Managing screen time has now reached new levels and is creating significant stress among parents. What is a healthy amount of screen time for children? What kinds of screen activities are educational and engaging opportunities for children?

Maple Bear Brazil Co-Associate Academic Directors Arpi and Stewart will be sharing their advice on the topic tomorrow, Tuesday July 14th at 5pm Brazil time, in a live parent tutorial. Register here: https://bit.ly/2ZYu2t2 #MapleBearAtHome#ScreenTime#TheBestOfCanadianEducation#AcademicParentTutorialSeries

One of our MapleBear cubs turned "little teacher", offering the others how to make paper aeroplanes . Everyone studied very hard, while our "little teacher" taught them how to fold with great patience.

Such positive attitudes of patience, perseverance, willingness to help others, are what we aspire to bring out in all our little ones

#maplebearlabrador #positiveattitudes #preschoolsg #learningthroughplay #strongertogether

Practicing social distancing:At all Maple Bear Schools around the world, health and safety of our students is our top priority.
In line with @moe_uaestudents& @khdadubai directives, our nurseries & ELC in the UAE remain closed and are being actively sanitized and disinfected with enhanced measures to ensure that the premises are safe for our young students to learn and play in upon their return.
We ask our families to consider the following positive actions at home as well, while the kids are at home and we as all practice #socialdistancing to help #flattenthecurve not just within the UAE but globally:
- Practice social distancing and avoid close contact with those who are ill.
- Stay home if you have any symptoms at all of a cold or influenza, even if the symptoms are mild.
Limit nonessential travel and respect directives against gatherings and visiting public places, such as museums, concerts, large domestic gatherings, or crowded restaurants.
- Teach children to wash their hands frequently with soap and water.
- Have them a tissue or the bend of their elbow to cover a cough or a sneeze.
-Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
-Clean and disinfect all surfaces, especially those frequently touched (tables, phones, railings, toys, etc).
-Keep their immune system strong with exercise, a healthy diet, and adequate sleep.
-If you have been traveling, particularly where there has been transmission of COVID-19, then call your health care provider. Always tell health care providers about recent travel if you become ill after returning.
-Show compassion and empathy for those impacted by the virus.
-Keep basic food, health, and cleaning supplies on hand in your home.
-Make a simple contingency plan for back-up child care or work disruptions.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
World Health Organization, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public

A recent study by the Institute for Cancer Research revealed that an overly sanitized, ‘germ-free’ early childhood is the leading factor in cases of the leading childhood cancer, lukemia. Following over a decade’s worth of research, researchers learnt that exposure to a variety of common and harmless bugs could in fact help prevent the gene mutation that leads to the disease.
The Science Daily article announcing the research findings states that “Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is particularly prevalent in advanced, affluent societies and is increasing in incidence at around 1 per cent per year. They suggested that ALL is “paradox of progress in modern societies -- with lack of microbial exposure early in life resulting in immune system malfunction.”
An article on CNN explaining the findings states that “more specifically, children who grew up in cleaner households during their first year and interacted less with other children are more likely to develop ALL”.
While ALL is of course and extreme and highly tragic disease, the insights and recommendations from the research are incredibly simple: along with reinforcing the advantages of breastfeeding, the need to give the immune system a chance to strengthen, fend off infections, and thus develop is reasserted as the only way for children’s cells to mature and grow properly. Exposure to common germs through contact with other children and surfaces, such as in a nursery setting, is an essential element of growing up healthy and strong.

