team.  What an awesome foundation for future relationships to be built upon!

4 - Routine and Structure: Experts believe that young children do best in a predictable and well-ordered environment where they know what to expect.  The PPS Afterschool Program provides stability for children whose parents aren't able to be home at the end of the traditional school day.  Instead of juggling child care providers and work schedules, families can rest assured that their child has had their needs met with a snack, attention to homework, and plenty of time for fun.

5 - Affordability: Pittsburgh Public Schools' preschool program is offered at no cost for many families and at a reasonable cost for all families within the district.  With twins comes double the expenses - a real concern for our family when considering preschool opportunities.  For families participating in the PPS Afterschool Program, several pricing packages are available to make the program accessible to all families.

Ready to sign up?   The application deadline is August 9, 2013. Applications are available online at www.pps.k12.pa.us/earlychildhood or parents can request a hard copy by calling the Early Childhood Department at 412-325-4291.

 

Most Magical Homemade Toy for Toddlers

We took a visit to Ikea today, and it was there in the aisle that inspiration hit.

If your toddlers are like mine, they are absolutely fascinated with pulling out and putting back the straw in the top of their "take out" cups.  While this can be a bit frustrating as milk drips down your arm as you wrestle the cup from said toddler in the middle of the restaurant, properly redirected this fascination can make for an awesome fine motor practice.  And who am I kidding - something great to keep them occupied for a while.

Loosely inspired by an idea I saw at Full Hands Full Hearts, when I saw the ORDNING Kitchen Utensil Holder at Ikea I knew it would be perfect for practicing dexterity. 

We added a pair of SNÄRTIG Silk Flowers and a pack of SODA Drinking Straws  and we had something that kept their busy hands and minds occupied throughout our trip, and well into our afternoon at home.  What I really appreciated about these flowers is that while they are bendable, they have an excellent coating preventing sharp ends from becoming dangerous.  

And while it may look a little less glamorous in normal lighting, the true magic is that a few random items thrown together can occupy two toddlers for literally hours - all for around $10.  That's definitely magical in my book!

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Closet Sharing: Organizing Kids Clothing with Two!

After writing about how we handle clothes our babies have outgrown, it's time to cover how we handle how we manage the babies current wardrobe.  Here's our guide to managing a closet built for two!


1 - Before we even open the closet doors, we try to keep track of all of the clothing the babies have in current sizes and for the future using our Baby Clothes Inventory.  It's great having it all down on paper to see what is hiding in our closet!


2 - Second, we try to stay organized.  With two babies, spanning three sizes and two or more seasons at a time, we need awesome closet organizers to manage our closet chaos!  For us, it works best to separate from right (Julie) to left (Brayden) and then by size vertically on top with the smaller sizes, and then below with larger sizes.  I work from the top down, trying to put the smaller items on the babies first as we can extend their "fitting" life just a little longer.  Find a strategy and closet design that works for you!

3 - Prioritize closet space and put the rest elsewhere.  While full outfits and coordinates as well as all tops get hung and placed in the closet, onesies, socks, pajamas, and all "non-dedicated" pants and shorts go into the babies' dresser.  The top two drawers are shared for socks/onesies/swimwear but each gets a drawer for jammies and one for pants.

4 - Get Creative!  We re purposed a second bookshelf for baby linens like towels, blankets and wash cloths.  To fit as many clothes in as we need to, closet organizers and storage boxes are an absolute must.  We have a second hanging rod in our closet to expand our hanging space.  We keep accessories in baskets on the top shelf and always keep an eye out for potential storage solutions to help us manage the babies wardrobe better.

5 - Pack away anything that is not currently in use.  We already covered how I manage previous seasons clothing, but our future seasons are packed into stack-able bins with lids with clear labels.  When the time comes, we'll be ready to unpack and get dressed, but having clothes for future seasons on the racks is just too much to handle!

Our "dream" twin closet by California Closets

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Compensation was received for this post, but all words and ideas remain my own.

Clothing Organization for Two: Twin Tips

The organization challenges began even before my babes came home from the hospital.  I remember the first clothing item I bought for the babies - a Winnie the Pooh three piece outfit, neutral in color since I wasn't sure of the baby's (singular at the time) gender.  It was all downhill from there as I learned to enjoy shopping in "both sides of the store" and my Mom and Mother in Law also rekindled their passion for baby clothes shopping.

The best description I can give is that I am a "baby clothes trafficker" with new clothes coming in (fresh from the clearance racks) for future seasons, clothes too small into the keep pile, clothes heading for kids consignment sales, and of course - piles and piles of laundry.  Sometimes I feel like I can barely keep up with it all!

Despite the struggle, I've found a few solutions and strategies that have been helpful for managing their wardrobes - past, present and future.

Just as how their clothing is just too much to tackle in one day, our system is too much for even one post to handle so we're going to break it up a bit.  First, we'll cover the "retired" baby clothes.

Clothes that have been retired from our closet have three categories - each with a designated place in the babies' bedroom.

