0315bspeast

baystateparent FREE

MARCH 2015

THE STAGGERING STATISTICS BEHIND LYME IN MASSACHUSETTS

AGE BY AGE: HOW MUCH SLEEP KIDS REALLY NEED SCRATCH: THE LEARN-TO-CODE PHENOMENON PACK IT UP: YOUR CAMP GIFT GUIDE

Countdown to Summer Camp Fun! DON’T JUST SEND YOUR CHILDREN TO CAMP...GO WITH THEM!

Massachusetts’ Premier Magazine For Families Since 1996 Massachusetts

Su mmer Sailing Ca mp ON LAKE

QUINSIGAMOND

Sailing • Paddling • Swimming • Adventure!

“Jamieson’s summer camp experience at Regatta Point was wonderful. It was something he has never done before. I can’t believe that in one week Jamieson has learned to sail.This has helped him build a lot of confidence.“ - Colleen D. Mother of Camper

7-9 years • Guppies 5 week long camps starting June 22 • Half/Full Day $219/$350 9-12 years • 9 week long camps starting June 22 • 9-4pm $265/week 13-18 years • Teen Programs 3 - 3 week sessions $225/session Camp hours 9am-4pm Early drop off and late pick up available

Open House May 31st and June 28th

1-4pm

After school sailing programs start May 6th & 7th

Entering our 55th Y ear REGATTA POINT

Community Sailing

email info@regattapoint.org • 508.757.2140 • www.RegattaPoint.org 2 MARCH2015 3

Cornerstone Academy Educating all learners in grades K-6

An elementary preparatory school that celebrates the individual.

TOURS Tues. March 10th & 24th, April 7th • 9:00 a.m.

Sign up on our website.

Choose Cornerstone to develop the fundamentals needed for tomorrow’s leaders!

The educational journey begins in Kindergarten... let it begin with Cornerstone!

Creativity

Collaboration

INNOVATION • Offering Transitional Kindergarten and full day Kindergarten through Grade 6 curriculum.

• Highly qualified faculty trained to adapt curriculum to your child’s ability.

• Small classes, individual attention.

• Intellectually enriching environment.

• Solid academic foundation complemented by art, Spanish, music and physical fitness.

• State of the art technology utilized in all classrooms.

5 Oak Avenue • Northboro, MA 01532 • 508-351-9976 www.cornerstoneacademy.org BAYSTATEPARENT 2 3

4 MARCH2015 5

You’re invited to our

OPEN HOUSE

Next Generation Children’s Centers Wednesday, March 11th 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, March 19th 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.

All Locations n 866-711-NGCC n NGCCenters.com Explore our curriculum programs with hands-on activities.

Learn how we integrate STEM into our day.

Enjoy getting to know our Directors and philosophy at NGCC. Bring a friend and learn about our Points for Parents Referral Program.

Ask about our OPEN HOUSE Registration Special for new families.

BAYSTATEPARENT 4 5

NGCC_Ad_MarchOpenHouse_BSP_4C_10x12125.indd 1

2/12/15 7:17 PM

SATURDAY, APRIL 11 7:30 PM

Mar

6 I LOVE LUCY® LIVE ON STAGE March 6 - 8, 2015 Generously sponsored by Commerce Bank

15 Brian Regan Sunday, March 15, 2015 Generously sponsored by Southbridge Savings Bank

Adolph Adam’s

19 The Moody Blues Timeless Flight: The Polydor Years

GISELLE

Thursday, March 19, 2015

22 Jay Leno

performed by The Russian National Ballet Theatre

Sunday, March 22, 2015 Made possible through the support by WinnDevelopment

FRIDAY, APRIL 17 8 PM

27 Frank Carroll presents An Evening with The Priests to Benefit St. Johns Food for the Poor Friday, March 27, 2015

Apr 1 A Streetcar Named Desire April 1 - April 2, 2015

7 Stephen Dubner Tuesday, April 7, 2015 Presented by The Worcester Economic Club

11 The Price is Right Live!

Saturday, April 11, 2015 Made possible through the support of TD Bank

12 Brit Floyd

SATURDAY, APRIL 18 2 PM

Sunday, April 12, 2015

17 Adolph Adam’s Giselle performed by The Russian National Ballet Theatre Friday, April 17, 2015 Presented by Music Worcester

18 Chuggington Live! The Great Rescue Adventure Saturday, April 18, 2015 May

Saturday, May 2, 2015

BRIAN REGAN SUNDAY, MARCH 15 8 PM GenerouslySponsoredby

2 Loretta LaRoche - Humor Your Stress 8 Camelot May 8 - May 10, 2015 Generously sponsored by Commerce Bank

15 Wanda Sykes Friday, May 15, 2015 Jun

27 Celtic Woman: 10th Anniversary Celebration Saturday, June 27, 2015 Generously sponsored by Commerce Bank All dates, programs, and times are subject to change without notice.

ASL interpretation and Audio Description available New shows and promotions are added all the time! Visit TheHanoverTheatre.org for information about all our events.

Visit TheHanoverTheatre.org/accessibility.php for details.

TheHanoverTheatre.org • 877.571.SHOW (7469) 2 Southbridge Street • Worcester, MA 01608 Present your WOO Card for discounts, points and prizes!

Worcester Center for Performing Arts, a registered not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, owns and operates The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts.

6 MARCH2015 7

come on in and

SPLASH AROUND at Westfield Child Center

YOUR ALL-IN-ONE POOL PARTY AND SWIM LESSON HEADQUARTERS FOR BOTH CHILDREN AND ADULTS! 10% off in 2015 when you mention this ad We offer a variety of pool party packages and swim lessons.

Call today to book your next party, event, or fundraiser.

508-588-0100 Pool is also available for rent to area camps and organizations.

Westfield Child Center 470 Torrey St. • Brockton, MA westfieldchildcenter.com BAYSTATEPARENT 6 7

Child Development Network is Proud to Announce the

“CDN CARES PROGRAM”

Directed by Dr. Renee Folsom of Johns Hopkins-Kennedy Krieger Institute CDN Center for Autism Research Education Services offers:

• Social Skills Groups – Making friends, Conversing with others, Respecting personal space, Expressing emotions • Executive Function Skills Training – Cognitive flexibility, Time management, Planning/Organizing, Inhibition, Working Memory • Transition Planning for adolescents and young adults

CDN CARES Commitment

• Uses state-of-the-art knowledge • Offers evidence-based programs • Provides relevant, targeted recommendations

CDN is proud to welcome Renee Folsom, PhD, who brings with her a wealth of experience and expertise working with children, adolescents, and adults at Johns Hopkins-Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Center for Autism and Related Disorders and UCLA’s The Help Group. Dr. Folsom joins a team of dedicated, compassionate professionals at CDN who will ensure that your child achieves his or her personal best.

Child Development Network, Inc.

Lexington, MA • 781-861-6655 www.CDNKids.com 8 MARCH2015 9

1

Fa en Fr al gr ef th

table of contents MARCH 2015

VOLUME 19

3 1.

NUMBER 11

things we learned

while making the march issue

Massachusetts and neighboring states lead the nation in confirmed cases of Lyme disease. Lyme disease is most prevalent among children ages 5 to 9, both nationally and in our state. Get the latest prevention tips and knowhow on page 54.

Families of all constellations are encouraged to host a child through the Fresh Air Fund: empty nesters, families of all sizes, single parents, same-sex couples, grandparents and more. Discover the effects the experience has on families and their host children on page 46.

2.

3.

Our Countdown to

Summer Camp

35 37 38

RIPE: CSA 101: How to Eat Fresh, Support Local Farms This Summer DISHIN’ WITH THE DIETITIAN: Taking a Bite Out of Healthy Living RIPE BITES: Impress Spring Guests With Surprise Sweets

58 64

10 10 11 12 14 16 16 17

Pack It Up! Your Child’s Camp Gear Gift Guide Fresh Air Fund Provides New Outlook For Kids, Families Summer Camp for Techies The Staggering Statistics About Ticks and Lyme Disease in Massachusetts Worcester’s Learn to Sail Mainstay Turns 55 If Your Child Doesn’t Want to Go to Camp…Go With Them

WELCOME: A Letter from Our Editor MEET OUR SPECIAL GUEST: Cover Model Aaron MEET OUR CONTRIBUTORS bsp ONLINE FINALLY FOREVER: The Faces of Foster Care: Massachusetts’ Heart Gallery Turns 10 MARCH’S CHILD: Meet Kim CIRCLE OF FRIENDS: Area Adoption Events FINALLY FOREVER: Dorchester Foster Family Honored as ‘Heroes Among Us’ by the Celtics

20

VERY SPECIAL PEOPLE: Learning to Cook Offers Special Needs Youth Much More Than Food

25

WOMEN’S HEALTH: Yoga Uplifted: Aerial Yoga Takes Off in Massachusetts

73 81

Experts say most childhood sleep problems aren’t sleep related but are more behavioral. Find out how much sleep children of all ages need — and how to help them get it — on page 30.

44 46 50 54

in every issue

82 86 18 19 29 30 40 68 70

OUT & ABOUT: March Calendar of Family Events REEL LIFE WITH JANE: Family Movies Coming to Theatres, DVD in March OUR MARCH FAVORITES: Facts, Finds and Freebies TAKE 8: Girl Scout Camp Director Lizz Gordon

features Inside Scratch: The Coding Phenomenon for Kids How Parents Can Evaluate Kids’ Water Safety Skills E-Cigarettes, Vaping Tools on the Rise With Youth: What Parents Should Know The Sleep Deprivation Epidemic — Is Your Child Getting Enough Sleep?

Raising a Transgender Child: The First Steps How Smart Devices in Your Home Pose a Privacy Risk Review: FiLIP 2 Child Locator Watch/Phone BAYSTATEPARENT 8 9

meet team

welcome to

baystateparent

baystateparent publisher KIRK DAVIS

creative

Given this winter’s 56 snow days, even the most patient and loving of parents must be grabbing a calculator and a calendar with one word on their mind: CAMP. February gave us a cold, snowy preview of what a long (well, maybe not so much given the whole snowday thing), hot summer will be like filled with school-less kids looking for fun stuff to do.

And, thankfully, Massachusetts parents have a ton of adventures on which they can send their children this summer. Do the kids want to learn to sail? On page 58, Michele Bennett Decoteau takes a look at a non-profit Worcester learn-to-sail summer camp that turns 55 this year. Maybe your campers are more into computers and video games?

No worries, on page 50 Joan Goodchild outlines options for techie kids. And, yes, they do go outside to swim and play, too.

Regardless of where parents

decide to send their children, camp is a great experience for all ages for a litany of reasons beyond any program’s stated purpose. Soccer camp, for example, may well improve your daughter’s prowess on the pitch and theatre camp may teach your son how to act. But beyond any central theme, camps build important life skills that are applicable far beyond a summer: how to meet new people, work as a team, try new things, assert oneself, settle conflict, and much more.

But what if your child doesn’t want to go away to camp, or perhaps you’re not ready? Why not go with him? On page 64, Kathy Sloan examines family camps where parents and kids go have fun together — cabins, crafts, sports, you name it. Want to get away from the kids for a bit? She showcases some adults-only options, too.

Or, if you’re a Fresh Air Fund host family, maybe you become camp for an inner-city child. On page 46, Sara Pokorny talks to families who welcome children every year and looks at the amazing effects the experience has on the hosts and the visiting children.

For many of us, when we think “camp,” we also think “woods.”

And for parents, the woods leads to concerns about the dangers of tick bites and the possibility of Lyme disease — as well it should, writes Michelle Perras-Charron on page 54. Michelle examines the staggering statistics behind ticks and Lyme in Massachusetts. Think you know everything there is to know about tick facts, at-risk age groups, and prevention? Think again.

While there’s a lot to cover about camp this month, don’t miss our regular features and sections, especially one story that we know will be a must-read for every parent.

Doing double duty this month, Kathy Sloan takes a deep dive into the sleep deprivation epidemic facing our children. Do you know what “social jet lag” is? Head to page 30 and find out, along with the answer to the question: Exactly how much sleep does each age group need?

All this and more this month! Read on and, as always, I would love to hear your thoughts. Reach me at editor@baystateparent.com.

M e li ss a Melissa Shaw

Aaron

1. What is your favorite summer activity? My favorite summer activity is going to the beach in Maine.

2. Have you ever been to a summer camp? If so, what was the best part? I camp at my grandparents’ house in the summertime. My favorite part is sleeping in a tent.

They made a river where frogs now live, and there are a lot of woods.

3. If you could go to any summer camp, what type of camp would

multi-media editor HEATHER KEMPSKIE heather@baystateparent.com

advertising director of sales REGINA STILLINGS 508-865-7070 ext. 210 regina@baystateparent.com account executive MARIE COREY 508-735-0503 marie@baystateparent.com account executive DEBORAH MEUNIER 508-450-9718 deb@baystateparent.com

photographers STEVEN KING WAYNE POTTER SHAWNA SHENETTE

4. What do you enjoy most about modeling? When I model in New York, I enjoy seeing my friends who live far away.

copy editor BRYAN ETHIER

5. What are your favorite hobbies?

My favorite hobbies are acting, soccer, reading about Pokemon, and riding my pony Rosie.

baystateparent cover photo

BY

Shawna Shenette

PHOTOGRAPHY

Clothing provided by Little V Designs, Westborough ~ littlevdesigns.com 10 MARCH2015 11

senior graphic designer STEPHANIE MALLARD 508-865-7070 design@baystateparent.com

presidents KIRK and LAURIE DAVIS

it be? My favorite summer camp would be one where you can play soccer and take care of all kinds of rescued animals.

6. My favorite subject in school is.... My favorite used to be math but I don’t like division, so I would say reading.

creative director PAULA MONETTE ETHIER 508-865-7070 ext. 221 pethier@holdenlandmark.com

account executive KATHY PUFFER 508-865-7070 ext. 211 kathy@baystateparent.com

meet our special guest This month’s cover model is 7-year-old Aaron of Quincy, who shared some fun facts with us:

editor in chief MELISSA SHAW 508-865-7070 ext. 201 editor@baystateparent.com

is published monthly with a main office at 22 West Street, Millbury, MA 01527

www.baystateparent.com It is distributed free of charge throughout Massachusetts.

March East Contributors Are you the parent of children with special needs? If so, you have a lot in common with writer Wendy Bulawa Agudelo, who is mom to a 9-year-old daughter with Down Syndrome and twin 7-year old boys (one with PDD-NOS). This month, Wendy takes a look at how learning to cook benefits children with developmental delays or physical limitations.

Read her story on page 20.

Jane Boursaw is the film critic and editor-inchief of Reel Life With Jane, whose reviews and work have been published in Family Circle, Parade, New York Times, Variety, People Magazine and more. On page 81 she gets you up to date on what’s coming to theatres and DVD this month.

Writer Amanda Collins is the editor of baystateparent's sister publicatiaon, The MillburySutton Chronicle. She outlines the rising use of e-cigarettes and vaping tools among youth and what parents need to know. Read her story on page 29.

Michele Bennett Decoteau is a writer, mother of two and CSA veteran, which makes her the perfect person to explain how Community Supported Agriculture programs work, as well as how they benefit Massachusetts families and farms. Read her story on page 35.

Writer and mother of two Joan Goodchild tackles two topics this month. First, on page 50, she examines a variety of camps for the technology-loving child. On page 68, she explains how Internet-enabled home devices pose a privacy risk.

Michelle Perras-Charron is a freelance writer and mom to four boys in Belchertown. This month, Michelle examines the staggering statistics on ticks and Lyme disease in Massachusetts and how parents can promote prevention. Read her story on page 54.

Believe it or not, summer will arrive eventually, and with that comes swimming opportunities for kids. On page 19, writer and father Gary L. Kelley talks to swim experts on how parents can evaluate their child’s water skills and choose a swim class.

When it comes to children and sleep, we often think about babies, but getting adequate sleep is critical for children of all ages and, truly, adults, too. On page 30, mother of three Kathy Sloan explains how much sleep children of all ages need and how to help them get it.

Writer and Westborough mother of two Mary Jo Kurtz reports on Scratch, the hot learnto-code program for youth. Read her story on page 18.

On page 40, Berkshire County resident and writer Alexandra Townsend examines how parents of transgender children can best support their children.

Sara Pokorny is a freelance writer who lives in Amherst. On page 46, Sara takes a look at the 138-year-old Fresh Air Fund and the effects the summer experience has on inner-city New York children and their Massachusetts host families.

Blogger, writer, mom of four and fitness enthusiast Trish Reske took a flier this month on the hot, new workout garnering a lot of buzz: aerial yoga. Check out her story on page 25.

Stay on top of what's happening with Massachusetts families via our online community!

Like us on Facebook facebook.com/baystateparent Follow us on Twitter @baystateparent Subscribe to our e-newsletter baystateparent.com/newsletter/

Precollege Programs for High School Girls www.smith.edu/summer Precollege Summer Programs scraig@smith.edu

Field Studies for Sustainable Futures July 5–18

College Admissions Workshop July 19–25

Summer Science and Engineering Program July 5–August 1 Discovering Women’s History July 5–18 BayStateParent2015.indd 1

2015

Northampton, Massachusetts

Young Women’s Writing Workshop July 5–18 BAYSTATEPARENT 10 11 2/6/15 6:50 PM

bsp ONLINE We lost it, but made it

We heard the collective gasp of parents last month waking up to yet another snowy February day trapped indoors with their precious little ones. Cabin fever had set in. You may have felt alone and isolated, but in homes across the state, other children were climbing the walls, building indoor forts and staging wrestling matches with severely undermatched little sisters.

The Chipmans of Leicester from submitted this brilliant photo — we loved that they were planning a get-away in a makeshift boat — and won a package of Gamewright Games. We thought they needed something to get through the rest of winter!

We need your opinion!

We love reader thoughts, opinions and feedback! Please come check out our survey at baystateparent. com/springsurvey2015 or on page 23.

Submissions are welcome at any time, but those postmarked by March 20, 2015 will be entered to win their choice of tickets to The Harlem Globetrotters (March 27, DCU Center), Disney on Ice: Passport to Adventure (April 2-5, DCU Center) or The Basketball Hall of Fame. Three lucky participants will win family four-packs of tickets to the family outing of their choice.

Expecting? Take a shower now & other friendly advice When we asked our online commu-

nity to share words of encouragement for our pregnant colleague, they responded! (It also made us feel a little bad for sharing our long labor stories!) Stephanie, our senior

graphic designer, was expecting her first child any day and was heartened to get all the love. (As of press time, the baby had yet to make his debut!)

For all you expectant moms out there, check out just a few of the sentiments the bsp community posted: • Go on as many dates with your husband as u can right now....bc u wont be able to leave the house for awhile.