Back to school means back to routine, and that’s often easier said than done after months of kicking back, beating the heat and getting away from it all as families often do in Dubai. So when the doors open and the bell goes off, Maple Bear teachers are ready to welcome big grins - but also prepared to work through getting settled in over the coming weeks.
Yes, we may already be weeks in to it, but believe it or not, for many toddlers it still hasn’t been long enough to accept the new routine comfortably.
Post holiday Separation anxiety
Even if your little one is a returning student to the nursery, chances are they may be a bit overwhelmed with the sights and sounds of a full classroom. For many, the separation anxiety may be threefold. Perhaps grandma and grandpa were around for the summer, doting on every antic and showering uninterrupted attention. Often , mom and dad have more time and a less hectic work load, affording bigger cuddles and longer story times. The attention deficit is not easy to adjust to, especially in the tender preschool years, when reaffirmation of positive behaviour is key to learning and emotional development. Sustained positive interactions with caregivers further healthy self-identity formation and are thus sought and cherished.
Finally the return to school likely means a different classroom and new teacher. Suddenly, your little one finds herself separated from the teacher whom she built a bond with over the course of the previous year, and the person she trusts to guide her as she explores new concepts and acquires new information is no longer standing at the front of the room applauding as she masters it all day by day.
So, beyond the probably upside down bed time, the funny snacks and new places, return to school means the end of a phase - not always welcome news to little ones who just wanna have fun.
Ease in to it
Not only can parents make it easier by giving their little one the time to adjust but phasing in the transition to the school week schedule before it all hits is key. Start getting to bed - and up - in tune with the timings that are required for your school day preparation and commute. Try getting out and about at the same time : even if it means just going for a quick coffee run or an breakfast play date, resetting activity schedules to align with the kindergarten day will help your toddler set expectations for meals, snacks, naps , and play.
Back at it
Don’t be frustrated if it takes a few weeks for your preschooler to go bounding back to class. Remember, too, that regressions happen, especially in the younger years. There’s bound to be a lot of energy in the classroom and lots of chatter with new friends and old. Sharing, exploring, creating, and learning are exhausting! If it’s been a few weeks and your little one is still clinging to your leg at the sight of her teacher, it doesn’t mean she’s going to skip out on participating the moment you leave the nursery or school. Create excitement around the activities being done in the classroom, and chat about friends, teachers and even desks and crayons in a positive way. Take a few moments to colour - mimicking the same activities in the comfort of the home will build a sense of ease when she remembers just how fun it is.
The best preschool teachers know that it’s just as hard for you to leave when your young one is uneasy about being left. Most early years teachers will be happy to give you a few extra moments to get your tot settled in, but arriving early enough to participate in morning warm up activities, rather than smack dab at circle time, are much more appreciated and much much more easier to slip away from comfortably.
The early years are packed with rapid growth and newness at every turn, especially so in Dubai where often families are new and strangers are from all over the place. Let your little one be a little one for as long as they need, and welcome your preschools’ efforts to partner with you in making the transition week by week, year by year, until it truly is time to be a big girl or boy.

Every October, Canadian families gather round the dinner table to celebrate all they are blessed with in life. Along with sharing delicious food and enjoying the crisp weather, the occasion represents an opportunity to connect with those that play an important role in one’s life. As a day designated for mindfulness, Thanksgiving is arguably the original lesson in emotional intelligence - a holiday that revolves around connecting with oneself and with those around you. Emotional intelligence is thus part of the Canadian cultural DNA , and strongly embedded into the education system across the country. At schools, students are often engaged in noting down and reflecting on the many things, big and small, that mean the world to them, requiring them to undertake introspection and recognize what strengthens their individuality. But Thanksgiving is also a social and community event, and provides a chance for even the youngest members of a community to think beyond the limitations of their own physical self. Donation drives for less fortunate community members are as ubiquitous as intimate, big turkey dinners with family. Building emotional intelligence is a crucial function of an early years education program. In the early years, cognitive functions are rapidly developing and as self awareness begins to take shape, so do social and relational cues become internalized. Developing empathy as an essential principle to guide interpersonal interactions should be the key aim of socialization activities that are incorporated in early years curricula. The careers of the future demand less knowledge and « process memory » and call for more social and intuitive resilience and responsiveness. With rapid advances in technological innovation, a greater number of careers will become automated and obsolete. But the need for intuition, to connect with others, respond and adapt to cultural and situational differences, is a distinctly human capacity that will be vital for further innovation and for new solutions to social problems to continue being generated. In other words, while the act of creation can be delegated to machines, socially responsive innovation will forever remain the domain of human beings, driven by the idea generation process uniquely attributable to the give and take of human relationships. Nurturing emotional intelligence in the classroom is thus fundamental in order for today's youth to be equipped to adapt and survive in the future economy. Thanksgiving may not be the only festivity in which thankfulness for greater things is the central theme, but it certainly holds a distinct place within Canadian culture, reinforcing the nation's humble value of expressing gratitude for all things big and small and symbolically reminding us of the reasons behind generation after generation of Canadians that are thought leaders with the desire and ability to do good, at home and abroad