"Clothes to Keep" go into a giant Space Bag  which holds an amazing amount of clothing.  While I use the smaller sizes for other things (like maternity clothes) the XL Cubes are perfect for baby clothes because when filled they are self-standing and can sit upright. In a year and a half, we've filled three, and they are happily being stored in our garage.  While we've considered pre-sorting this by size and gender for our future "hope baby," it's just too much in an already overwhelming task so we let it be.

Here is our before and after!  It's amazing how these guys shrink down after you vacuum the air out!

"Clothes to Sell" for kids consignment sales remain on the hangers (or stack folded if coming from a drawer) and are placed into a waiting laundry basket exclusively for this purpose.

When the basket is filled, the contents are moved to the basement, where our old luggage will store the garments to be sold.  They'll be tagged, sorted into sizes and repacked.  Out suitcases are perfect for hauling the clothes to our Mothers of Multiples sale where last time I made over $300 in sales!

Clothes with Stains have a box all their own, and get a few last attempts at salvation before heading to the rag bag.  I've learned quite a bit about stain removal, but absolutely hate to give up on something I want to keep or could get a few dollars for at a sale!


Keep an eye out for our next post in the baby clothes management series on how we handle current and future clothes!

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We love Early Intervention!

It was at our four month baby well-visit that our pediatrician diagnosed Brayden with torticollis.  "Torti-whaat?" I said to myself as I gave our doctor a blank stare.  The short definition is that Brayden had a head tilt, caused by the tightness of his sternocleidomastoid mucle (the muscle behind his ear that connected to his sternum).  For us, this was likely an issue that started before birth when he got stuck in a "frank breech" position with his feet on his head while still in my belly.  So the doctor prescribed Physical Therapy and sent us on our way.  While we started our journey at the Children's Institute's PT clinic (also awesome), the twice a week appointments were especially difficult with twins. Packing up an infant, and driving half an hour away, to have a half an hour session, while leaving Julie at home, dealing with his massive reflux and my pumping schedule - urgh... the hecticness of it is making my head spinning just thinking about it!

As Brayden's head shape was also an issue, we were referred to a specialist a Children's Hospital who suggested that we get in touch with Early Intervention as a source for home based PT who were awesome in helping with torticollis issues.  As an offshoot - this specialist also recommended a helmet for Brayden's plagioephaly (wonky shaped head asymmetry) which you can read about here.

So began our experience with Early Intervention in Allegheny County.  This incredible program offers physical, occupational, developmental and speech therapies to qualifying children within Allegheny County usually at no cost to the family. For us, the process included meeting with our service coordinator who met with us, explained the program, and had us complete some paperwork.  Because Brayden already had a diagnosis, he automatically qualified for treatment, but children without this would also complete an evaluation of all sorts of elements (physical, social, and cognitive development) and if their scores fall below certain levels, they are accepted for services.

Brayden was matched up with an awesome therapist who came to our home weekly, and was truly fantastic with our son.  She would stretch his neck, find his tickle spots, do massage, and play games with him.  It was so fun that he rarely complained!  Best of all, no long hauls to the outpatient PT office and expensive co-pays.

As Julie became more mobile, we realized that her crawl was a little "wonky" as well, and she wasn't rolling over normally.  Brayden's PT checked her over and concluded that her tummy muscles were not as strong as we'd hope, and so Julie too was evaluated and qualified for services.

As the babies have grown, their needs have changed.  Now VERY active toddlers, their need for physical therapy has passed and they are strong, flexible and very physically normal.  But we have had some concerns about their speech delays.  At 18 months, they each say only a small handful of words each (5-7).  Although I narrate our every move, Brayden only says Dada, Mama, Nana, uh-oh and yum and Julie's vocabulary consists of the same, plus "hi" and "no" (a recent addition).  Neither use these words to request food, nor can I get them to say "up" or "more" despite my efforts.

So yet again, we are thankful for Allegheny County's awesome Early Intervention program coming to the rescue.  Both babies are working with a developmental therapist who weekly works with them to encourage speech through engaging play and mimicking.

Unfortunately, twin families often find themselves with similar concerns as those we've had.  Smaller spaces as well as more time sitting is a frequent occurrence for twins and multiples.  Twins are also more frequently effected by speech delays although the true reasons for this aren't well established.

If you're a Pittsburgh family looking for resources, the Alliance for Infants and Toddlers is definitely the place to call for support.  Even if you do not have a doctor's recommendation, a parent's concern is enough for them to do an evaluation.  While I'd never encourage mom's to panic, and there is a huge range of "normal" my personal belief has been "if they qualify, they need the services.  If they don't qualify - even better as they'll be fine."  I personally don't feel like there's ever a down side to having a concern evaluated for the simple peace of mind.  If you're out of the Pittsburgh area, I have tried to find a directory for you but don't see one out there unfortunately.  My best advice would be to google "early intervention" and your county as these typically run through the Education Intermediate Units.

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