• When someone offers help such as doing the dishes, bringing you food or letting you take a shower, take it! I didn’t learn to do this til my second and it made life easier.

• Take a million pictures and don’t skimp on having excellent professional photos taken every 3 months the first year and then every 6-12 mos. They will be treasures to you as your child ages!

You could win and get inspired Visit baystateparent.com every day to enter to win spot giveaways (like the goodies you see on our Camp Gear Guide on page 44!), learn about red-hot, trending parenting news and become a part of a community of families looking to learn, laugh and lament…together.

- heather@baystateparent.com

Buon Appetito Miei Amici

T

he desire to please people with food is an authentic Italian tradition. The team at Rovezzi's has been fulfilling that tradition with a comfortable setting, accommodating service and lusty, satisfying food steeped in a history of respect for ingredients and passionate attention to presentation and flavor. Whether you are looking for a nice romantic dinner or hosting a special gathering, Rovezzi's has the right room for you.

“Other restaurants have customers, we have friends” Chef and Owner Chris Rovezzi, 2012 Worcester’s Best Chef “Overall Champion”

Dinner Hours: Closed Mondays, Tuesday — Thursday 5:00pm – 9:00pm Friday & Saturday 5:00pm – 10:00pm, Sunday 4:00pm – 8:00pm

2 School Street, Fiskdale, MA (On the corner of Rt. 20 & Rt. 148) 508-347-0100 12 MARCH2015 13

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The 2015 baystateparent Cover Model Search is coming!

baystateparent 100 WAYS TO AVOID DOING YOUR HOMEWORK

VOTED BEST KID OF THE YEAR

Register now to schedule your shot at becoming a bsp cover model. Meet us at 1 of these 3 locations.

Fri., April 24, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Mall at Whitney Field, Leominster

Sat., May 2, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Solomon Pond Mall, Marlboro

Every child who enters our Cover Model Search will get their picture on a mock cover!

Entry fee: $25 Pre-registration by mail $30 Day of contest Their photo is their entry for the Cover Model Search.

One Grand Prize winner will appear on a future baystateparent Magazine cover! Search is open to Massachusetts children ages 6 months to 16 years as of Dec. 31, 2014. Two finalists will be selected in each of the following categories: 6 months to 23 months; 24 months to 47 months; age 4-7; age 8-10; age 11-13; age 14-16. The Grand Prize winner will be selected from the 12 finalists and appear on a future baystateparent Magazine cover!

• Registration is $25 per child. (Entrants may register at Mall at Whitney Field, Solomon Pond Mall or Burlington Mall if space is available.)

• Entry fees are non-refundable.

• This Cover Model Search is open only to Massachusetts resident children ages 6 months to 16 years as of Dec. 31, 2014.

• By participating in this Cover Model Search, entrants and their parents/legal guardians agree to be bound by these Official Rules.

• Lost, stolen, illegible, misdirected, postage due, damaged or late entries shall not be eligible. Entries must be postmarked by Friday, April 17.

• The magazine cannot be held responsible for entrants who miss their assigned time slot.

• Employees (and their immediate families) of baystateparent and The Holden Landmark Corporation are not eligible to enter.

STUDY SAYS KIDS SHOULD PLAY WITH THEIR FOOD SLEEP IS OVERRATED WHY KIDS SHOULD SET THEIR OWN BEDTIME

Sun., May 3, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Burlington Mall, Burlington

Photography by Stephen King and Shawna Shenette Photography

• Judges for the Cover Model Search will be chosen by baystateparent Magazine. The Cover Model Search will be based solely on photos taken at the photos shoots hosted by baystateparent Magazine. baystateparent Magazine shall retain all rights, title and interest, and copyright to all such photographs.

• All photos taken in the Cover Model Search become the property of baystateparent Magazine and may be used, along with the child’s first name, age, hometown and other entry information, in marketing, promotion and advertising for baystateparent Magazine, its Website, baystateparent.com, its social media accounts, and any other publicity and promotional manner, in any media, without compensation, statewide in perpetuity, to the extent permitted by law.

• For more information and full list of official rules go to baystateparent.com/modelsearchrules.

Sample only, mock cover will vary.

t

We want YOUR CHILD on our cover

Entry form Birth Date

Child’s Name Address City

Zip

Phone (cell preferred)

E-mail Parent’s name Parent’s signature Please select a location, day and time slow preference.

The Magazine cannot be held responsible for entrants who miss their assigned time slot.

Please circle Mall, Time and Age Category Whitney Field 11-2 • 2- 4 Solomon Pond Mall 11-2 • 2-4 Burlington Mall 11-2 • 2-4 6 months to 23 months • 24 months to 47 months • age 4-7 • age 8-10 • age 11-13 • age 14-16.

Entry fee: $25 per child. Cost includes a color 8x11 mock baystateparent cover. One entry form per child. Go to baystateparent.com for additional entry forms. Day-of registration at Mall at Whitney Field, Solomon Pond Mall and Burlington Mall is $30.

Checks (made out to baystateparent Magazine) or credit cards accepted Credit card # Credit card (MasterCard, VISA, American Express and Discover accepted)

Expiration Date

CVVCheck #

Authorization signature

Entries must be postmarked by Friday, April 17 Send to:

baystateparent Magazine Cover Model Search • 22 West St. • Millbury MA 01527 To register multiple children, please go online to baystateparent.com/modelsearchrules NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE BAYSTATEPARENT 12 13

SARAH FINEBERG

JAY GROCCIA

TERRY LOUISON ED EICH

The Faces of Foster Care

Massachusetts’ Heart Gallery Turns 10

DAVID TUCKER

BY MELISSA SHAW

14 MARCH2015 15

Ten years ago this month, one of the most powerful messages in adoption came to Massachusetts not through words, but pictures.

CARA PARKER

FINALLY FOREVER

going on.”

She aims for a light, breezy, and fun atmosphere, and imparts a specific message: “I make a point of telling them, ‘You look great!’ ‘Look at you, you’re beautiful!’ I show them the back of my camera, so that they have, even in that short experience, a fun time with it. I photograph a lot of high school seniors, too, and they love to be told how great they look. And when they leave they are walking a little taller. Hopefully the little time I spend with them is fun for them.”

And while the experience is rewarding, Louison notes, it leaves an impact.

“It’s hard,” she confesses. “A lot of times I feel for the kids so much, especially the older kids. Usually I get a kid who is 14, 15, and that is really heartbreaking to me. I just feel

Funaro says. “That’s the most fun.

The point of the Heart Gallery is much like any recruitment effort. It has to be constant, up to date; it has to be eye catching.”

Early on, the gallery was so eyecatching, the children so striking and wonderfully photographed, it created an unexpected problem.

“We realized very early on the photographs looked like they were advertising for photo studios, so we started putting a banner on them all saying ‘Waiting For Adoption’ with our logo,” Funaro noted.

The traveling Heart Gallery exhibits are installed at high foot traffic locations across the state: malls, banks, medical centers, libraries, universities, train stations, museums and more. The groups of 20x24 portraits were moved every two to three months in the

for them so much.”

She makes a point of ensuring that the children who want copies of the photos get them, noting: “Some of the kids have no pictures of themselves.”

“I want to be able to adopt every single one of them,” adds fellow Heart Gallery volunteer photographer Sarah Feinberg of Brookline. “It’s a great privilege to take their picture and help them feel special about themselves and hopefully help get them adopted.”

Adds MARE’s Funaro: “I don’t know of any photographers who did one [shoot] and didn’t want to do any more.”

Photographers send three to five of their favorite shots to MARE officials. “We all get together and hover over a computer and pick,”

early years, but Funaro says they now switch locations every six weeks. Permanent Heart Galleries have taken up residence at all four locations of MARE partner Jordan’s Furniture.

Ask any adoption official or foster parent and they’ll agree: the biggest obstacle to finding more forever homes for children is awareness, a problem the Heart Gallery tackles head-on.

“It gets the message out there that these children look just like your children, look like your neighbor’s children and the kids down the street. All that makes them different is that they don’t have a home, and maybe you are that home,” Funaro notes.

But the display of children waiting for adoption is not without the

MIKE RITTER

JAY GROCCIA

SARAH FINEBERG

CARA PARKER

In March 2005, the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) debuted the Bay State’s version of the Heart Gallery, a traveling exhibition of professional portraits of children in foster care waiting for forever homes. The first Heart Gallery was started in New Mexico in 2001, and since has expanded across the country.

Regardless of the state in which you find a Heart Gallery, the ultimate goal is always the same: to find families for children who need them.

MARE is a 57-year-old private nonprofit that serves as the central link between families interested in adoption, the state Department of Children and Families, and its contracted adoption agencies. One of MARE’s many public awareness efforts is coordinating, running and moving the Heart Gallery, and matching volunteer professional photographers with foster children.

More than 400 children have been featured in Heart Gallery exhibits since 2005, averaging 30 to 40 new portraits a year.

Two to three times a year, adoption workers are asked to review their caseloads and find potential candidates to be photographed. The child must be legally free for adoption, willing to be photographed, and understand that this photograph is more visible than other means of potential parent recruitment.

If willing, the child is matched with a nearby volunteer photographer, and they meet for a half-day session.

The photographer is given one instruction, says MARE Executive Director Lisa Funaro: “Make this kid come alive in one photograph. The goal is to capture the essence of this child in a photograph.”

“Heart Gallery photographs are generally of kids who have been waiting a little longer,” she notes.

“Which is fine because it means this is a recruitment for the hardest–toplace kids. And isn’t that what MARE is all about? Trying to do the best with the hardest kids.”

When photographer Terry Louison of Norfolk found out about the Heart Gallery, “it just hit me right between the eyeballs: This is such a smart idea. I had just started my own studio, and I want to give back as much as I can, and that just felt to me a perfect fit.”

Louison has been shooting for the Heart Gallery for years and says whenever she’s taking any child’s picture, it’s the same.

“It doesn’t matter who you’re doing, everybody’s scared the second you point a camera at somebody, myself included!” she says. “It’s just intimidating and these kids are selfconscious and they want to look good. They realize what they’re doing, they understand what’s

occasional critic, one who thinks public efforts like Wednesday’s Child (which has run every Wednesday on WBZ-TV since 1981), The Boston Globe’s Sunday’s Child (weekly since 1976) and the Heart Gallery may be too public.

It’s an argument MARE has heard before, Funaro says, citing its homegrown accomplishment, The Photolisting Book. MARE was the first organization to put photographs of children waiting for adoption alongside their pertinent information, all of which is viewed by potential foster or adoptive parents. This effort began 40 years ago and continues to this day.

“At the time it was revolutionary because we were actually putting kids’ pictures in a book,” Funaro says, noting listing books are available in 300 locations throughout the state, many of which are public libraries.

“It was the first of its kind in the country. It was the first time we put a picture of a child on a page, and at the time people were horrified. They said, ‘You’re advertising for families.’

‘You’re advertising children.’ ‘You’re putting them on display. How can you do this?’

“Our philosophy was, ‘If you don’t let the public know that we need them, how are we ever going to find families for them?” she continues.

“You have to take some risks, that public perception, putting it right out there that these are the children who need families. These things plant the seed. If we don’t show folks the children who need families, how are they ever going to know?”

And it is a strategy that has paid off, she adds, but it’s hard to make a direct correlation to the ultimate goal. A person may walk by a Heart Gallery exhibit and that seed is planted. He or she may catch a Wednesday’s Child segment later and the seed grows. It may not pay off for months or years, Funaro says, noting it’s not uncommon for the organization to receive calls years later from prospective parents wanting more information on the fostering or adoption process after seeing a Heart Gallery exhibit, Wednesday’s Child or another public awareness campaign.

“Like many of MARE’s recruitment activities, it’s very, very hard to track its impact,” she notes.

“Counting how many calls we got from Wednesday's Child or the Heart Gallery doesn’t come close to measuring the impact. People have said, ‘Oh, I went through South Station and I saw these incredible portraits. I didn’t realize you had brothers and sisters who needed to be placed together. I didn’t know you could be single [and adopt]. I didn’t know you could be gay.' We try to take stabs at those myths.”

BAYSTATEPARENT 14 15

CIRCLE OF FRIENDS MARCH'S

CHILD KIMBERLY

Fifteen-year-old Kim is a pretty girl of Hispanic descent who has a big smile and a big heart. Kim enjoys lacrosse and field hockey. She uses her friendly personality to engage you in conversation and relates well to both adults and her peers.

Kim achieved much success in her last school setting and is working at grade level. History is her favorite subject. Kim behaves well both in school and in her foster home where she enjoys her friends and being around the adults in her life.

Kim would do great in any type of family. She needs to know that adults in her life will be fair, support her and talk things out with her. Kim

wants a family that will allow her to maintain connections to previous caretakers and a home where she will not have to compete for the attention of adults in the home. Kim is legally free for adoption.

For more information regarding Kim, please contact Department of Children and Families (DCF) Adoption Supervisor Eileen Griffin at 978-353-3629. The Worcester DCF Office hosts monthly informational meetings for those wishing to learn more about the adoption process in general. Please call 508-929-2143 for specific information about the next meeting.

Sunday, March 8 — Beanstalk Adventure Party. Jordans Furniture, 50 Walkers Brook Drive, Reading.

9 a.m.-11 a.m. Open to children of all ages and sibling groups. Open to families who have completed MAPP training or are homestudied. mareinc.org.

of becoming a professional foster parent, the support The Home will provide to foster parents and what providing a safe haven for children in foster care involves. The Home welcomes LGBT couples and individuals, regardless of marital status, to be considered as foster and adoptive parents. Also held on March 28. 508-364-8045.

Monday, March 9 — Northern Region Adoption Info Meetings, Jordan’s Furniture Reading: IMAX Conference Room 50 Walker’s Brook Dr., Reading. 6 p.m. RSVP: 978-557-2734.

Monday, March 16 — Southern Region Adoption Info Meetings, Mass. Department of Children and Families, Canton Police Station, 1492 Washington Street, Canton.

6 p.m.-8 p.m. RSVP to 508-894-3830.

Thursday, March 12 — Family Support Group, Jordan’s Furniture, 50 Walkers Brook Drive, Reading, 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

This waiting family support group is open to families from all regions who are waiting, matched, or placed with a child. This is safe space for families to share their thoughts on the adoption process and receive guidance and support from other families. There are also guest speakers who attend occasionally.

Call 978-337-6500 to RSVP.

Wednesday, March 18 — Boston Region Adoption Info Meeting, DCF Boston, 451 Blue Hill Avenue, Dorchester. 4 p.m.-5:30 p.m. 617-989-9209.

Satruday, March 14 — Foster Care Information Session. The Home for Little Wanderers, 50 Redfield Street, Dorchester.

11 a.m.-1p.m. Explore why children are placed in Intensive Foster Care, the process

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If your group or organization is holding an adoption information or support group and would like to have information posted for readers of baystateparent, please email editor@baystateparent.com.

Dorchester Foster Family Honored as ‘Heroes Among Us’ by the Boston Celtics Foster parents Layeforest and Joseph Donald of Dorchester were honored as “Heroes Among Us”

by The Boston Celtics during their game against the Atlanta Hawks on Feb. 11. Since becoming foster parents in 1982, the couple has opened their home to care for hundreds of teenage boys, including many who struggle with behavioral health issues after being removed from their biological homes. The Donalds work as a team, providing structure, stability, and love to help these boys overcome obstacles and thrive.

“The Donalds have had such a significant impact on so many at-risk teenagers. They not only provide these kids with a loving home but a life-long family as well,” said Steve Pagliuca, Boston Celtics Managing Partner and Shamrock Foundation President. “We are proud to recognize this selfless, hardworking couple and the dedication of so many other foster families in Massachusetts.”

The Donald family was nominated by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC), an organization that works to help kids thrive by providing support to foster families, child abuse and neglect prevention programs, and child and family

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During the game, the Celtics presented the award to the Donalds and recognized MSPCC for its long history of protecting children in Massachusetts.

The Shamrock Foundation presented MSPCC with a $50,000 check, and gave fans the opportunity to help in MSPCC’s efforts to keep kids safe and healthy by buying 50/50 raffle tickets.

“We are so thankful to the Celtics for honoring the important role that foster parents like Layeforest and Joseph play in our communities,” said Mary McGeown, President and CEO of MSPCC. “The Boston Celtics and The Shamrock Foundation are long-time champions for children and families and great supporters of our mission to help keep kids safe and healthy.”

MSPCC (mspcc.org) is a notfor-profit organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights and well-being of children through direct services and through systemic advocacy. Last year, MSPCC provided more than 24,000 children and families across Massachusetts with child abuse prevention and intervention programs, child and family counseling, and support for foster and adoptive families, military families, and young parents.

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INSIDE SCRATCH: The Coding Phenomenon for Kids

BY MARYJO KURTZ

Since the computer program Scratch became public in 2007, a worldwide network of over 5 million registered Scratchers — primarily elementary and middle school students — has grown together online. They share stories, homework, games, polls, tutorials, artwork and a seemingly endless collection of computergenerated creativity. And they speak in code. Literally.

“Kids are learning to code. But more importantly, they are coding to learn,” said Mitch Resnick in a recent TED Talk presentation, “Let’s Teach Kids to Code.” Resnick is Director of the MIT Media Lab Lifelong Kindergarten Group. He created the Scratch program in 2003 as a learning tool to introduce computer programming in a simple and entertaining way.

Kids in Control For educators, the free program is a valuable learning tool. “I often introduce Scratch by telling students that, for the first time, you get to tell the computer what to do instead of it telling you,” said Marie Hopkinson, a sixth grade math and social studies teacher at Mill Pond School in Westborough.

After attending a Scratch Conference at MIT in 2008, she introduced the program in her classrooms, learning quickly how interested students were to create computer code. She encouraged her students to use Scratch as an alternative to PowerPoint when completing class projects.

Unlike the mounds of complicated type that many associate with code, colorful tile blocks introduce code to beginning Scratchers.

By arranging the tiles, each with instructional code, users are able to write interactive stories, animations and games. These projects can then be shared within the Scratch online community so that other Scratchers are able to look at the project and its coding, often adding changes. This process helps students to become 18 MARCH2015 19

fluent in the coding language, an essential life skill in this digital age.

To date, more than 8 million projects have been shared on the Scratch website.

“Young people today have lots of experience and lots of familiarity with interacting with new technologies, but a lot less so of creating with new technologies and expressing themselves with new technologies.

It’s almost as if they can read but not write with new technologies,” Resnick noted. “But I’m really interested in seeing how can we help young people to become fluent so they can write with new technologies. And that really means that they need to be able to write their own computer programs or code.”

One of Hopkinson’s first Scratch students was Luke Sciarappa, now a senior at Westborough High School.