No matter what else may be going on in the day, seeing a smile blossom across a preschooler’s face always brings joy. Keeping those pearly whites clean and healthy is crucial - and not just because they complete that adorable grin.
Dental health has a strong correlation with proper speech development. Teeth play a role in pronunciation and articulation of words and syllables. Remember that temporary lisp you had when you lost your front teeth in Grade 2? Whether they are baby teeth or the adult teeth that eventually replace those, teeth are an essential component of the human speech production system and language acquisition.
Dentists recommend that brushing should become part of the bedtime and breakfast routine as soon as the first little tooth pokes through. In fact, it’s good to get into the habit of cleaning your baby’s gums even before teeth have come in. It is also much easier to avoid plaque build up, cavities, and the related discomfort and damage that comes with that, by maintaining a healthy diet that is low on sugary foods. Finally, avoid putting baby to bed with a bottle: the milk sugars (found in breast milk, formula, and cow’s milk) that remain lingering in the mouth after baby dozes off contribute to speeding up tooth decay - and the sucking action on the bottle is even linked to ear infections!
Good oral hygiene resonates in both the immediate and the long-term, and establishing simple habits early in life will help keep the spark in their speech and sparkle in their smile for life.

Valentine Day is typically associated with romantic love, but the purest and most valuable iteration of this emotion is, without a doubt, between a parent and child. Researchers at the British Columbia Children's Hospital have found that hugging infants can actually alter their DNA - revealing, that "in humans the simple act of touching, early in life, has deeply-rooted and potentially lifelong consequences on genetic expression."
According to an article published by the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine, children who had experienced greater distress as infants exhibited an underdeveloped molecular profile in their cells by age 5. Distress in infants is caused by a lack of bodily contact from adult caregivers, and excessive periods of neglect and unattended crying.
The implications of the underdeveloped cellular makeup are not minor, with effects in both biological and psychological development, indicating a possibility of poor overall health of the child over the longer term. A follow up study will be undertaken by the research team to determine the magnitude of the implications of the “ ‘biological immaturity’ … in these children ... for their health, especially their psychological development.”

Father’s day is a great excuse to give and get bear hugs from the big guy, but it’s also a chance to reflect on the special role dad plays in the early years. In the earliest days of life, the first “safe place” away from mom is the arms of dad. This bond is further nurtured when fathers actively participate in caregiving, as well as taking up opportunities to interact and play, contributing positively to the separation process from the mother and healthy self-identity formation for the child.
Play of course, is often the domain that dads love to stake out as theirs, and one which Maple Bear actively promotes in early years learning. Perhaps unsurprisingly, approaches to play differ between mom and dad, contributing thus to different learning outcomes. Studies show that while moms tend to focus on imagination and idea based play, dads more often engage with activities and projects. While playtime with mom can help creative and cognitive skills, dad’s playtime style will enhance collaboration and interpersonal abilities.
Big fun with the big guy also tends to include more new ideas, risk taking and challenges than with mom, furthering ambitious and innovative approaches to tasks.
In the early years, when play is the research of children, we thus have a lot to be thankful for deeper benefits of the light hearted moments with dad

It is crucial in these times to assert the importance of staying safe and knowing how to spot danger, as well as how to stay safe in a high risk scenario. By practicing emergency preparedness with kids and discussing subjects and phrases such as 'stranger danger' and 'silent drop' at school, Maple Bear aims to make effective physical safety measures intuitive to our young ones, all the way from Toddler class to Kindergarten 2 . Key to successful emergency management in a preschool environment is an ability on the part of the staff to enforce procedures in a calm and effective manner without causing undue stress or alarm to the children. At Maple Bear Burj, a playful approach is adopted without compromising the key lessons that the kids are intended to learn.
Communicating with your child about staying safe
Although we are blessed with strong public safety enforcement, particularly in downtown Dubai, parents are encouraged to discuss and practice a family emergency preparedness plan with their little ones and to help them recognize when to act quickly.