Just for fun...

Top 10 times to use Smart Sprouts for drop in care:
1. Doctor's Appointment
2. Hair Appointment (especially at Shine Salon!)
3. Big Kids have an activity at school where bringing little brother/sister(s) is not the best idea
4. Adults only breakfast/lunch/meeting
5. Babysitter cancels
6. A much needed date night (last Friday of every month we extend hours until 9pm!)
7. Lunch date with a friend. Drop the kids and head next door to Food Company or Crow's Nest Green Hills for a quick bite
8. Running errands
9. Working out at Pure Barre, Willow Pilates, the Y or personal training in Green Hills
10. Because sometimes Mom just needs a BREAK!

Homework Club

We are very excited to offer an after hours "homework club" for 4th-12th graders at Smart Sprouts. I have tutored for almost 10 years and have been setting up Vanderbilt students as tutors for local families for over 2 years. There are so many smart, qualified and professional students, grad students and recent graduates of Vanderbilt and other local colleges in the area. I have always enjoyed matching students with the perfect tutor to help them stay organized, get their work done, prepare for tests, or just spend some extra time on subjects that they aren't confident in. 


Homework Club will take place from 6-9pm at the Smart Sprouts location: 
2209 Bandywood Drive, Suite D


Many schools in the area offer study hall after school, but our homework club is much different. There will be a highly qualified tutor to every 3-4 students to answer questions, track students' progress, and to create a fun but studious learning environment. Our later hours allow for kids to finish up their activities and athletic practices and to stop in for 30 minutes or up to 3 full hours to complete their work, projects, or test prep. 


Many tutoring centers have students work on center-based materials, complete diagnostic tests or set up meetings with parents. Although some students require this kind of focus we simply address the work that students actually need to accomplish in their classes. Students can work from test prep books during homework club (for school admissions testing for all ages) and seek help for any tough questions. We can also administer practice tests and score them so that students have an idea of how they'll do in testing and what to work on.


We hope to create a place where students are excited to work with their knowledgable and energetic tutors so that getting homework done becomes easy on both students and their parents. 


Homework Club will have a limited number of spots available per semester and reservations are suggested so that we can have tutors available that are qualified for each student's needs. 


And if any student requires some extra attention we also offer packages of one-one-one tutoring hours that can be scheduled to fit the family's needs.


There will most likely be a deal for homework club and tutoring coming up soon so keep your eyes open! 


Thanks for reading,


Ann

Child and Infant CPR Class

At Smart Sprouts we require our staff to have CPR certification before working with small children. I've also talked to parents who have expressed interest in being certified. So we have decided to have a class taught by a pediatric nurse on location at Smart Sprouts for employees, potential Smart Smarts endorsed sitters and any interested parents. 


The class will be held here on Saturday, August 27th from 2:30-4:30pm.

If we have more than 10 people taking the class it will be $30 per person. We will max out at 30 people. Please call or email to reserve a space if you are interested!

615.712.6217

SmartSprouts@gmail.com

Thanks for reading,

Ann

Blog Love

I don't know about you but I could literally get lost in the Blog world for hours on end. Here are a few of my favorites:


Enjoying this new blog by 2 Nashville moms of 2 beautiful little baby girls. Today they have some great ideas for what to do this weekend.


Nashville Moms Blog
*Check out the "links we love" section for other adorable baby related blogs.

Always love this Blog from Tweed Baby Outfitter's creator, Maggie, for great new products, DIY ideas and more. 


Tweed Blog

Another one of my favorite's is Little Green Notebook. The author, Jenny, is an interior designer and a mom and always has inspirational posts of easy DIY projects and she just has great taste in general. Her posts on her girls rooms are adorable. 


Little Green Notebook

Last but not least is my personal favorite but probably because it's family. I grew up in Northern California and my siblings and parents still live there. I check my sister's blog daily for updates on my sweet nieces so I don't feel like I'm missing too much. 


Baby Heff

Happy weekend and thanks for reading,


Ann

A new project

This week I started a new job. No, I am not leaving Smart Sprouts or cutting back on my hours of reading to, playing with, feeding, and chasing after our little sprouts. I am taking a few hours a week in the early mornings, afternoons or weekends to spend time as the Program Coordinator of the Child Studies Masters Program at Peabody College at Vanderbilt. I graduated from this program in May of 2009 with my M.Ed. of Education in Child Studies and I had such a wonderful experience. The director of the program, Vicki Harris, was such an incredible advisor and friend to me and I am so excited that she has asked me to help her in this role. I will be spending time working in recruitment for new students, connecting with alumni, setting up meaningful field placements for students, and making sure the program is the best that it can be. 


I am most excited about diving back into the world of research. There is never enough time in my week to keep up on current research although it is one of the things that I really love to do. Now that I will be getting paid to do this I can continue to learn more about the best ways to support early learning and development. I hope to implement this new research at Smart Sprouts in our everyday play and watch all of our little sprouts learn and grow. 


Thanks for reading,
Ann