Luke serves as a mentor to middle school Scratch Club students. “[Scratch is] intended to be a programming language that's easy to understand (low floor), has diverse possibilities for projects (wide walls), and can still do more advanced things when users are ready to attempt them (high ceiling),” he said. “Kids can just start by joining a few blocks together and seeing what they do and progress to a stage where they think, ‘OK, I want to see this behavior, what blocks should I assemble to do that?’ And that's basically what programming is.”

Scratch Spreads Worldwide After it was introduced to the public, Scratch quickly gained popularity among students and educators. In addition to Scratch Clubs forming in classrooms around the world, the annual Scratch Day conference at MIT attracted a growing crowd.

Doctorate student Ricarose Roque recalled joining the MIT Scratch Team in 2010 as it was preparing its second annual Scratch conference.

“People came from all over the world

to share stories about Scratch in their communities, resources they've used, and extensions to Scratch they've built,” she said. “They were so excited to connect, share, and learn more about Scratch. That experience made me see that Scratch was only going to continue to grow and spread around the world.”

Students Learn From Each Other Looking back at his years working with the Scratch program, Sciarappa thinks that grades four through six are prime years for introducing the program: “[They] could derive value from it, even if they might not start really ‘programming’ with it for a few years.”

“I've learned that kids have a great desire to create, to express themselves, and to explore their interests — and Scratch makes it easy for them to do just that. This desire can motivate them to learn computer programming and to persist through challenges,” said Roque, who works with the online community. “They can connect with others who have similar interests and learn from one another, too. It's been great to see the ways that Scratchers collaborate on projects, give each other feedback, and build on top of each other's ideas.”

“I am always surprised how students persevere when creating a project,” Westborough teacher Hopkinson said. “They often begin thinking they can easily make a multi-level maze game. They soon realize that this requires a complicated script, but they don’t let this stop them. I have seen students work on projects for a total of 10 hours or more before they get it ‘just right.’ This type of resolve is not often demonstrated in 11 year olds.”

The Coding Community Grows For families interested in learning

more, scratch.mit.edu is where the free program, online community, and a library of student-created projects are hosted.

“There is also a community for educators interested in Scratch called ScratchEd, where they can meet other educators, share stories, and explore resources,” Roque said.

There are additional opportunities both online and in-person to learn more about Scratch. “Various organizations that have multiple sites support Scratch, such as CoderDojo, CodeClub, and iD Tech Camps,” Roque said. “You may find a local branch of those organizations hosting camps or workshops.

Currently, EdX (an online course platform) and Harvey Mudd College are hosting a free online course on Scratch.”

On May 9, the public is invited to Scratch Day at MIT. “We celebrate Scratch Day all over the world,” she said. “Anyone can host a Scratch Day and they can post their event on the Scratch Day website, which also has more details about the Scratch Day network.”

Love of the Language “I would not be afraid if your child wants to spend a lot of time in Scratch. I once had a student beg me to assign him Scratch homework so his mom would let him have time on the computer,” Hopkinson said. “I have never had a math student beg me for homework.”

“When someone uses Scratch, I want them to see themselves as creators and inventors and see that they can create almost anything they imagine,” Roque added. “In a rapidly changing society, the abilities to adapt and to think creatively are important capacities for all young people to shape the world around them.”

Head to baystateparent.com for links to free Scratch courses, Scratch Day details and other resources.

How Parents Can Evaluate Water Safety Skills and Choose a Swim Class

BY GARY KELLEY When you’re standing near water and hear, “Last one in is a rotten egg,” what goes through your mind?

Are you and your child the first ones sprinting to the water or do one or both of you freeze out of fear? With 71% of the Earth’s surface covered in water, embracing oceans, lakes, rivers, streams and pools, the ability to swim enables you to take full advantage of this natural resource and just might save your life. Evaluating your child’s water safety skills and choosing the right swimming program will help your child enjoy water fun and keep them safe.

Sue Mackie, Executive Director of the United States Swim School Association, offers tips parents can use to determine if their children have the necessary water safety skills for the upcoming summer swim season. The skills progress from infants to older children and adults.

“We recommend introducing children to water when the child is as young as 6 months old, with some programs starting as early as 4 months!” she says. “At this age, our objective is for the child to be comfortable in water and appreciate the experience. We want the child to know how to float on their back and tummy even before walking upright. Basic skills are not the breast stroke! And I believe it’s important infant swimming (6 months to 12-15 months) is

performed in a controlled swimming pool environment.”

The common theme in early swimming lessons is learning "the safer place" as demonstrated in the following progression, also useful for evaluating where your child is with his or her swimming skills: • 6 to 12 months: breath holding, attempts to pull self from pool/step unassisted, back floating, minor propulsion through water.

• 13 to 24 months: child experiments with play on steps, will put face in without being prompted, may swim off the step or edge without cue, can kick on back and tummy.

• 25 to 36 months: can swim using arms and legs, rolling over or popping up to take a breath, can get themselves back to the wall or step safely.

• 4- to 6-year-olds learn various strokes and work on some endurance.

For 6- and 7-year-olds, the concept of “reach or throw, don’t go” for helping others in need must be understood: Reach out to another with an arm or other device, throw a floating object, but don’t go jumping into the water.

With those basics in hand for getting to safety, evaluate endurance — swimming for distance — and

efficiency. “If your child is flailing in water at 5 or 6, the child would benefit from lessons,” Mackie says.

She cautions your child’s success may be formed watching how you behave around water: “Children often learn behaviors from parents, and if the parent is afraid of water, children will see it.” If this is you, she recommends you get lessons first; it is never too late to learn.

Evaluating a swim program takes a little time. “There is often a financial commitment parents make to a swim program, and parents want their children to benefit from staying in the program,” she says.

“You must know the personality of your child. Would they benefit most from a fast-paced or more nurturing program?”

Swim schools often have different learning styles, and many offer private and semi-private lessons.

Preview a session before enrolling.

This lets you watch how the teacher interacts with the children and their parents. You want to get feedback on what to work on after each session.

Expect classes for the under-3 crowd to be typically 30 minutes with a parent in the water (unless it is a private session) focused on skills such as: • Acclimation to water • Rolling over • Jumping in • Going to the side

• Getting face wet, and holding breath • Kicking and arm movements Mackie recommends CPRcertified instructors with constant supervision and compares learning to swim to piano lessons: “Piano lessons are not one-time events.

They are an ongoing commitment where children progress until proficient. In swimming, children can continue to swim team, junior lifeguard or lifeguard.”

Swimming also offers benefits beyond the water. It is helpful for general exercise and social skills.

There’s also emerging research from Australia suggesting children who swim at an early age and swim consistently are smarter because the movement helps the brain develop.

While Mackie offers a great deal of insight into the benefits of swimming, she turns serious when discussing potential effects of not learning to swim: “Our research discovered 511 media-reported drowning incidents involving a child under the age of 18 in the United States between Memorial Day and Labor Day 2014.”

Proper education, she says, is vital to preventing these deaths.

As summer approaches, now is the time for evaluating your child’s swimming skills and getting proper education.

BAYSTATEPARENT 18 19

VERY SPECIAL PEOPLE

Learning to Cook Offers Special Needs Youth Much More Than Food

BY WENDY BULAWA AGUDELO

With the surprising popularity of reality television cooking shows such as MasterChef Jr., Chopped, Cupcake Wars, Hell’s Kitchen, Top Chef and others, more children than ever are taking over the kitchen to explore their passion for cuisine. Whether basic familiarity with the toaster, oven, blender or microwave, most parents excite at their child’s interest in learning this valuable life skill.

However, not all children maintain the same ability to cook, even if their passion is equally as strong, due to developmental delays or physical limitations. Enter Beverly Palomba, who has created the unique Special Day Cooking cookbook containing healthy, easy-to-prepare recipes that anyone — particularly children and young adults with developmental disabilities — can prepare with relative ease.

Palomba, an Arlington, Mass., native turned San Francisco transplant,

wrote Special Day Cooking to support children and young adults with developmental challenges so they would become more independent in the kitchen. After years working in Massachusetts’ technology industry, Palomba and her family moved to the Bay Area of Northern California where she returned to her true professional passion, teaching. And with more than 10 years teaching life skills to children with special needs, Palomba recognized a deep hole in the training programs offered by school systems.

“A lot of children with special needs are not exposed to cooking at a young age as the focus is predominantly on reading, writing, personal hygiene, dressing and social skills — all of which are extremely important,” she said. “But then comes the day when they are young adults and may be looking at living on their own, attending college or even

living in a group home, and they are simply not prepared.” Palomba felt that resources, such as a properly designed cookbook, previously did not exist and, therefore, created Special Day Cooking as the first-ofits-kind life skills cookbook for the special needs community.

Special Day Cooking chefs learn to prepare dinner, pack their own lunch, and even create special treats to bring to social events. In Palomba’s opinion, cooking fosters teamwork, encourages self-confidence and is a fun activity to do with family and friends.

“Learning to cook doesn’t just teach an invaluable life skill, it also teaches how to follow directions, develop language, build social skills, self-esteem and confidence,” she noted. “It can give a child a sense of belonging, foster teamwork and prepare for independent adult living.”

Through a repetitive, consistent,

step-by-step approach, each recipe found in Special Day Cooking is laid out within one- or two-page formats complete with large print and photos (see above). Beginning recipes include pudding, scrambled eggs, salads, and sandwiches. All recipes, even more advanced ones, are adapted for easy creation within a microwave, blender or toaster — to avoid open flame — and plastic knives may be used in place of sharper alternatives. At the front of the book, Palomba also incorporates helpful hints, a list of useful kitchen equipment, and a nutritional guide.

“Special Day Cooking teaches the process of cooking, to first gather ingredients, equipment, and then follow step-by-step directions in a consistent, large text-style format,” she said. “For example, once you learn to crack an egg in one recipe, that skill is easily transferred across all the recipes that require eggs.”

A Commitment That Lasts a Lifetime The Special Needs Practice Group at Fletcher Tilton PC offers years of experience providing comprehensive legal services in a caring and concerned environment. We help individuals and families with: • special needs planning • guardianship & alternatives • transition planning & adult services • advocacy For more information call our Special Needs Practice Group leader, Frederick M. Misilo, Jr., at 508.459.8059 or email him at fmisilo@fletchertilton.com. We’re here to help!

Worcester | Framingham | ca p e co d | www.fletchertilton.com 20BayStateParent.indd 21 MARCH2015 1

12/4/2014 2:41:19 PM

Massachusetts Programs Can Adapt Programming for Special Students While many families may find Palomba’s cookbook a perfect tool to initiate cooking lessons at home, others may find it complimentary to experiential cooking opportunities.

Fortunately, several youth cooking programs exist across the state and in Southern New Hampshire — most of which are amenable to hosting workshops or classes for children with special needs.

In fact, several have already hosted or currently list as students individuals with diverse abilities.

One point that echoed across each program is the absolute requirement for advance communication prior to sign-up. While no specific “life skill” cooking classes currently exist, many culinary schools appreciate the opportunity to work with students of all abilities.

Joan Horner, owner of Newtonbased Create a Cook, has become the go-to resource for metro Boston chefs-in-training.

After receiving her Professional Chef degree from the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, Horner taught at Eurostoves, Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, Williams-Sonoma, and Newton Continuing Education. Her business is regularly frequented by many students with different abilities, including one teenager with severe autism.

“While we don’t currently have specific classes arranged, we are absolutely open to working with students with special needs,” Horner said. In fact, she and the team at Create a Cook have worked consistently with Our Place Our Space, a non-profit organization that organizes activities for legally blind students.

Most area cooking schools that host programs for children and young adults indicated that a conversation with parents is a necessary first step.

During this initial vetting process, the owners and chefs are able to successfully determine a student’s level of skill so that a tailored cooking program, workshop or series can be created, and that the recipes, kitchen utensils and demands are modified appropriately to ensure the safety of all.

“Cooking is so tactile and engages the senses of sight and taste with delicious results,” said Lori Leinbach, founder of the Culinary Underground in Southborough. “Learning to cook is an incredible confidence builder — beyond a basic and necessary life skill.”

Leinbach’s business, located next door to the New England School for Autism, provides culinary training and life skills to many — including students from the school next door, and has accommodated the needs

of all students, including one in a wheelchair. While not special needsfocused, Leinbach recognizes the inherent value in teaching culinary skills to anyone with interest; she herself was lured into the culinary world after years in elementary education. Upon graduating from the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, Leinbach opened the Culinary Underground where today she teaches students age 8 and older, how to cook.

For many parents of children with special needs, there are many things to consider when it comes to preparing children for the world.

Cooking is one element that may get overlooked in lieu of seemingly moreimportant concepts such as hygiene, telling time, money matters, and so on. However, cookbook author Palomba believes that if feasible, initiating cooking instruction with children of elementary age is ideal so they are able to advance their cooking skills over time and continue to appreciate and enjoy the learning process.

“As in learning any life skill, the earlier the better, so that it becomes second nature,” she said.

Children and Tween/Teen Cooking Programs • Cooking Up Culture, Boston bu.edu/foodandwine/seminars/ kids-programs/ • Create a Cook, Newton Classes for children 3-5 with parent; 6-18; adult createacook.com • Culinary Playground, Derry, N.H. culinary-playground.com • Culinary Underground, Southborough Classes for children 8+ with parent; 10+ years and adult culinaryunderground.com • Eurostoves, Beverly eurostoves.com • Kids Cooking Green, Lexington, Lexington Farmer’s Market kidscookinggreen.com • Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, Cambridge Students ages 12-16 cambridgeculinary.com Helpful Kitchen Tips for Beginners: Cutting: For safety reasons, use a plastic knife when cutting. To help remember not to push when cutting: sing-song, "saw, saw, saw".

Cutting Boards: A cutting board with a rubber backing will stop the cutting board from slipping on your working surface.

Dry Measuring Cups: Metal dry measuring cups with long handles, with clearly marked measurements are best. They last longer, are easier to use, and the measurements won't wash off.

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YOGA

WOMEN'S HEALTH

UPLIFTED Aerial Yoga Takes Off

BY TRISH RESKE, PHOTOGRAPHY BY WAYNE POTTER

I enter the room at Ebb n’ Flow Yoga, where the colorful silk hammocks hang from the ceiling, inviting me to sink into one and try out a new yoga practice that is taking flight around Massachusetts and the world.

I can’t wait. Honestly? I am not a yogi seeking the next stage of enlightenment. I’m just a regular mom with a lot of responsibilities, a woman who provides support to others in her everyday world, looking for a way of support that frees me to explore and stretch my body and mind, and have some playful fun, too.

BAYSTATEPARENT 24 25

This is what aerial yoga does.

Ebb n’ Flow Yoga in North-borough offers both traditional and aerial yoga. Owner and instructor Kim Gebo is seeing an increasing interest in the aerial classes, primarily for the unique experience and benefits that aerial yoga provides.

“In aerial yoga, you have gravity assisting you, and the hammock supporting you, as you work through the poses,” she says. “The silk holds you, it supports you.

There’s a feeling of weightlessness, of confidence, of trust. It is very empowering to be able to do something that you couldn’t do on the mat.”

Aerial yoga as a genre was founded by former dancer and gymnast Christopher Harrison, who also founded Suspension Fitness.

Today, aerial yoga is practiced in varying forms that incorporate Harrison’s original vision and intention of suspended yoga and fitness. Whether it’s Harrison’s AntiGravity Aerial Yoga, the upbeat Fly Gym Aerial Fitness, or other variations of yoga, all aerial yoga classes incorporate a hammock or sling suspended from the ceiling as a support. Traditional mat poses are done using the hanging fabric as a support for arms, feet or hips. Suspended poses are done while seated or standing in the hammock, and inversions allow spinal extension. Aerial yoga literally extends yoga from the mat on the floor to a safe, supported, suspended environment.

Beth Peterson, owner of Escape Aerial Arts in Worcester, offers Fly Gym Aerial Fitness classes, in which participants use a stretchy cotton sling for suspended athletic conditioning, aerial yoga and Pilates exercises. The Fly Gym class I attended felt more like interactive fitness than a yoga class. Peterson leads students through poses, stretches, and inversions, with popular music playing in the background.

“We don’t do traditional yoga in terms of relaxation and meditation.

Our students generally aren’t looking for the ‘om’ aspect,” she says. “We talk during class.

Everybody wants to know the person next to them. It’s a happy place. It’s a place to go to be among supportive people. Whether it’s using the silk hammock or the

jersey fabric, either way, you can get deeper into yoga poses with the gravity assisting you. You’re supported, you can relax into them. You’re not holding your body weight; the hammock or the sling is there to support you.”

Lauren Kennedy of Northborough decided to try aerial yoga as an alternative to swimming and walking. Kennedy had spinal surgery years ago to correct her scoliosis and was searching for a way to help alleviate back pain and gently stretch her body. She first tried yoga to help with spinal decompression and extension.

Then she tried aerial yoga at Ebb n’ Flow Yoga and fell in love.

“The movement itself is very gentle, and I love that,” she says.

“You almost feel as if you’re floating on your back in the sky. You feel like you’re cradling, and you let everything else go. That’s what’s really wonderful about it,” she says.

Kennedy’s favorite poses are the inversions. “I love being upside down. It’s the closest thing I can think of to swimming. Hanging upside down is great for me, for my specific needs, but you don’t have to be injured to enjoy it,” she says.

While it can be challenging for women to try something new physically, especially as they age, Kennedy says she found aerial yoga to be surprisingly easy to do.

That sentiment is echoed by most students new to the practice.

“Aerial yoga is something that you can pick up really quickly,” Escape Aerial Arts’ Peterson says. “People are always surprised by that. They think, ‘I’m not going to be able to do this, I have no strength, no flexibility.’

They try it, and end up doing things that they never imagined that their body was capable of, and it leads to empowerment and excitement. They feel so good about themselves.”

Maureen Ferdinand, a new mom from Ashland, says aerial yoga is “fun, different and unique.”

Ferdinand was very active before the birth of her child, participating in triathlons and other endurance events. She’s been practicing aerial yoga for three years and continues to take a class once a week.

Ferdinand finds that aerial yoga makes her feel more peaceful and grounded.

“I actually don’t know how to do

“Aerial yoga is something that you can pick up really quickly,” Escape Aerial Arts’ Peterson says. “People are always surprised by that. They think, ‘I’m not going to be able to do this, I have no strength, no flexibility.’ They try it, and end up doing things that they never imagined that their body was capable of, and it leads to empowerment and excitement."

26 MARCH2015 27

‘regular people’ yoga,” Ferdinand quips. “You go to a regular class, and you don’t know the pose. Not only is the aerial yoga super fun because you are swinging around, but the instructor describes the poses and uses poses. It’s cool. You get to be like a kid, it’s playful. I feel happier when I walk away from the class.”

Both studio owners emphasized the importance of equipment safety and instructor experience in aerial yoga. Since the hammocks are suspended from the ceiling, the rigging needs to be secure. They suggest that new students inquire about rigging, safety checks, and the training and experience the instructor has in aerial yoga. In addition, students should always feel comfortable with the fabric and the poses they do. And if they have any medical conditions that prevent them from inverting, they should let the instructor know.

When trying aerial yoga, I was able to do the upright poses, but not inversions because of vertigo.

“No one is asked to do something that their body is not comfortable doing,” Ebb n’ Flow Yoga’s Gebo says.

Other recommendations for first-

time students include coming to class on an empty stomach, wearing form-fitting pants and a shirt with sleeves, and leaving jewelry or any other loose-hanging items at home.

Like traditional yoga done on a mat, aerial yoga can be as gentle or as challenging as the person wants to take it. And it’s much more than just a physical workout.

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“It’s not about just physical stretching, it’s about stretching your own mind,” Gebo says. “If your mind is what’s holding you back, in the aerial classes you are confronted with that rather quickly.

On the other hand, when you find that pose in aerial that you’re not able to do on the mat, you feel so empowered. You go from one

extreme to the next. There’s this fear at first, then you’re confronted, then there’s trust, then there’s, ‘Wow! I just did that!’ It’s really neat.

I love seeing people get it.”

Aerial yoga doesn’t have to be just for adults. Many studios offer pre- and post-natal classes for moms, and “Mommy and Me” aerial classes for younger children. Older children can benefit, too.

Gebo has held classes for preteen girls, and believes that both traditional and aerial yoga can go a long way in building confidence in kids.

“Yoga can help children find their true value,” she says. "With yoga, you’re not comparing yourself with someone else. For children that’s so important. Especially for young girls these days."

There are also smiles and laughs in aerial yoga as students try different poses – a reaction not usually seen in traditional yoga classes.

“Sometimes we laugh at ourselves and embrace the moment,” Kennedy says.

She believes that aerial yoga is “a gift you give yourself. If you give that gift to yourself, then you can give back to others, too.”

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E-Cigarettes, Vaping Tools On the Rise With Youth:

What Parents Should Know

BY AMANDA COLLINS

“It's like smoking, but it's not actually smoking,” is how Brielle Gibson, an 11-year-old fifth grader from Ludlow, explained the use of e-cigarettes and other vaping tools.

In a way, she's right. These devices have removed the tobacco, as well as many of the harmful chemicals, from traditional cigarettes and instead heat liquid nicotine to deliver a smokeless, inhalable vapor. But her thought that these devices allow people to perhaps be immune to the dangers of smoking is one that has parents, public safety authorities and medical professionals worried.

“If they think they're not 'really smoking' they see it as a safe alternative to cigarettes, which they've been told are bad and they've been warned of the dangers of,” said Dr. Joseph DiFranza, a professor of family medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, who is recognized as a national expert on adolescent tobacco use. “The advantage of electronic devices, for smokers, is that they've removed the thousands of other harmful chemicals and the tobacco, but the downside is that they still contain the one component that's addictive — nicotine.”

DiFranza said recent studies show that kids who had never tried smoking a traditional cigarette have, indeed, tried a vaping tool.

According to 2014 data released by the Food and Drug Administration, traditional cigarette use by teenagers has been falling for decades, but in the past few years, the number of high schoolers who had inhaled an electronic cigarette or “vaped” has sharply increased, more than doubling from 4.7% to 10% between 2011 and 2012.

“That's worrisome because they could obviously develop an addiction to nicotine,” DiFranza noted. About 90% of cigarette smokers become addicted to nicotine by the age of 19, according to the Surgeon General’s Office.

In the early 1990s, DiFranza coauthored a study that linked the skyrocketing sales of Camel cigarettes to minors and the Joe Camel campaign, showing that the character had effectively enticed young people to start smoking.

His efforts, which were hailed by the American Cancer Society and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, helped lead to the removal of the Joe Camel advertising campaign in 1997.

Today, he said the marketing of vaping devices is a similar conundrum.

Restrictions on traditional cigarette advertising don't apply, the products are marketed with celebrities, on television, and promote childfriendly flavors. The Stanford School of Medicine's Research into Tobacco Advertising database has more than 1,000 images of electronic cigarette advertisements with flavors appealing to teens and children such as bubblegum, ice cream and gummy bear.

“It's like the Wild, Wild West in terms of advertising with these products,” DiFranza said.

There's also a host of electronic vaping products that could appeal to teens and kids — e-pens, e-hookahs, vape pens — that come in an array of bright colors and some that even look like iPods or are bedecked in jewels. While e-cigarettes can be easily identified by parents, because most of them are long

tubes that are generally shaped like traditional cigarettes, other vaping devices, which can also be used for marijuana, can be harder for parents to spot. And since they produce an odorless vapor, their use can easily go undetected.

“What's caught people by surprise a little is that typically when kids are smoking, you can smell it a mile away. But when using pens, it's pretty much odorless, so it's a bit trickier,” said Officer Chris Green of the Sutton Police Department, who works as a school resource officer.

Vape pens have been confiscated from students at schools there and across the state, prompting many districts to take measures that include prohibiting the use of the devices in student handbooks.

Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evagelidis, who brings a drug prevention program called “Face2Face” to middle and high schools throughout Central Massachusetts, has this year included a segment on vaporizers.

Massachusetts is one of 10 states that allow the sale of e-cigarettes and vaping devices to minors, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even though the Commonwealth has comprehensive laws that restrict smoking indoors in public areas such as restaurants and shopping malls, those measures aren't extended to prohibit electronic nicotine delivery use.

Last April, the FDA proposed a new rule to extend its tobacco regulating authority to e-cigarettes and personal vaporizers, restricting their sales to minors under the age of 18 and requiring health warnings on packaging. The public comment period on the proposed shift closed

in August, and since, the FDA has been reviewing more than 72,000 responses, including requests from the American Cancer Society and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids to strengthen regulations. On the other hand, groups such as the Consumer Advocates for Smokefree Alternatives Association, say the rules would have a negative effect on public health because they might reduce the availability of what they call “low-risk alternatives to smoking.” The FDA must issue a final decision on the rule by April 25.

“The FDA needs to assert its authority. I'd like to see the same regulations applied that are currently applied to traditional cigarettes,” DiFranza said.

The American Academy of Pediatrics wants the FDA to take it a step further, addressing the use of candy- and fruit-flavored nicotine and mandatating child-proof packaging.

Gibson's mom, Kristin, said she was shocked to learn that the devices weren't regulated in the manner she “assumed” they were, and even more surprised by what her daughter, Brielle, knew about vaping.

“I don't know anything about [electronic smoking devices], and she knows all this stuff,” she said.

No matter what happens with the proposed regulations, law enforcement officials say parents should be aware of what the tools are and how their kids view them.

“It's just important to let parents know that this is out there, and it's kind of a new trend that we're seeing,” Officer Green said.

BAYSTATEPARENT 28 29

THE SLEEP DEPRIVATION

epidemic

Age By Age:

How Many Hours Your Child Needs

BY KATHY SLOAN

S

leep is something we all know is important for children’s brain development but often it is the one area that parents find the hardest to control. Nightly sleep disturbances, bedtime avoidance, or the inability of children of all ages to fall asleep on their own often leaves parents sleep deprived and frustrated. Not only that but we also tend to think that our kids will sleep when they’re tired. However, when they sleep is as important as how much they get.

Sleep Deprivation Dr. Katherine Sharkey, Assistant Professor at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University and sleep researcher, says that there is a sleep deprivation epidemic in our country. We push our kids to do more than ever before at the expense of sleep, which she says is a grave mistake. Knowing if your child is severely sleep deprived, being manipulative at bedtime, or is suffering from a sleep disorder is critical for your child’s overall health.

30 MARCH2015 31

“Most childhood sleep problems aren’t sleep related but more behavioral and can be treated with behavioral measures,” she says. The amount of sleep that any person needs, adult or child, varies from person to person. And whatever your sleep number is, losing just one hour causes sleep deprivation, and the effects of that can be damaging.

Sleep deprivation causes: • Moodiness • Anxiety • Susceptibility to illness • Impulsivity • Distractibility • The inability to understand emotional cues from others • Decreased libido • Poor performance at school and sports It can cause obesity because insufficient sleep wreaks havoc with our hormones, thus causing overeating, especially of carbohydrates.

What’s Your Sleep Number?

Understanding how much sleep your child actually needs may take some research. Dr. Dennis Rosen,

Associate Medical Director of the Center of Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Boston’s Children’s Hospital and author of Successful Sleep Strategies for Kids, suggests that parents track their child’s sleep for a week or two, especially during vacations. Keeping a log of how much a child sleeps, including short naps in the car, helps a parent understand the number of hours a child’s brain needs for sleep.

As a general guideline: • Newborns need 16 hours of sleep, broken up into short naps around the clock.

• A 6-month-old needs about 12 hours, broken into two 1-hour naps and 9 hours at night.

• An 18-month-old needs about 11 hours of sleep — a 1-hour nap and 9-10 hours occurring at night.

• By the age of 5, children should be getting all 11-hours of sleep at night.

• A teenager needs about 7 hours of sleep at night, while adults range from 7-8 hours. Of course, some children may function just fine on 6 hours, so knowing their ideal number is important.

Stages of Sleep It’s important to understand the stages of sleep and why they are so

critical to our bodies. “Sleep is not homogenous,” Sharkey says. “The brain cycles through many types of sleep, or stages, and all of them are essential.”

N1 Sleep (non-REM, Stage 1) is a light, transitional sleep that lasts only a few minutes and is followed

by N2, in which the bulk of your time is spent sleeping. Your body then goes into the most restorative sleep, N3. This stage is the one that your body will go to first if you are severely sleep deprived because N3 is critical for brain function. The REM (rapid eye movement) stage occurs after two hours into the night and continues off and on until your last hour of sleep.

“We think one of the functions of REM is emotional regulation, so people who are disrupted during REM may be irritable,” Sharkey notes. In order for your body to experience all the necessary stages, you must get as close to the number of hours required for your age.

Social Jet Lag We think of jet lag as a state that occurs after traveling across multiple time zones when our sleep patterns,

or our circadian rhythms, are severely disrupted. According to the National Sleep Foundation, our internal circadian biological clocks regulate the timing of sleepiness and wakefulness throughout the day. Any disruption to our circadian clock causes our bodies to experience jet lag, which causes a general feeling of exhaustion but may also produce clumsiness, irritability, increased anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and constipation.

“Social jet lag” is a term used by sleep specialists to describe the sleep deprivation people experience due to inconsistent sleep patterns during the weekday vs. weekends.

Social jet lag is the equivalent of living in two time zones — one on the weekday and another on the weekend. By the time your body adjusts mid-week, the weekend arrives, throwing your body clock off again. Social jet lag is prevalent in teens who don’t get the correct amount of sleep all week and then sleep all weekend in an effort to “catch up.”

Catching Up On Sleep

day. Or your teenager sleeps until noon on the weekends in an attempt to catch up on sleep. Is it possible to catch up, or bank, sleep?

“While it is possible to sleep in or even take a nap to catch up on sleep lost the night before, doing that every day or every weekend is counterproductive,” Sharkey says.

However, you can’t really make up for a week of lost sleep without feeling the effects of social jet lag the following week.

Too much sleep is not good, either.

“The biggest mistake people who suffer from insomnia make is staying in bed longer to try to make up the sleep they lost,” Sharkey says.

Depending on how much sleep your body needs, say 7 hours for an adult, your body will only benefit from those 7 hours. Anything beyond that can actually be disruptive.”

Rosen says that a nap can be great, as long as it doesn’t disturb your nighttime sleep: “Taking a nap at the wrong time of day can really desynchronize your sleep rhythms.” Naps taken too close to bedtime or those that are too long may decrease the advantages of napping. Toddlers who nap too long at daycare and have trouble getting to bed at night may need their nap eliminated. Rosen advises parents talk to their daycare providers

“While it is possible to sleep in or even take a nap to catch up on sleep lost the night before, doing that every day or every weekend is counterproductive.”

Your child pulls an all-nighter at a sleepover one night and then falls asleep on the couch the following

about eliminating a child’s nap if she isn’t sleeping through the night.

Sleep and Teens Teens who go to bed late due to after-school activities, homework, work, or online socializing and then get up very early for school will be in a constant state of sleep deprivation, or social jet lag. The problem: They just aren’t tired at night. Scientists have proven that this occurs because their body clocks shift making them more alert at night.

Evidence shows that teens would benefit from a later start time at school, but most districts are not heeding that advice. The issue of kids getting enough sleep is just as — if not more — important than physical education and healthier lunchroom meals. While many schools are entertaining the idea of pushing the school day start time ahead an hour for high school students, thereby allowing teens to get the necessary sleep they need, few actually do it.

“The data is there to support delayed start times, but the resistance is mainly because people [and districts] aren’t willing to be courageous and make that move,” Sharkey says.

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When To Seek Help If you suspect that your child is sleep deprived speak to your pediatrician, he may recommend a sleep study.

“Parents speak to pediatricians a lot less than they should,” Rosen notes.

If you notice your child is experiencing a decreased attention span, irritability, lack of impulse control or distractibility, seek help.

“The behaviors that get kids a diagnosis of ADHD could possibly be sleep deprivation,” Sharkey adds. She recommends that parents also seek help if parasomnias are present. Parasomnias are sleep disturbances that include sleepwalking, night terrors [not nightmares], and sleep aggression.

Also speak to your pediatrician if your child has sleep apnea or trouble breathing at night, such as snoring, or is overweight because sleep deprivation can lead to weight gain.

What Can Parents Do? Make sleep a priority. “I tell people, if you’re curing cancer, great, stay

32 MARCH2015

up. If not, try to get to bed at 30 minutes earlier to start,” Sharkey says. A consistent bedtime is key, but forcing anyone to sleep when they aren’t physically ready will only leave you feeling frustrated.

Parents do have control over waking a child up at the same time each day, which will help a child’s body clock and hopefully make them sleepier at night.

Help your teen manage their time and make sure they aren’t overscheduled. Rosen suggests that parents shift the responsibility to their teen. “They need to learn how to function in the real world and they need to understand how sleep affects them in all aspects of their life, from school and sports performance to weight, depression, and anxiety,” he says.

For smaller children, a bedtime routine of a consistent bedtime, a bath, and reading books will help make it easier for your child to transition to sleep. Soft lighting in the room at night and elimination of electronics 30 minutes before bedtime is also beneficial. In the morning, open shades to allow the natural light in to help stimulate their brain. If it’s still dark out, turning on soft lighting will do the trick.

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CSA 101:

How to Eat Fresh, Support Local Farms This Summer

BY MICHELE BENNETT DECOTEAU

If you want your produce fresh — and locally grown — this summer, now is the time to consider joining a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm in your area. CSAs are collaborations between farmers and people who eat. And like all great collaborations, they benefit everyone. Your food doesn’t travel far, you eat in season, and you get to meet the farmers who grew your food. Farms benefit from getting paid up front during the time of year they need it most — planting.

How do CSAs work?

CSAs allow area residents to buy a season’s worth of produce

directly from a farmer, eliminating the grocery store and supporting local growers. When you join a CSA farm, you pay a set fee in the spring for an entire season’s worth of produce. This buys you a “share” of the farm’s production over a future time period, usually June through October. As a CSA member, you become a shareholder of that farm. Shareholders go to the farm weekly to pick up their portion of produce, which consists of whatever is in season and is being harvested at that particular time.

Some CSAs have a work requirement in addition to the cost, requiring shareholders to each spend time working on the farm

over the season. This may mean washing vegetables, weighing produce, weeding, or helping plant.

Most CSAs offer a newsletter or recipes with each pickup so you have some clue about what to do with three pounds of carrots, or a bag of greens, or kohlrabi.

Kinds of CSAs The most common type of CSA is a vegetable CSA which guarantees shareholders a variety of vegetables throughout the season. Your weekly share may start out small and offer lettuce, herbs, and peas in the late spring. Shares get bigger in the middle of the summer, probably with tomatoes, cucumbers,

and carrots, and often end with onions and winter squash.

“There are all kinds of CSAs, including fruit, cut flower, chicken, meat, grain, and even fish,” notes Mindy Harris, who coordinates Farm Share Fair in Boston, where consumers can meet farmers in a trade-show atmosphere. “We even have a wine and a chocolate CSA.” All CSA farms run on the same general model: Customers pay upfront for a portion of the farmer’s future production over a specific time period.

While summer is the primary season for most CSA farms, some are expanding. The number of farms offering winter and fall CSAs is growing. Deliveries of produce

BAYSTATEPARENT 34 35

throughout those seasons often include kale, onions, potatoes, and winter squash. Other vegetable CSAs are expanding by offering add-on items from other farms, like honey or fruit such as strawberries, blueberries, and apples.

Some farms include the ability to purchase an egg or raw milk share, as well.

“Usually people think of CSAs just as vegetables,” says Margaret Christie, Special Projects Director with South Deerfield-based Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA). “But now there are meat, dairy, plant, fiber, fall, and winter CSAs. There are fewer of these, but the numbers are growing.” CISA is a support organization for farmers, helps with marketing, and founded the Local Hero program to encourage people to buy local produce and eat at restaurants with locally-sourced food.

While other types of CSAs are similar to the vegetable model, before you sign up be sure you understand the nuances. Meat and grain CSAs traditionally have lessfrequent pickups, some with only a single annual pickup. Grain CSAs usually provide information on where to get the grain milled into flour at community grain mills or ways to purchase a personal grain mill.

One fun new CSA is the Kid’s Share from Siena Farms in Sudbury. Each week during the season kids get a box with a star vegetable, kitchen gadget, and kidfriendly recipes featuring the star vegetable. Also included are activities and fun facts just for kids.

Which farms offer CSAs? Now is the time to enroll in most CSAs farms. Generally they take returning members first and then have an open-enrollment period for new members. If you are interested in joining, first payments are

often due in spring.

A number of locations have information about where to find CSA farms. Farm Share Fair (farmsharefair.com ) will be held 5:30 p.m.- 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 19 at First Church in Cambridge and provides an opportunity to meet farmers and compare programs.

any choice in the produce offered in your weekly share. Other factors can include whether the farm accepts SNAP benefits, supports local food banks/soup kitchens, offers a work portion of the share, and if it is looking to build community through pot lucks or workdays.

“A new way some CSAs are work-

Other CSAs offer some choice during the season. For instance, you may arrive to pick up your weekly share and find piles of carrots, onions and turnips. Your share allows you to choose two pounds of any of those and then select a bag of spinach or lettuce.

This type of CSA gives you options so you can avoid an item you know your family won’t eat, but still fully embrace eating seasonally.

Pick-up location is key for most families. If you are going to make an adventure of it with your kids, look for a CSA where pickup is at the farm. Most farms will have chickens or goats, maybe a tractor to see. This will give you an opportunity to visit with the farmer as well. This is also your best bet for a CSA with choices.

Many CSAs are offering drop-off locations in cities. For example, New Land Farms in Sutton has a drop-off location in Springfield and Red Fire Farm in Granby delivers to Boston. When you have a very busy schedule, this is an excellent option. Often there is an additional fee or less choice, so it is important to understand the fine print.

How big is a share?

“CISA has a listing of CSAs and a guide to choosing the right one for your family on our Website, buylocalfood.org. It is being updated almost daily with enrollments opening for CSAs,” Christie says.

Other sites to check include localharvest.org and mass.gov/agr/ massgrown/csa_farms.htm.

How do I find the right one for me?

With the variety of CSA farms available, it is easy to find the right one for you and your family. One consideration is whether there is

ing are Market Cards. A member can buy points at the beginning of the season and use the credit or points at any location,” Christie says. This is an excellent option for families with very picky eaters or who travel a lot during the summer.

Originally CSAs provided a box of produce to members. Basically, you get what you get. This option is for the most adventurous eaters and cooks. You have little-to-no control over what you take home and are truly eating with the season. Most, often smaller, farms and single-farmer CSAs employ this option.

Share size is a big consideration and will vary from farm to farm.

The best way to calculate the size you need is to look at how much you spend, or would like to spend, on produce each week during the summer. That should be about the amount you spend per week on a share. If the amount is modest, consider a half share or splitting a share with a friend. Splitting a share with someone else is an excellent option for families who travel frequently during the summer.

If you unsure whether you need a half or full share, ask to talk to other members with kids. They can usually give you guidance.

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facebook.com/baystateparent @baystateparent 36 MARCH2015 37

Dishin’ with the Dietitian

Take a Bite Out of HEALTHY LIVING

BY CARRIE TAYLOR, RDN, LDN

Happy National Nutrition Month!

March is the month for nutrition professionals and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. In the weeks ahead, efforts will be focused on promoting the same sound, evidence-based nutrition advice to you and others across the nation This year, our mantra is “Bite into a Healthy Lifestyle.” What does this mean? It’s time to get back to the basics and make informed nutrition and exercise decisions built on sound advice. Focus on improving your overall well-being, while maintaining a healthy weight and reducing the risk for disease. Here’s how to get started: 1. Consume Fewer Calories.

Although certain nutrients, such as carbohydrates, protein and fat, may function differently in your body, the puzzle of weight management comes down to calories. If you eat less energy than your body burns, you will lose weight. Do I recommend counting calories? Not necessarily. Rather, pay attention to what your meals and snacks look like.

How many Food Groups do you see?

Are you eating carbohydrates, protein and a little bit of fat? Or is your snack all carbohydrates and your lunch all protein?

I’ve found the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate (choosemyplate.gov) to be the most helpful guide to keeping calories in check.

MyPlate reminds us that half our plates should be rich in colors from vegetables and fruit. What happens when you load up half your meal with low-calorie, nutrient-rich vegetables and fruits? You displace more calorie-rich items like meat and grains while also filling up.

Are you eating enough colors throughout the day? It is recommended the average adult consume 2 ½ to 3 cups vegetables and 1 ½ to 2 cups fruit. To learn what counts toward a ½-cup serving of vegetables or fruit, visit ChooseMyPlate. gov for visual examples.

2. Make Informed Food Choices.

All too often, individuals are ready to “go on” a diet and follow a listing of good and bad foods just to find

this new way of eating fails them and they return to their old eating behaviors. The kicker to this scenario is that most people don’t look at diets as failing them. Instead, they erroneously believe they failed, yet again, at trying to eat healthy. Not true.

Any eating pattern touting itself as the secret to weight loss is simply a diet bypassing sound nutrition recommendations. For example,

why not just give up carbs? Your brain would not be very happy with you nor would it be able to function effectively. By drastically reducing the amount of carbohydrates in your meals, your brain will start screaming for help by way of headaches, body shakes, anger, fuzzy vision, cravings and lack of concentration.

Rather than swearing off carbohydrates, the better choice is to be mindful of serving sizes while spreading your carbohydrate consumption over the course of the day. For example, consume a tuna sandwich on whole wheat bread, with a side of baby carrots dipped in hummus and an apple for lunch vs skipping lunch altogether and eating half a box of pasta for dinner because you are ravenous.

Here are a few more tips for getting the most out of your food:

• Eat breakfast. Even if you don’t have much of an appetite, eat something. Whether it’s a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and pecans or an apple with a handful of almonds, eat!

• If you find you’re hungry in between meals, grab a snack (not a treat). Look at which Food Groups you may have missed at a previous meal and work toward those. Forget a vegetable at breakfast? Snack on

celery dipped in peanut butter. Forget a fruit at lunch? Grab a bunch of grapes with a slice of lowfat cheddar cheese for an afternoon snack.

• Make half your grains whole.

Simply put, choose the whole grain options of grain foods often. Cooking rice? Opt for brown rice. Reaching for a box of cereal? Pick a whole grain variety. Making a wrap? Go with a whole grain option.

• Go lean with protein foods. If you traditionally choose meat as your source of protein, begin varying your selections. Enjoy “Meatless Mondays” by cooking meals with legumes (beans and lentils) or whipping up a breakfast smoothie with silken tofu instead of yogurt.

• Make your fats liquid. Let nuts, cooking oils, avocados, olives and fatty fish serve as your primary

source of fat. These foods offer liquid fats like omega-3s and monounsaturated fats shown to promote health.

3. Get Exercising. Probably the very best thing you can do for managing weight and reducing your risk for chronic diseases like heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer is to get moving. Exercise also maintains mental acuity and health, builds confidence and lets off steam from a stressful day.

Researcher after researcher keeps coming to the same conclusion — one’s quality of life is greatly improved and maintained if we exercise on a daily basis. Every day?

Yes, this is the goal. If you can only carve out three days to exercise this week, great! The goal is to start the momentum so daily exercise becomes part of your normal routine.

Whether you have a history of trying to follow a healthy lifestyle, or you’ve finally come to terms with the fact that it is time, every day (and every meal) is an opportunity to start anew. Leave the guilt, food rules and excuses behind and remember what motivational speaker Jim Rohn said: “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.”

Carrie Taylor is the lead registered dietitian nutritionist for the Living Well Eating Smart program at Big Y Foods. Have a nutrition question?

E-mail livingwell@bigy.com or write Living Well at 2145 Roosevelt Ave, PO Box 7840, Springfield, MA 01102.

Would you like to be featured in a future issue of baystateparent?

Send your question to editor@baystateparent.com and you might soon be Dishin’ with the Dietitian!

BAYSTATEPARENT 36 37

Bites

Impress Spring Guests with Surprise Sweets Transform an ordinary cupcake into something extraordinary with peek-a-boo filling. These simple cupcakes are an easy addition to any spring celebration.

You’ll want to serve every variety of these turned-up treats for Easter and beyond.

The best part about this party trick? It’s easy. You’ll be digging this one out of your recipe repertoire for every spring soiree.

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Who said Easter baskets are just for kids? Treat your holiday guests to take-home cupcakes served in individual cupcake boxes. They’ll be delighted to find a surprise inside these icing-filled cupcakes.

Shake things up with a refreshing new twist. Try supercharging your cupcakes with refreshing lemon meringue, raspberry mousse or peanut butter and jelly fillings.

No matter how you slice it, fill it or serve it, these cupcakes are a party pleaser that’s guaranteed to impress.

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38 MARCH2015 39

• Prepare cake mix following package instructions. Bake in prepared muffin pan 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on cooling grid.

• To decorate, tint small amount of creamy decorator icing green; tint remaining orange. Use spatula and chocolate icing to ice tops of cupcakes smooth. Sprinkle with cookie crumbs. Chill until set, about 15 minutes.

• Use knife to cut out center of cupcakes almost to bottom of cupcake. Use tip 2A and orange icing to fill in center of cupcake and pipe about 1/4 inch above cupcake; pat smooth. Use tip 352 and green icing to pipe pull-out leaf carrot tops.

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Raising a Transgender Child:

The First Steps

BY ALEXANDRA TOWNSEND

“Transgender” is a word that today’s world is learning more about every day. There are regular headlines about actress Laverne Cox and musician Chaz Bono, and their work for transgender activism. The femaleborn child of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt has renamed themself John Jolie-Pitt and visibly taken on a masculine identity. Although it is not yet clear if John is transgender, the world has been discussing the possibility extensively. Transgenderism is no longer an issue that’s being ignored. As a result, parents now have resources available to understand what is happening when their own child comes out as transgender.

I

t’s the sort of revelation that can confuse and worry many parents. How can a child know what their gender identity is?

Will this make my child less safe in life? What exactly does it mean to be transgender, anyway?

The first thing to realize is it’s alright to have questions. To answer the most basic ones, here’s a quick list of terms.

Transgender: describes a person whose gender identity does not align with their biological sex. For example, a man born with a female body.

Gender Identity: a person’s internal sense of gender, basically if a person feels they are a girl, a boy, neither, both, or somewhere in-between.

Cisgender: describes a person whose gender identity does align with their biological sex, the opposite of transgender.

Gender Expression: this is made up of the ways that a person “performs” their gender. It includes the clothes a person wears, mannerisms, hairstyles, and so forth. There is no inherent relationship between gender expression and gender identity. That’s why women can be masculine and men can be feminine without it changing their gender.

Sexual Orientation: describes what gender or genders a person feels sexually attracted to. There is also no inherent relationship between sexual orientation and gender identity.

A transgender person can still be straight, gay, bisexual, pansexual, or asexual.

Unfortunately, for many parents, 40 MARCH2015 41

learning that a child is or may be transgender comes with a sense of grief. They can feel that they’re losing the daughter or son they thought they had. Rachel Kahn, a therapist for Sidney Borum Jr Health Center at Fenway Health in Boston, is familiar with this feeling as expressed by her patients: “It can be scary to gain a new vision of a child’s future.” But Kahn emphasized that having a transgender child is not about losing a son or daughter, it’s about recognizing the daughter or son that the parents always had.

“Many parents feel complicated emotions [when their child comes out as trans],” Kahn said. “They want to process these feelings with their child, but what they don’t realize is how much that child or teen is going through already.”

Indeed, while a parent might struggle with seeing their child wearing new kinds of clothes or going by a new name and pronouns, it’s important to remember that the transgender child is likely struggling far more. It isn’t easy to come to terms with being trans; it means questioning something that everyone has assured you all your life is inherent to your identity. By the time the child or teen comes out as trans they have often spent months, even years, considering the issue. They know they’ll have to deal with issues such as wondering what public restrooms they’ll be allowed to use; whether their identity will be dismissed or mocked by the people they love; and, of course, there is the constant worry of becoming the victim of a transphobic hate crime. Assaults, rapes, and murders are all too often committed against members of the transgender population.

But one of the largest problems facing transgender youth is depression. “Transgender kids often develop depression and anxiety…

It’s very hard to live with an identity others don’t accept. People need to have an empathetic eye,” explained New York-based therapist Darby Fox. Unfortunately, rates for depression and suicide are very high for transgender people. According to a 2010 survey from the National Center for Transgender Equality, 41% of transgender people will attempt or commit suicide in their lifetimes.

One recent prominent case was the well-publicized death of 17-yearold Leelah Alcorn of Lebanon, Ohio. Alcorn was a transgender girl who committed suicide this past December after what she described in her suicide note as months of isolation and discrimination by her parents. Alcorn’s parents reportedly objected to their daughter’s identity on religious grounds and only provided her with therapists who would try to convert her into the son they thought she should be.

Both Fox and Kahn voiced strong opinions against the idea of conversion therapy. “In my opinion, conversion therapy does not work,” Fox said. “It just makes things more complicated for kids. All it does is suit a parent’s agenda.”

According to Kahn: “Conversion therapy has been proven to be harmful and is emotionally abusive.”

The most important thing any parent can do to support a transgender child, experts say, is to show constant, unconditional love.

Transitioning is always a difficult process, but it is infinitely harder without the love and support of family. If you are a parent who is

having trouble understanding and accepting what your child is going through, it is a good idea to look into online research materials, local support groups, and even private therapy sessions. There is no shame in having questions, but often one’s own child is not the best person to ask.

Kahn offered advice for some of the most basic elements of support.

“It’s absolutely important to use your child’s preferred name and pronouns,” she said. “If you use the wrong ones, apologize and emphasize that you are trying to improve.”

Also remember that many transgender people want to transition their bodies from one form to another. This is a discussion that can come up at a young age, as physical transition tends to be easiest if started at or before puberty. Your child or teen may want to take hormone pills or shots, acquire a garment called a binder that ties down breasts, or look into changing their listed gender on official documents. These are all normal parts of transitioning and your child will need your support to get through it.

For many, “transgender” is a word that can be strange and intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Underneath all the terminology and scientific discussion, trans people are still normal human beings who need the same things as everyone else: love, acceptance, and a safe place to call home. If you have or think you have a child who is transgender, remember that while you may have a lot of new things to learn, you already have the tools to give your child all the love they need.

2097NC15_BayStateParent_qtrpg.qxp_Layout 1 2/12/15 4:37 PM Page 1

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COUNTDOWN TO SUMMER CAMP

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Pack It Up! Your Child’s Camp Gear Gift Guide

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Fresh Air Fund Provides New Outlook For Kids, Families

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Mom-invented qlipter is a large clip with a rotating, folding hook, which can hang over virtually any surface or bar and hold up to 50 lbs. Campers can hang backpacks, wet shoes or suits, lanterns, food or anything else from tree branches, outdoor tables, tents or cabins. No more muddy packs and belongings!

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Hobo Roll Compression Bag This Kickstarter-funded organizational stuff sack features 5 internal compartments, making packing easy for day or overnight campers. Kids can designate one compartment for stuffed animals, one for socks and undies, one for shorts and shirts, accessories, etc.

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COUNTDOWN TO SUMMER CAMP

Fresh Air Fund provides new outlook on life for kids, families alike

BY SARA POKORNY

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Every summer since 1877, the Fresh Air Fund, an

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Sue Morello of Amherst has been involved with the Fresh Air Fund for the past 12 years, though she became familiar with the cause at a young age when she saw children come to Rutland, Vermont, where she grew up. With three children of her own, she hosted during her first year, and the next she was asked to be a chairperson for her area. She now oversees and supports the chairs from the Pioneer Valley, and she’s still hosting inner city kids.

“At first we hosted a little boy for six years,” Morello said of her initial experience with the program, hosting a 9-year-old named Mike.

“He was wonderful. He was polite and smart and willing to try anything new. He got along with my kids and was just eyes wide open for everything.”

Morello’s daughter was quick to point out that adding another boy

to the two-son family was unfair, so for two years after that they also hosted a girl. She was followed by another girl, whom the family has been hosting for six years, this year being her last.

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more than 65% of all children are re-invited to stay with their host families year after year.

“For the city kids, it plants a little seed of, ‘Oh, there’s a different way to live,’” Morello said. “Suddenly, they’re in your house and with your

program is not unusual, nor is having the same child stay with a family year after year. Strong bonds are formed when those from such different walks of life come together, particularly for the child from the city. According to the organization,

family and they’re seeing a different way of living, of interacting, of being able to be outside more, of a little more freedom from some of the worries of the city a lot of these kids come from. Sometimes parents keep them inside because they

don’t want them hanging out on the street. They don’t realize, when they’re here, that they can open the door and step out into the backyard when they want — something our kids take for granted.”

The impact Fresh Air has on city children was immediately known for Geri Fogg of Northbridge.

When she started six years ago she volunteered to escort a Fresh Air bus leaving from the city. She recognized the newbies, the kids who have been doing this a while and knew each other, and the older set that seemed as though they couldn’t be bothered with the younger. Her experience with the latter is what struck her most.

“I was a little intimidated. These kids are coming from some of the toughest streets in our country,” she says. “Yet, every single one of them I introduced myself to softened and started to tell me wonderful stories about what they called their Fresh Air moms and dads, about these Fresh Air siblings they’ve grown up knowing. That was the moment that changed it for me, that I could see this was really making a difference in these kids’ lives. It truly is a support system for them.”

The new outlook on life can also be applied to the host family.

“We think it’s all for the kids, but

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Fairy Tale Dreams Camp August 3rd – 7th

Safari Dance Camp August 10th – 14th

Open Monday-Friday 3:00 PM to 8:30 PM for Tours, Conferences and Evaluations 50 Leominster Road, Sterling, MA 01564 978-422-6989 w w w.paulameoladance.com BAYSTATEPARENT 46 47

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A day camp for boys and girls ages 5 – 15

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VERSAR

WE ARE CELEBRATING 15 YEARS OF THE SUMMER FENN EXPERIENCE! • Swimming, Arts, Sports, Adventure, Nature & More • Drama & Musical, Soccer, Day Tripper, Robotics, Video, Golf, Woodworking, Photography, Ceramics & More • Exceptional Dedicated & Creative Staff • Hot lunches and Transportation • Located on the beautiful Fenn School campus in Concord, MA

OPEN HOUSES

• Saturday, March 7th 2-4PM • Saturday, March 28th 2-4PM • Saturday, April 11th 2-4PM

Join us and see how you can give them the best summer ever!

the Fresh Air Fund secret is that we get just as much — if not more — out of it than the kids do,” said Stenie Gullans of Natick, a five-year participant and chairperson for Metro West. “As a host family, it’s important for us to see that not everybody is lucky like us, to have yards to play in, trees to climb.”

It also spawns fond and lasting memories. To this day, Morello gets choked up talking about Mike’s reaction to a camping trip to Vermont.

“Mike was up there chopping wood and swimming in a swimming hole and jumping off a rock and sleeping in a tent, cooking marshmallows.

The weekend was over, we packed up all our things and we were in the car…we weren’t even down off that hilltop yet…” Morello trailed off, pausing to take a breath. Her next words were tinged with tears. “We weren’t even off that hilltop and he said, ‘Can we come back next year?’”

Nine-year-old Ariel had always cooked for her family, so when she spent the summer with the Foggs she did the same, introducing them to collard greens. Last year, the Foggs hosted a 6-year-old boy, Joshua, who came from a Spanishspeaking family but spoke fluent English.

“I’ll never forget that he didn’t know the English word for cucumbers, just the Spanish one, so all my kids that week were calling cucumbers by their Spanish name,” Fogg said.

Though Fresh Air has certainly helped its fair share of kids, there are still many who don’t get the opportunity.

“Every year about 200 kids cannot be placed,” Gullans said. One of her main tasks is to recruit new families to be matched. Matches are usually made based on the kind of activities and life the host family has and the family receives the match in advance so they can reach out to the child before he or she comes.

Gullans said there is no perfect host family, nor should there be any strain on anyone who decides to participate.

“I have people who are empty nesters, families of all kinds and sizes with and without children.

Single parents, two mothers, two fathers, grandparents. There is no financial obligation,” she said. “You do what you would normally do with your children for that week, and there’s just one more little mouth to feed.”

Go to baystateparent.com for information on how to learn more about hosting a child through Fresh Air Fund.

BORN TO PERFORM!

SUMMER YOUTH MUSICAL THEATER PROGRAM

y or at rv s se am on ogr n C Pr to n os nsio ’15 e B te Th E x

THE BOSTON CONSERVATORY

AUGUST 3–7, 2015 A popular program for middle school students (entering grades 6–9) who want to explore the world of musical theater in a fun and nurturing environment, where everyone gets to perform.

Peyton Pugmire, Program Director Maggy Gorrill, Choreographer

Visit us online at www.summerfenn.org or call 978-318-3614 48 MARCH2015 49

REGISTER BY JULY 1 BOSTONCONSERVATORY.EDU/BTP

Ages 2-16

summer camps

Come To Horse Camp!

How is CMS different than other summer programs?

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Century Mill offers a hands-on, interactive approach to learning horsemanship that keeps kids and teens active and engaged.

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worcester jcc 633 Salisbury Street, Worcester, MA worcesterjcc.org • 508.756.7109

105 CMR 430.190: This camp has complied with regulations of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and is licensed by the local board of health.

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2015 Worcester JCC

Photo courtesy Emagination Computer Camp

COUNTDOWN TO SUMMER CAMP

Summer Camp

for Techies

Programs for tech-savvy campers abound in the Bay State Here’s a look at some options for kids who prefer Web design over the woods

BY JOAN GOODCHILD

The typical memory of a day at summer camp usually conjures up images of swimming in a lake, canoeing with a group of friends or sitting around a fire making s’mores and singing along to a guitar.

But the great outdoors all day and night is not every kid’s cup of tea.

Camps with a focus on technology are becoming more common as our world becomes increasingly digital and technology is ingrained into our daily lives. Camps with a tech focus are available in many parts of Massachusetts this summer and vary from robotics and coding skills to 3-D animation and game design and much more.

Emagination Computer Camps, a program with locations in five different cities across the U.S., is offered each summer at Boston College and is all about balancing 50 MARCH2015 51

tech learning with fun summer camp activities, according to Craig Whiting, the company’s owner.

“Our program attracts tech-centric children,” he said. “Kids who love technology but who also want the benefits of a traditional summer camp.”

Emagination offers several twoweek programs for kids and teens, including a Minecraft coding camp, an application design program, and 3-D animation. The day is broken out into both tech segments and traditional play and leisure time.

“So kids create 3-D animation and then they go swimming, play kick ball and Capture The Flag,” Whiting said. “They make friends like they would at a traditional camp. We call it getting unplugged.”

Emagination is just one of many options in Massachusetts for kids

who are looking for a tech-rich environment for their summer camp experience. There are dozens of offerings around the state.

Other camps include Camp Invention, hosted by local schools and featuring four modules each day with an emphasis on STEM activities; Empow Studios, which allows campers to try their hand at video production and game design; and the Sally Ride Camp for Girls, which is held at MIT each year and gives campers the choice to focus on several science specialties, including marine science, engineering, astronomy and marine biology.

For the gaming enthusiasts, Game Camp USA, also a national program with an offering in Boston, might just be the perfect way to spend a summer week.

Game Camp will be held for two weeks in August this year in Burlington and includes gamespecific workshops, such as game design and storytelling, as well as leisure activities such as “Console Combat,” during which campers get a chance to socialize and compete on their favorite games.

“Our campers engage in one of our eight workshops where they are learning how to design and create their own video games,” explained Phillip Luchon, President of Convergenesis, Inc., who runs the program. “Workshops include Animation, Mechanics, Graphics, Game Play, and Story.

We have competitive video game play. We also offer a Low-Tec Rec period where the campers can go swimming or play basketball.”

As gaming has exploded in

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popularity, so has the camp, Luchon said. It has grown each year since its opening in 2007 and was sold out last year; he expects the camp to be sold out again this summer.

If you’re looking for a local camp option for your tech-hungry kid, often there is no need to look further than your area high school.

Many high schools with robotics and engineering programs offer a summer program.

For example, the Shrewsbury Robotics program, based in the town’s high school, offers several week-long sessions in the summer for middle-school-aged children interested in learning more about engineering and working in teams on projects.

“The program engages children

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and helps make engineering fun. It provides them with activities and challenges which make them try something new and stretch their imagination,” said Carol McInally, the program’s director.

Past camp activities have included constructing emergency shelters out of trash bags and bamboo, and building towers from spaghetti and marshmallows, she said.

If your camper is looking for a technical offering this summer, look no further than Google. A quick search for “tech camps” and the name of your town will give you many options close to home.

Head to baystateparent.com for links to these and other tech summer camps.

IGNITE YOUR CHILD’S PASSION Code apps, design video games, mod with Minecraft, engineer robots, build websites, produce movies, and more

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Dramatic Arts Youth Academy of Massachusetts About Us The Dramatic Arts Youth Academy “Anything is possible of Massachusetts (DAYA) is a pre-professional when you deal with theatre training school for youth ages 8-18, someone’s imagination or creative space. conveniently located in the Northborough There are no Shopping Center, just off Main Street.

At DAYA, there is a class geared for every type limitations, no boxes, no boundaries.” of young learner. We are a process-centered -Mia Michaels, training school, offering classes in improv, Choreographer play writing, audition and acting technique. www.dayacademy.org • info@dayacademy.org 243 West Main Street, Northborough, MA 01532 508-450-7988 ENROLL NOW FOR SPRING CLASSES

iD Game Design & Development Academy Co-Ed, Pre-College, Ages 13-18

iD Programming Academy Co-Ed, Pre-College, Ages 13-18

iD Tech Mini Co-Ed, 6-9, Half-Day Options

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EXPERIENCE MARINE SCIENCE

Be active.

Be creative.

Learn a new skill.

Have fun!

Everything under the sun. At UNH. UNH Youth Summer camps encourage students K-12 to explore their interests and talents in unbeatable settings.

All UNH summer camps offer • Individual, supportive, and fun learning environments • Talented, experienced University staff • State-of-the-art facilities Visit www.unh.edu/youth-programs

Face-to-face with whales, porpoises, puffins and lots of marine life

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Summer offerings for children entering grades 1-6 include; Lego Engineering, Littlebits, Math, Literacy, and more!

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Mindset Learning Group provides enrichment services in the areas of math, science, and literacy. MLG also supports children in the areas of speech-language, literacy, and communication.

Typical offerings include:

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Ask About: STEM Projects • College Accredited Courses Family Programs

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Mindset Learning Group

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Mass Audubon Nature Day Camps In Central MA Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary 414 Massasoit Rd. Worcester, MA 01604 Camp Director 508-753-6087 x 5013 bmbrookcamp@massaudubon.org Serves Children Ages 4.5-16

Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary 113 Goodnow Rd. Princeton, MA 01541 Camp Director 978-464-2712 x 8577 wachusett@massaudubon.org Serves Children Ages 3.5-17

• A unique opportunity to learn about the natural world.

• Meet new friends and have lots of fun!

• Specialty sessions such as digital photography, teen adventure trip, woodworking, wilderness skills and theater.

• Experienced staff who provide a safe, educational, and noncompetitive camp environment.

• An experience that will last a lifetime!

To find out more and to download a camp brochure please check us out at www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors

Education Programs at Wheelock Family Theatre Professional, Affordable Theatre for Every Generation!

Classes at WFT Enhance learning, build skills, and have fun!

Professional development for teen artists.

Performance Classes for Children, Youth, and Teens

Spring Session Vacation Weeks in March and April Summer Program: June – August www.WheelockFamilyTheatre.org 617-879-2252; 617-879-2148

Located in Boston’s historic Fenway neighborhood.

200 The Riverway, Boston Box Office: 617-879-2300 tickets@wheelock.edu

www.WheelockFamilyTheatre.org BAYSTATEPARENT 52 53

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THE LOWDOWN ON

ticks

and Lyme disease: Inside the Staggering Statistics

BY MICHELLE PERRAS-CHARRON

W Lyme disease is most prevalent among children ages 5 to 9, both nationally and in our state.

54 MARCH2015 55

ith the changing season and the warm days of spring ahead, many parents (myself included) are itching for spring sports to begin, finally putting an end to the bitter cold and snow of winter storms past.

Spring break looms and we will pass another checkpoint on the school calendar with our eyes on the prize — summer vacation! Thinking ahead to these glorious days of no more packed lunches, folder checks, and lost hats that will never make it home, we will optimistically begin researching summer camps for our kiddos and planning family camping trips around New England. While making those plans, parents need to keep in mind that Massachusetts and neighboring states lead the nation in confirmed cases of Lyme disease, which is caused by the bite of an infected deer tick.

The ugly truth To put things in perspective, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) the 2013 national incidence rate for Lyme disease (the number of new cases per 100,000 people) was 8.6. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) states that Lyme disease is considered endemic throughout the Commonwealth and reports the 2013 incidence rate for Lyme disease in our state is a whopping 65.09, which is a 12% increase from 2012. Areas

of high incidence for Lyme disease include most of the eastern half of the state, however, MDPH also notes that isolated areas of high incidence occurred in Franklin, Hampshire, and Worcester counties.

In case you were thinking of taking off to a neighboring state for the summer, know that according to the CDC, Connecticut follows close behind with an incidence rate of 58.7, whereas New Hampshire and Vermont top the charts at 100 and 107.6, respectively. Maine’s incidence rate is 84.8. In fact, the CDC reports that 95% of new cases of Lyme disease came from just 14 states, as it is heavily concentrated in the northeast and upper Midwest.

Maybe you’re thinking Lyme disease is only a problem for older people who like to hunt. I mean, they’re out in the woods, handling deer and other wild game that carry deer ticks.

Only older people get Lyme disease, right? Well, surprisingly, you may be floored to learn that Lyme disease is most prevalent among children ages 5 to 9, both nationally and in our state.

Now you’re thinking, I’ll just keep the kids away from the woods. Again, you may also be surprised to learn that you do not need to be walking in the woods to get bitten by a tick — your own backyard can play host to these parasites.

Belchertown resident Beth Knodler knows this all too well. Only 31 at the time, Knodler was bitten in her own backyard by a tick in July 2009.

Her family was building a treehouse

for her two young children and she believes she was bit while walking back and forth from her house to the edge of the woods on her property.

“I did not know I was bitten for a few days,” she recalls. “I first noticed a rash on the back of my thigh. But it was not a bulls-eye rash! It was oblong, raised, red, and hot to the touch with a large bruise. I cannot stress enough that it was not a circle with a bulls-eye. We could not even find the ‘bite’ location with a magnifying glass!”

Though well known for the classic “bulls-eye” rash, known as erythema migrans, not all tick bites will cause this trademark rash. The MDPH notes that 72% of confirmed cases of Lyme disease reported an erythema migrans, meaning 28% did not, as in Knodler’s case.

This can make it difficult for healthcare providers to quickly diagnosis patients suffering from early Lyme disease. The MDPH notes that symptoms of early Lyme disease usually begin within 3 to 30 days after being bitten by an infected tick and can include: erythema migrans and flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, stiff neck, sore and aching muscles and joints; fatigue; and possibly swollen glands. If left untreated, Lyme disease can cause lingering long-term health issues.

After being bitten, Knodler was unwell for several days, and her rash continued to grow larger. Over time, Knodler, a young, active, healthy mother of two, began to experience aches, pains, joint swelling, fever,

confusion, and short-term memory loss.

“It was heartbreaking,” she says. “I was not eating and it even hurt for my kids to touch me. I would lay on the couch and cry in pain.”

When a Lyme test was finally done, Knodler was told she had the highest Lyme count one doctor had ever seen. She was immediately put on antibiotics, which alleviated many of her symptoms. However, Knodler now suffers from symptoms of late-stage Lyme disease, such as joint pain, swelling, and short-term memory loss.

Untrue: Common misconceptions Knodler encourages parents to be vigilant.

“Do tick checks as a regular part of your bedtime routine — all year long,” she says. “It is a myth that they die in the winter. You don’t see them as much in the winter, but they are still around, especially a winter without a lot of snow.”

Dr. Jennifer Roche of Amherst Pediatrics confirms that daily tick checks are necessary in all months of the year for families to protect children from the dangers of Lyme disease.

“Calls regarding ticks and tick bites are a frequent occurrence,” Roche says. “Most tick bites do occur between May and October, but with milder winters we have had tick bites in all months.”

According to the CDC, this is because though young ticks, known as nymphs, are most active during the warm weather months, but between May and July, adult ticks can be out searching for a host any time winter temperatures are above freezing. Know that nymphs can be the size of a poppy seed, pencil point, or freckle, making them hard to detect, while adult ticks are the size of a sesame seed.

“Daily checks for ticks are essential in this area,” Roche notes. “They appear to be the most effective strategy to help prevent Lyme disease.”

A person is unlikely to get Lyme disease if the tick is not attached for at least 48 hours, she says. Therefore, all tick bites do not lead to Lyme disease — another misconception.

In fact, according to the CDC, the chances of transmission of Lyme disease from an infected tick increases with the amount of time it is attached to a person; from 0% at 24 hours, 12% at 48 hours, 79% at 72 hours, and 94% at 96 hours.

When checking your child for ticks, remember that ticks like warm places where they can hide out of sight.

Common places to check include the back of the knees, armpits, groin area, scalp, hairline, back of the neck,

and behind the ears.

If you find a tick attached to yourself or your child, there is no need to panic. Remember that chances of infection increase over time. Remove the tick as soon as possible using tweezers. Grasp the tick close to the skin and pull straight out, then monitor your child for signs and symptoms of early-stage Lyme disease.

If you don’t think you quite got all of the tick out, again, don’t panic.

Roche says it is a misconception that the entire tick has to be removed.

“Actually, tick parts often remain after attempted removal,” she adds.

“Retained mouthparts are usually expelled by the body and do not increase the likelihood of Lyme transmission.”

Another tick misconception is that any attached ticks should be saved and tested for Lyme disease.

According to Roche, this is an unnecessary step because most ticks in our area are positive for the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.

Instead Roche emphasizes the importance of closely monitoring your child for symptoms after a tick bite.

“Again, it’s unlikely [that Lyme disease is transmitted] if attached for less than 48 hours and the importance is monitoring for symptoms which typically include a classic rash (ECM), fatigue, malaise, headache, muscle aches, and joint pains,” she says.

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What parents can do Aside from daily tick checks, which should take place year round if your child plays in areas that may be inhabited by ticks (including your backyard), there are many precautions parents can take to reduce the risk of Lyme disease.

Know that ticks find a host by clinging to vegetation and waiting for humans or animals to brush up against them. Ticks cannot fly or jump — you must come in contact with them. Ticks are fond of brushy, wooded, and grassy habitats such as those found along hiking trails, in the woods, the edge of your yard, or within your yard if leaf litter exists.

This is because they are also fond of damp, shady, leafy areas, which are often found around homes in the fall.

To keep ticks out of your yard, MDPH recommends the following yard-care tips: • Keep grass cut short. Ticks are likely to be found in taller, unmown grasses and shrubs.

• Remove leaf litter and brush from around your home.

• Prune low-lying bushes to let in

“a complete remodel, inside and out”

Summer Programs Groton, MA

Specialty Camps Academic Tutoring Artist-in-Residence Computer Game Design Cooking Counselor-in-Training Crafts Creative Writing Crime Scene Investigation Cupcake Making Dance Fashion Design Mandarin Math Movie Making Jr. Naturalist Outdoor Adventure Photography Theatre Robotics Wilderness Survival

Day Camps Full-Day Traditional Half-Day

Sports Camps All-Sport Baseball Basketball Cricket Field Hockey Lacrosse Soccer Swim Lessons

• Grades PK-10 • Team, Early Bird, Multi-week, and Sibling discounts • Pool time • Lunch provided • Nine one-week sessions

Camps run from June 22 until August 21, 2015.

Summer Programs Office: 978-448-1610 • Summerinfo@lacademy.edu

www.lacademy.edu/summers BAYSTATEPARENT 54 55

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more sunlight (this keeps the yard from being damp and shady).

• Keep wood piles and bird feeders off the ground and away from your home. Mice and small rodents can carry ticks into your yard.

• Rid your yard of plants that attract deer, or use deer fencing on larger properties, as deer can also carry ticks into your yard.

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• Use a three-foot-wide woodchip, mulch, or gravel barrier where your lawn meets the woods. Ticks are less likely to cross the barrier as they are prone to drying out.

• Pesticides can be used to reduce ticks on your property, but use of a licensed applicator experienced in tick control is recommended.

To protect yourself and your children when in areas prone to ticks: • Use an insect repellent that contains 20% to 30% DEET. DEET products should not be used on infants under 2 months of age and should not be used in concentrations higher than 30% on older children.

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• Wear long, light-colored pants tucked into socks or boots, and a long-sleeved shirt. This keeps ticks off the skin and easier to identify if on clothing.

• Stay on cleared trails and avoid the edges of habitats where ticks are likely to be.

• And finally, check children for ticks as soon as possible after coming indoors. Then have your child shower or bathe, which serves a dual purpose. Bathing washes off any applied chemicals such as DEET, as well as any ticks that may be searching for a warm place to settle. Ticks can wander for hours on the skin undetected before finding a place to attach on the body. Also, put clothes in the dryer on high heat for 60 minutes to kill any ticks that may be on clothing your child has worn outside.

Before you start cancelling camping trips and put your kids under lock and key this summer, remember our kiddos need their outdoor time and we, as parents, have the ability to prevent tick bites and, therefore, Lyme disease. Yes, it takes some extra effort on our part, but I think we’ll all agree it's well worth it.

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Sailing, Kayaking, Canoeing, Paddleboarding

Eco Paddling Camp • Teens Camp • Boating Is FUN Camp • Ages 8-15 Save $25 With Code: CAMP15BSP at BoatingCamp.com or 617-299-3392.

56 MARCH2015 57

Starting the week of July 6th through the week of August 17th A.M. Camps: 8:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.

P.M. Camps: 1 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Option for FULL day camp; Choose 1-day or the WHOLE week

Dance camps: 3-day Tumbling (5 years and up) Twinkle Star Dance Camps Frozen Camp (3-6 years) 2 weeks of DISNEY Princess Camp (3-6 years) *NEW* Harry Potter Dance Camp (7-12 years) Also offering NON-dance camps: Lego (5-12 years) Arts and Crafts (4-6 years and 7-12 years) Scrapbooking (6-14 years) American Girl Doll (5-10 years) Cooking (5-12 years) Pirate (4-9 years)

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Summer Camps

Worcester’s Learn-to-Sail

Mainstay Turns 55

BY MICHELE BENNETT DECOTEAU

R

egatta Point Community Sailing, founded 55 years ago, sits next to Lake Quinsigamond near the Route 9 bridge. All is quiet on the lake now, but soon it will once again be home to kids learning to sail.

“We’ve never turned a kid away who can swim 75 yards and tread water for 3 minutes,” notes Allen Fearn, founder and enthusiastic supporter of the non-profit sailing

club. “Really, founding the sailing club was just paying back everyone for what learning to sail did for me.”

Fearn learned to sail at Community Boating, Inc. (CBI) in Boston, noting, “I wouldn’t have gone to college without learning to sail. It gave me support and confidence.”

Fearn said he was asked to start the program by the state when he was assistant manager of CBI. Lake Quinsigamond, nestled between Worcester and Shrewsbury, has

always been a recreation destination with a long history of summer lake houses. Those homes have been slowly turned into year-round residences and the area built up.

The sailing club is a strong legacy from a by-gone era.

“Learning to sail is an excellent way for kids to learn to work together and build self confidence. Kids need a chance to unplug, and electronics and sailing just don’t mix,” laughs Casey Duva, Executive Director

and Regatta Point graduate. “Kids are such kinesthetic learners, using their whole body to learn, and sailing teaches so many great lessons. We create a safe environment for kids to learn about cause and effect, which is immediate on a sailboat. When you make a mistake, you know it right away and can react to it, make it right.”

Kids who can pass the swim test can learn to sail in summer camps.

Guppies, or 7- to 9-year-olds, learn

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to sail on two-person Optimist boats. “This age is a lot of fun,” Duva notes. “Kids need a lot of repetition and a lot of supervision. We get these guys right out on the water so they can get comfortable with the feel of the rocking of the boat. Then we teach them how to accelerate and decelerate the boat. But really the lessons are about learning to work together and respecting each other.”

In response to parents’ feedback, the camp for this age is now offered both as a half day and a full day. “We do a lot of team building at this age, too,” Duva adds. “That is critical to sailing successfully, working as a team.”

Summer Learn to Sail Camp is for children 9 to 13. “At this age, kids learn faster and are better in groups. We do more because they can do more. We introduce them to some adventures like kayaking and sailing to one of the islands or the ice cream place on the lake. This is a lot of fun and this is really guided by the goals they set. Each camper sets specific goals; they are moved around in different groups all week to learn to meet their goals. This is also the age where we teach them to capsize.”

Thirteen-year-old Charlie Mitchell of Millbury has been at the Summer Camp for three years now. “Capsizing is my favorite part of camp. I also like taking out the day sailboats,” he notes. “They are bigger so you can socialize and hang out with your friends.”

“Teens learn advanced skills and are with us for three weeks. For many of them, this will turn into a job working in the camps teaching,” Duva says. “These kids really learn a lot and often take day trips out with the sailboats together.”

“No one ever forgets that first solo sail,” Fearn adds. “You are out on a boat that costs a few thousand dollars and you have to apply all the knowledge that you’ve been given.

It really builds kids’ minds and selfconfidence.”

“I was a little bit nervous on my first solo sail, but then after a bit, it was really fun. I liked being independent.

It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be because once you learn to sail, it is easy and safe,” Mitchell says.

Providing the opportunity for all kids to learn to sail is a cornerstone of Regatta Point Community Sailing.

They have partnered with a variety of community organizations over the years including You, Inc.; Big Brothers/Big Sisters; the local public schools; and a variety of parks and recreation departments.

“What really holds most kids back is the swim test,” Fearn notes. “Right now we have partnered with the YMCA to help with the swimming part and the Housing Authority at

Great Brook Valley. These kids are great.” Worcester Housing Authority operates Great Brook Valley as a family residential community for low-income residents. Many services are provided to residents including on-site daycare, nutrition and health care, as well as educational and recreational activities.

“Kids change so much from the first day we see them to the last,” Duva says. “The kids from Great Brook Valley come to us two days a week for the summer. They learn to set goals and are so excited. I see so many of them really step outside their comfort zones when they don’t know the outcome. This confidence

will help them try harder projects at school and apply for jobs they might not have otherwise.”

“We are always looking for ways to help more kids learn to sail,” he adds, noting they have the support of many businesses and community organizations on Lake Quinsigamond.

“One of our most important partners is the Department of Conservation and Recreation,” Fearn notes. “They provide the faculties we use. The staff and the boats are ours, but this is a great example of a public and private organization partnership.”

Mitchell, after learning to sail for three summers, saved his own

money to buy a Sunfish sailboat that he repaired. Then he took his family sailing: “I took my Dad out on the boat and he loved it so much he bought his own.”

Regatta Point Community Sailing puts a lot of time and energy into teaching kids to sail, but it also offers sailing lessons for adults and boat rentals on the weekends. “We have family events and we offer rentals of kayaks and paddle boats, too. It is a great way for the whole family to unplug and have fun together,” Duva says. “We even have an ocean sailboat people can rent, but only after parents learn to sail, too.”

: M A W t ummer a ll camp alternative!

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Studio art classes for ages 3-17 Computer Art, Drawing, Mixed Media, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Swords, and More Six weeks of morning and afternoon sessions begin July 6th.

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Summer Summer at at Our Summer Program offers continued learning activities, science experiments, indoor and outdoor play and crafts.

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OPEN CLASSICAL BALLET CLASS Ages 12 through adult • 7:00-8:30 pm JUNE 9-25—Tues, Wed & Thurs JULY 7-AUGUST 27—Tues & Thurs Ages 9 to 11 • 5:15-6:45 pm JULY 7-30—Tues & Thurs

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COUNTDOWN TO SUMMER CAMP

Summer Dance

COUNTDOWN TO SUMMER CAMP

If Your Child Doesn’t Want to Go to Camp…

Go With Them

BY KATHY SLOAN

Remember the movie Dirty Dancing?

It was set at a camp in the Catskills where people went to relax and have fun as a family. Baby spent her days taking dance lessons from Johnny Castle while others in her family golfed, took craft classes, or prepared for the end of the season talent show.

Family camps are not a thing of the past. The American Camp Association says that multigenerational camps are growing in popularity. Family camp is a great

way to ease your child into the camp experience, especially if he isn’t ready to attend overnight camp by himself.

Ohana Family Camp, located in Post Mills, Vermont, is one such place where parents and children can experience camp together.

“A lot of the families that visit us come from cities and aren’t used to having their kids more than 20 feet away,” says Ohana Camp Director Vanessa Riegler. “However, by Day 3 or 4, I’ll ask parents, ‘Where is

so-and-so?’ and the mom will say, ‘I have no idea.’” And the parents are happy about that! Riegler says kids love the camp, especially the teens, because they can run free in a safe place without parents asking them to check in throughout the day.

Be Your Best Self The Ohana Foundation, a 110-yearold organization, runs six different camps for children, including the family camp. “We provide

opportunities for people throughout life,” Riegler says. “We also get a lot of grandparents who take their grandkids to camp without the parents. It’s a great way for grandparents and grandchildren to spend time together in a fun environment.”

The camp is an all-inclusive summer camp, just like the one you may remember attending as a kid. Campers have full access to 120 acres and can enjoy staff-led activities and nature programs, as

4

64 MARCH2015 65

well as unscheduled time to enjoy the waterfront. Riegler says she loves watching families connect not just with each other but also with other families: “It’s not uncommon to see a pick-up game of soccer happen in the middle of the day with kids and adults.”

Ohana connects families in a deep way, Riegler says. Its motto is “Be Your Best Self” and that means being the best family, too. “You can always tell during the first few days of camp which parent works more because the first few nights at dinner they don’t know what to say to their kids.

By the end of the week you can really see them connecting with their family,” Riegler says. She adds that the connection is something that stays with — and binds — families.

Families report that their time at Ohana doesn’t end when they leave because it’s something they talk about all year long, until they return, she notes.

Cell service is minimal and they do not offer Wi-Fi, but there are computers onsite for those who need them. With so many activities, such as canoeing, fishing, hiking, horseback riding and golf, Riegler says campers don’t miss Wi-Fi. People do have withdrawals from their electronics at first, she notes, but after a few days everyone says how nice it is to be unplugged, even the teens.

REGISTERING NOW FOR SUMMER 2015!

MetroWest YMCA Day Camp

Adults-Only Camp Maybe you want a different type of camp experience — without the kids — perhaps a getaway with friends or one just for you and your spouse. According to GrownUpCamps.com there are more than 800 camps for adults in the U.S. With offerings including everything from adventure-based camps to writing camps to music camps to CIA training camps, the list is endless.

The American Camp Association’s 2013 Spring Enrollment survey indicated that 11% of ACA camps saw an increase in adults attending

camp: “We estimate over 1 million adults have an organized camp experience annually.”

Club Getaway in Kent, Conn., is a 300-acre all-inclusive adventure camp for adults. Originally, it was run as a summer camp for children but when the owner came back from a stay at Club Med, he decided to change the camp into one for adults. Now it caters to adults of all ages: working professionals, singles, couples, and groups of friends.

Some weekends have themes such as Sports, Fun and Adventure, Boomers 50+, Millennials, and more.

“Everyone is yearning for a sense of community and we offer that,” says

WORCESTER ACADEMY

SUMMER PROGRAMS Academic

Programs

3D Design & Printing July 27 – 31 Multimedia Camp June 29 – July 10

Traditional Camp activities include archery, arts and crafts, canoeing, kayaking, nature study, music, drama, sports, high and low ropes course, outdoor skills, and swim lessons.

Specialty Camps include Flight, Physics, Farm Camp, Drama, Fort Building, Robotics, Hip Hop, Horseback Riding and Arts and Crafts camp.

Teen Leadership and Trip and Travel Programs.

Busing, AM/PM extended day programs and financial assistance are available.

Registered Nurse on site at all times.

First Aid, CPR and EPI-pen trained staff.

MetroWest YMCA Family Outdoor Center 45 East Street Hopkinton, MA 01748 (508)435-9345 www.metrowestymca.org

Soccer Camp Session 1: July 13 – 17 Session 2: July 27 – 31

Science Camp June 29 – July 10 Video Game Design July 20 – 24

Arts / Theater Programs

Visual Arts Camp Session 1: July 13 – 17 Session 2: July 20 – 24

Worcester Academy offers a wide range of summer activities which satisfy many interests at all levels. Our programs reflect the school’s comprehensive and challenging approach to academics, athletics, and the arts. Our summer program directors are either seasoned talented teachers or coaches from the Worcester Academy faculty.

Athletic

Robotics Camp July 20 – 31

June 22 - August 28 Co-ed for ages 3-16

Club Getaway’s Chief Adventure Officer David Schreiber, who purchased the camp three years ago. “Three hundred people show up on Friday as strangers and by the end of the weekend they are leaving as friends for life.”

For about $400 per person, campers get lodging, meals, wine, and activities with pro instruction, nightly entertainment, and use of sports equipment. Club Getaway offers much nicer accommodations than what you remember from your camp days. The camp has airconditioned cabins with private bathrooms and daily housekeeping.

Meals are served communally.

Sports Camp Session 1: June 29 – 2 Session 2: July 6 – 17 Session 3: July 20 – 31

Programs

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Register Today!

WorcesterAcademy.org/Summer BAYSTATEPARENT 64 65

COUNTDOWN TO SUMMER CAMP Schreiber says that while he offers Wi-Fi, hardly anyone uses it: “I can track who logs into my network and 90% of the traffic on my network is my staff.” There is simply so much to do that people don’t need their phones.

According to Schreiber, Club Getaway offers adults a way to relive childhood memories but also a way to let loose and relax in a great atmosphere. “We offer everything from great activities, fantastic food, and, yes, good parties, but it’s really up to each camper how they want to spend their day,” he says. You can spend your morning kayaking, zip lining or hiking, then use the afternoon for water sports, yoga, color wars, wine tasting, or a game of volleyball. At 5 p.m. daily, campers gather at the boathouse for a live band and a barbecue.

At night, campers can go dancing at the club, sit by the late-night campfire, or turn in early.

Club Getaway also offers a family camp a few times throughout the summer (June and August).

Summer 2015

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The family program is a good way for kids to experience camp, develop new friends and a sense of independence while their parents also make friends and have some old-fashioned fun, too.

Head to baystateparent.com for more information on camps for families or adults.

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COUNTDOWN TO SUMMER CAMP

Strong Emphasis on Socialization & Fun!

KA

How Smart Devices in Your Home Could Pose a Privacy Risk Interconnected thermostats and Internet-streaming baby monitors keep our lives running smoothly, but may also be the perfect target for thieves looking to hack into your home.

BY JOAN GOODCHILD

S

mart appliances and devices in our home have made running a household and raising children more convenient, efficient and information-filled than ever before.

Smart refrigerators can monitor food freshness and update your grocery list when you are out of something.

Interconnected thermostats can be programmed from anywhere. Baby monitors with video can allow a working parent to watch their little angel sleep while

miles away in the office.

But for every convenience and innovation, comes risk, notes David Jacoby, a senior security researcher with Woburn-based Kaspersky Lab. Jacoby even experimented by hacking his own home to see what kind of risks he could turn up.

"During my own research I decided to look into what I had at home, and in my own house I had a smart TV, network storage devices, printers, gaming consoles, routers, wireless access points, home alarm

systems and other things," he said.

"The devices which had the most vulnerabilities were the network storage devices and the smart TV. It was very time consuming to find these vulnerabilities, but once they were found, they could be exploited very easily. I am sure that if I spent more time I would find even more vulnerabilities in the other devices, too."

Jacoby's home is probably not unlike yours or mine — and criminals know that. As the number

of these smart appliances and devices grow among consumers, the bad guys will undoubtedly find new ways to compromise home devices for financial or personal gain.

What do you need to be concerned about? Basically anything interconnected could pose risk, noted Shaun Murphy, CEO and founder of security and privacy firm PrivateGiant.

"It used to be a baby monitor was just audio," Murphy said. "Now you

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68 MARCH2015 69

have baby monitors with video as well. And they aren't just around the house, in some instances, they are on the Internet, so parents can watch them away from home. But who knows who else is looking at these things?"

Among other devices and appliances worth securing are refrigerators and thermostats, Murphy said. More consumers are choosing to make their homes "smart" by connecting appliances to the Internet so they can be programmed remotely. Want to adjust your home's thermostat while at work? That's possible now, but also not without risk.

"All of these sensors we are adding to the home are adding one more layer to the physical self,” he noted. “Would you be using your thermostat to heat the home if you were home? And would you be turning it down if you were not?"

And, hypothetically, that is exactly the kind of information a criminal might use to decide when it is a good time to attempt a break in, he added.

Murphy said the best defense against giving out too much information that can be used for ill-gotten gain is to consider what you are sharing — and why — each time you set up a new device or appliance.

"When your new thermostat asks for your name and location,

is it absolutely necessary to provide that? Reduce that personal footprint by withholding those kinds of details whenever you can,” he advised.

Basic common sense is another piece of advice. Many consumers neglect to reset the factory-issued password on devices, for example, which is a common avenue criminals hack into to gain access to private assets or information.

"When we buy a swing, or a baby bouncer, we look at the instructions to make sure it’s safe," Murphy said.

"But when we buy electronics, we expect to plug it in and have it work.

We don’t take time to look in the manual and find the settings and see about securing them and changing the default password. Observe the documentation, especially if it is connected to Internet. Change those default settings."

Jacoby is concerned it isn't easy for consumers to shore up defenses around their interconnected home because security is not top of mind for the companies producing many smart household items — and the security settings are often too complex for the average buyer to adjust.

"One thing that would solve a lot of problems would be if we used network segmentation to restrict access to smart devices," Jacoby said. "To separate access between, for example, a computer

ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT FOCUSED GUIDED PREPARED ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT FOCUSED GUIDED PREPARED ARTICULATE CONFIDENT FOCUSED GUIDED PREPARED ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED FOCUSED GUIDED PREPARED ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT hrewSbury onteSSoriCONFIDENT chool GUIDED PREPARED ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED FOCUSED An Authentic Education Preparing Young PREPARED ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT FOCUSED GUIDED People for Today’s Changing World ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT FOCUSED GUIDED PREPARED ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT FOCUSED GUIDED PREPARED ARTICULATE CONFIDENT FOCUSED GUIDED PREPARED ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED FOCUSED GUIDED PREPARED ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT GUIDED PREPARED ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT FOCUSED PREPARED ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT FOCUSED GUIDED ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT FOCUSED GUIDED PREPARED ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT FOCUSED GUIDED PREPARED ARTICULATE March 3, 2015 • 5:30-6:30pm CONFIDENT FOCUSED GUIDED PREPARED ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED FOCUSED GUIDED PREPARED ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT GUIDED PREPARED ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT FOCUSED Shrewsbury Montessori School FOCUSED GUIDED PREPARED ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT Age 2.9 through Grade Six ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT 55 Oak Street, Shrewsbury,FOCUSED MA 01545 GUIDED PREPARED ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT FOCUSED GUIDED PREPARED ARTICULATE 508-842-2116 CONFIDENT FOCUSED GUIDED PREPARED ARTICULATE Montessori Children’s House of Auburn ACCOMPLISHED Three-Six ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT FOCUSED GUIDED PREPAREDAges ARTICULATE 135 Bryn Mawr Avenue, Auburn, MA 01501 GUIDED PREPARED ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT FOCUSED 508-832-9262 PREPARED ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT FOCUSED GUIDED admissions@shrewsburymontessori.org ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT FOCUSED GUIDED PREPARED www.shrewsburymontessori.org ACCOMPLISHED CONFIDENT FOCUSED GUIDED PREPARED ARTICULATE CONFIDENT FOCUSED GUIDED PREPARED ARTICULATE ACCOMPLISHED ARTICULATE • ACCOMPLISHED • CONFIDENT • FOCUSED • GUIDED • PREPARED

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and a smart TV. But these network settings are quite advanced and not very easy to set up for a normal end user."

For now, your best defense as a consumer is to ask questions, read the documentation on all appliances, and consider to whom, and why, you are handing over personal details every time you are asked for them. While there is no such thing as complete security, a well-informed, guarded buyer is the most secure.

SMART SECURITY STEPS 1. Every time a manufacturer asks for personal information when setting up an onlineenabled new device or appliance, ask yourself if it’s necessary to share those details. Whenever possible, withhold information such as name, location, and more.

2. Always change the factorydefault passwords on interconnected equipment. Check your manual or online for instructions on how to do it.

Nashoba Regional High School Drama Society March 13 & 14 • 7:30 pm - March 15 • 2:00 pm Nashoba Regional High School Auditorium 12 Green Road, Bolton, MA

Spring OPEN HOUSE

On-line ticketing & information

www.NashobaDrama.com A musical based on the play by SIR J.M. BARRIE Lyrics by CAROLYN LEIGH Additional Lyrics by BETTY COMDEN & ADOLPH GREEN Music by MORRIS (MOOSE) CHARLAP Additional Music by JULIE STYNE Originally directed, choreographed & adapted by JEROME ROBBINS PETER PAN is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019. Phone: 212-541-4684. Fax: 212-397-4684. www.MTIShows.com

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Review:

FiLIP 2 Child Locator

Watch/Phone

BY MELISSA SHAW

We normally don’t review products here at baystateparent, but I was intrigued by the FiLIP 2 wearable watch/phone/child locator from Filip Technologies.

The device was mentioned in a story we published in our December 2014 issue, “Wearable Tech for Families: The Future is Starting Now” (see baystateparent.com). In that story, Filip Technologies founder Sten Kirkba noted: “Wearable technology for kids gives parents a little more peace of mind. Not only will it allow parents and kids to stay in touch, but it also gives kids the incentive to stay active and discover new places with their newfound independence, like walk to a friend’s house by themselves or spend more time

Celebrating over 30 years of care Now Enrolling Infant, Preschool & Pre-kindergarten Programs!

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outdoors exploring.”

Finding that balance is hard for today’s parents, especially for those who have children too young to entrust with a smartphone, yet want to ensure a child’s whereabouts. To me, the FiLIP 2 sounded like a decent compromise: Your children could have some freedom (and their own phone number!) and you can know exactly where they are at all times.

Filip sent me a review unit, which I set up for my very excited 9-year-old. Setup was easy: Download the free FiLIP app to your phone

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(iPhone or Android), follow the prompts, and sync with your child’s phone. In about 10 minutes, your child’s phone is ready to go. Good luck getting it off her.

The phone has two buttons: the red one turns on the unit, makes a call, ends a call or makes an emergency call if held for 3 seconds.

Emergency Mode is impressive.

Once activated, it makes a call to the primary account holder. If that person doesn’t answer, the phone will call each of the five stored contacts until one answers. It will also make a recording of the call and background noises, and provide an immediate update of your child's location, with automatic updates every 60 seconds until the emergency is canceled. The black button scrolls through the contacts — it holds a maximum of five. When the phone is not in use, FiLIP 2 functions as a watch, displaying day and date, and the time in big, bold numbers.

When the phone receives a call, the screen displays the contact name in block capitals: “MOM CALLING”, etc. The child can answer the call by pressing a button on the phone and speaking into the watch; the sound quality is surprisingly decent.

The phone can also receive texts of up to 24 characters, which is extremely handy if, say, you’re running late and you want to let

Support and Strategies for Parents of Infants Through Teens

Parenting

your child know: “On my way, be there in 10.” The child cannot text back.

And that’s all the phone can do on the child’s end: make a call to its 5 contacts, receive a call or text, make an emergency call and function as a watch. And for the, say, under-12 crowd, I’d guess that’s about all the average parent would want.

However, on the parent end, that’s where the functionality really takes off. Via a clean, simple interface, the FiLIP app lets parents: • Call their child.

• Text their child.

• Pinpoint their child’s location on

a map at any time via a GPS, GSM, and WiFi-powered Smart Locator feature. If you have multiple children each equipped with their own FiLIP 2, you can set up profiles for each and track them individually.

• Set up or edit SafeZones, a virtual radius around a location such as your home, school, a friend’s house, the dance studio, etc. The FiLIP will send you an alert each time your child enters and leaves a SafeZone, confirming that, yes, he got where he was going or he is now leaving.

The phone will even send you alerts when it is low on power, sharing its present battery life percentage and the fact it needs to be recharged.

• Make an emergency call.

FiLIP 2 costs $149.99. Monthly cost for the phone service is $10 per month, available only from AT&T. However, Filip notes that parents can have any carrier and use AT&T only for the FiLIP 2 service.

FiLIP 2 fills a niche for parents whose kids are too young for a smartphone but are old enough to be out and about with the beginnings of independence. It easily provides the fabled parental peace of mind at the touch of a button, for a low monthly price.

m o s s o l B y r r e h C

Festival

Solutions • Discipline strategies that work • Sleep and bedtime problems • Changing disrespectful behavior • Helping children with behavior problems in preschool settings

WORCESTER ART MUSEUM

Sponsored by Saint-Gobain, with additional sponsorship support from UniBank.

• Keeping your teen out of trouble • Dealing with parenting differences • Solving stepfamily problems • Making divorce work for children Visit our website for more information www.parentingsolutionsprograms.com

PARENTING SOLUTIONS

6 Colonial Drive Suite 2, Westboro, MA 508-366-7557

Sunday, March 22, 11am-5pm Experience the grace and beauty of Japan as we celebrate the start of spring with our Cherry Blossom Festival Community Day. Join us for Japanese-themed music, games, art making, performances, and more!

Free with Museum admission.

Media sponsor: Worcester Magazine

Sylvia Sirignano, Ph.D. Developmental Psychologist, Director Individual Parent Consultations Marital Mediation • Divorce Mediation Post-divorce Mediation and Consultation

WORCESTER ART MUSEUM / worcesterart.org f l n BAYSTATEPARENT 70 71

Family-friendly adventure close to home Explore miles of well-maintained biking and hiking trails through fields and forests.

Pitch a tent, paddle a canoe, enjoy a picnic in a state or local park or rustic campground.

Hike to the top of wachusett mountain for a breath-taking view - all the way from boston to the berkshires.

Take a world tour: visit an egyptian tomb, see african masks and figures, or marvel at intricate russian icons in local museums.

There's so much to see and do in Johnny's backyard - you'll want to come back again and again

appleseed.org 72 MARCH2015

Photo courtesy Club Passim

OUT& ABOUT

See the foundation of American Independence laid at the Boston Massacre Reenactment in front of The Old State House on March 7.

It’s time for a Teddy Bear Tea on March 20 in Concord.

Photo courtesy TCAN

Photo courtesy Concord Museum

Photo courtesy The Bostonian Society

Jazzy Ash and the Leaping Lizards Family Show brings original music inspired by traditional New Orleans jazz culture to Cambridge on March 22.

Guinness World Record Holding husband and wife duo, The Yo-Yo People, bring their cool tricks to Natick on March 28.

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OUT&ABOUT

Photo courtesy Boston Children’s Museum

MELTDOWN WARNING: Before you pack up the mini-van, please confirm your destination. Although we’ve done our best to ensure accuracy at press time, things can and do change…

Celebrate the Chinese New Year at the Boston Children’s Museum on March 1.

1 Sunday Lunar New Year Festival. North Quincy High School, 316 Hancock Street, Quincy.

10:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Come enjoy plenty of family-friendly activities, live performances, and vendors that have made this a not-to-be-missed event. Free. quincyasisanresources.org.

Chinese New Year Festival. Boston Children’s Museum, 308 Congress Street, Boston. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Celebrate the most important Chinese holiday of the year with cultural activities and performances. Free with museum admission: $14, children under 1 free. bostonchildrensmuseum.org.

Idea Hub. MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Explore topics in design and engineering with artistic circuits, 3D programs, and other hands-on making and tinkering topics. Recommended for ages 12+. Sundays. Free with admission. Adults $10, youth under 18 $5, children under 5 free. mit.edu/museum.

The Singing Turtle. Puppet Showplace Theater, 32 Station Street, Brookline. 1 p.m. & 3 p.m.

Encounter the art, music, and theatrical styles of Japan in this charming folk tale about friendship and generosity. Recommended for ages 4 to 10. $12. puppetshowplace.org.

Drop Into Art: All About Color. Danforth Art Museum, 123 Union Avenue, Framingham.

2 p.m.-4 p.m. Enjoy a variety of activities 74 MARCH2015 75

including color bingo, creating a collage, painting with acrylics, participating in a collaborative mural, and story time. Free. danforthart.org.

The Emperor’s New Clothes. Mechanics Hall, 321 Main Street, Worcester. 3 p.m.4 p.m. Experience this classic tale come to life in this performance following the vain Emperor tricked into wearing no clothes, and Katy the Bulldozer. Free. worcesterchambermusic.org.

Purim Palooza. Ready, Set, Kids, 284 Broadway, Arlington. 3:30 p.m.-5 p.m. Enjoy the fun comedy of Benjamin the Clown, create baskets filled with treats, and taste some Hamantaschen in celebration of this festive Jewish holiday. For ages 2+. $15 per family, $20 walk-ins. bostonjcc.org.

The Music of Disney. Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Ave., Boston.

7:30 p.m. Come enjoy the Berklee student orchestra, featuring some of the school’s finest vocalists and musicians, as they perform music from Disney films and television including The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Mary Poppins, and Frozen. $12-$16. berklee.edu.

2 Monday Deaf or Hard of Hearing Friendly Morning. The Discovery Museums, 117 Main Street, Acton. 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m.

Families with children who are deaf or hard of hearing are invited to this specially designated morning (closed to the public) designed with

their children in mind. Preregistration required.

Free. discoverymuseums.org.

4 Wednesday

MFA Playdates. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston. 10:15 a.m.11 a.m. Bring your toddler to enjoy story time and looking activities in the gallery, followed by art making around the theme of changing weather.

Recommended for ages 4 and under. Free with admission. Members free, adults $25, youths under 18 $10, children 6 and under free. mfa.org.

Free First Wednesday. deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, 51 Sandy Pond Road, Lincoln. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Explore the welcoming wonders and enchantment of deCordova with your entire family. Free. decordova.org.

Dr. Seuss Birthday Bash. Worcester Public Library: Main Branch, 3 Salem Square, Worcester. 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Help us celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday with stories, songs, cake, and a fun-filled “crafternoon.”

For ages 12 and under. Free. worcpublib.org. eBridge Montessori Parent Session and Tour. 57 East Main Street, Westborough.

4 p.m.-5:15 p.m. Learn about Montessori educational curriculum and discovery learning for children 15 months and older. Adults only.

Register ahead. Free. (508) 366-9266.

Bedtime Story Hour. Morse Institute Library, 14 East Central Street, Natick. 6:30 p.m.7:15 p.m. Join the Children’s Room for a program of stories, songs, and a simple craft or activity for families. For children ages 3 to 9 with adult. Free. morseinstitute.org.

3 Tuesday ASD Friendly Afternoon. The Discovery Museums, 117 Main Street, Acton. 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Families with children on the Autism Spectrum are welcome to enjoy this specially designed day, with a dedicated room available for families to navigate the campus, and provide a quiet space for children needing a break. Preregistration required. Free. discoverymuseums.org.

Tinker Tuesday. Worcester Public Library: Goddard Branch, 14 Richards Street, Worcester. 4 p.m.-5 p.m. Play with a variety of tech gadgets, circuitry, and other “junk” to create something fun. For ages 13 to 17. Free. worcpublib.org.

Peep Science Adventures. Children’s Discovery Museum, 117 Main Street, Acton.

10 a.m. Come explore the possibilities of reusing what we throw away or recycle. Free with admission. $11.50, children under 1 free. discoverymuseums.org.

Dance & Movement Class. Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton. 10 a.m.10:45 a.m. Participate in this specially designed music and movement class by the Joanne Langione Dance Center. For ages 2 to 5. Free. newtonfreelibrary.net.

Sip Some Sap. Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary, 208 South Great Street, Lincoln.

1 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Listen to a story of maple sugaring, take a walk out to our sugar bush as we check out our evaporator and see how sap is turned into syrup, and enjoy a tasty maple treat. Recommended for ages 3 to 12. Register ahead. Members $12, nonmembers $15. massaudubon.org.

Digital Photography. Worcester Public Library: Goddard Branch, 14 Richards Street, Worcester. 4 p.m.-5 p.m. Gain technical skills and learn artistic tips and tricks in this introduction to digital photography. For ages 13 to 17. Free. worcpublib.org.

Jazz Spring Concert. Tsai Performance Center, 685 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston.

8 p.m.-10 p.m. Featuring over 50 students in the BU Big Band, Jazz Combos, and Jazz Workshop, come enjoy one of life’s little pleasures: live music. Free. bu.edu/tsai.

5 Thursday

Learn Arduino. Morse Institute Library, 14 East Central Street, Natick. 6:30 p.m.8:30 p.m. Learn about this open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. For ages 11 to 18.

Register ahead. Free. morseinstitute.org.

SMART Gals. Science Discovery Museum, 117 Main Street, Acton. 2 p.m.-4:30 p.m.

Join us as we celebrate Women’s History Month and learn about women who have made important contributions throughout history to the fields of science, math, and art. Free with admission. $11.50, children under 1 free. discoverymuseums.org.

Silk Road Ensemble. Mechanics Hall, 321 Main Street, Worcester. 7:30 p.m.

Drawing together distinguished musicians from more than 20 countries, the Silk Road Ensemble presents memorable performances that live in the global awareness of music today. Adults $49, youth under 18 $5. musicworcester.org.

GIMP Workshop. Worcester Public Library: Goddard Branch, 14 Richards Street, Worcester. 4 p.m.-5 p.m. Learn the basics and make your own awesome picture through this open-source software that allows you to create original digital images. For ages 13 to 17. Free. worcpublib.org.

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OUT&ABOUT

6 Friday

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Curious Cubs. Franklin Park Zoo, 1 Franklin Park Road, Boston. 10:15 a.m.-11 a.m. Bring your tots to this exploration into the animal kingdom with plenty of hands-on activities.

For ages 3 & 4. Register ahead. Members $8, nonmembers $10. zoonewengland.org.

.

Sing me a Song with Fran Friedman.

Morse Institute Library, 14 East Central Street, Natick. 10:30 a.m.-11:15 a.m. Known for her uplifting, fun-filled performances, Fran Friedman presents a musical morning for all to enjoy. For ages 2 & 3 with adult. Register ahead. Free. morseinstitute.org.

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Free Friday Films. Museum of Science, 1 Science Park, Boston. 11 a.m.-9:50 p.m.

Experience the wonders of Mayan culture, the Galapagos Islands, the journey of Humpback Whales, and more in the museum’s Mugar Omni Theater. Recommended for ages 8 and up. Free. mos.org.

s

Maple Magic. Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary, 208 South Great Road, Lincoln.

3:30 p.m.-5 p.m. Celebrate the sweetness of maple as you listen to stories of the first sugar makers, delight your taste buds with a sweet maple treat, and check out our taps.

Recommended for children up to age 12.

Register ahead. Members $12, nonmembers $15. massaudubon.org.

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Family Board Game Night. Worcester Public Library: Roosevelt Branch, 1006 Grafton Street, Worcester. 4 p.m.-6 p.m. Choose from several board games as you play against your own family or another. Free. worcpublib.org.

Songs & Secrets of Shrek. Science Discovery Museum, 117 Main Street, Acton.

6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Look behind the curtain of Shrek the Musical, and join the cast and crew to learn about make-up, costumes, music and props needed to tell this hilarious story. Free with admission. $11.50, children under 1 free. discoverymuseums.org.

A-Town Teen Video Contest. The Regent Theatre, 7 Medford Street, Arlington. 7 p.m.

Come attend the community screenings of and award presentations to innovative films by creative teens in the area. $8. regenttheatre.com.

Astronomy After Hours. Museum of Science, 1 Science Park, Boston. 8:30 p.m.-10 p.m.

Visit the Gilliland Observatory on clear nights, where you can view stars, planets, the Moon, and other astronomical phenomenon. On cloudy nights, tour our Observatory and participate in astronomy-related activities. Weather permitting. Fridays. Free. mos.org.

7 Saturday Little Groove. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard Street, Brookline. 10:30 a.m.11:30 a.m. Come for this interactive music experience, where children will have fun using real instruments, interact with bubbles and puppets, and sing along to catchy songs.

Designed for children 8 and under. Adults $12, children $8. coolidge.org.

Family Tour. Worcester Art Museum, 55 Salisbury Street, Worcester. 10:30 a.m11:30 a.m. Explore the museum and galleries with your family on a docent-guided discovery, filled with fun facts, great stories, and time together. Free with admission. Adults $14, youth under 18 $6, children 3 and under free. worcesterart.org.

Beyond the Spectrum. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston. 10:30 a.m.12 p.m. Take a look at how artists have depicted the weather, rain or shine, in an adventurous art class designed for children on the Autism Spectrum. For children ages 8 to 12. Reserve ahead. $9. mfa.org.

Margot Fox Family Fun Show. The Regent Theatre, 7 Medford Street, Arlington.

10:30 a.m. Come dance, wiggle, and sing to this family-friendly folk rock concert from this experienced, entertaining, and wickedly

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talented performer. Members $7, adults $10, children under 12 $8. regenttheatre.com.

Caribbean Festival. Boston Public Library: Jamaica Plain Branch, 12 Sedgwick Street, Jamaica Plain. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Come experience authentic Trinidadian cooking, costumes, music, and dance to take a bite out of the winter cold. Free. friendsjplibrary.org.

Raccoon Tales. Puppet Showplace Theater, 32 Station Street, Brookline. 1 p.m. & 3 p.m.

Journey deep into the forest with the trickster Ring-Around-His-Tail Raccoon as your guide.

Runs through the weekend. Recommended for ages 4 to 10. $12. puppetshowplace.org.

Family Yoga Class. Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton. 1 p.m.-2 p.m. Embrace

this opportunity for an hour of fun, learning, and connection with your loved ones in a relaxing environment featuring cooperate games and poses. Designed for children ages 3 to 12 with caregivers. Free. newtonfreelibrary.net.

Boston Massacre Reenactment. The Old State House, 206 Washington Street, Boston.

7 p.m. Join us as we commemorate the 245th anniversary of the famous event. Come early to meet patriots, loyalists, and moderates.

Free. bostonhistory.org.

8 Sunday Maple Festival. South Shore Natural Science Center, 48 Jacobs Lane, Norwell.

11 a.m.-4 p.m. Join us for a sweet day

For more events, visit baystateparent.com Looking for parenting support?

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nd

Need a new book?

Head to the book swap in Salem on March 28.

CAPEN HILL NATURE SANCTUARY Get Back To Nature with Capen Hill Science and Nature Camps!

4 Exciting sessions starting July 13th! explore • learn • support

UMass Memorial Medical Center and New England Prenatal and Family Education offer classes for expecting women, new moms, their families and support persons.

Call 1-855-366-5221 or visit umassmemorial.org/healthymoms

Please visit our website to register now! Day camps ages 4-12 Visitor Center and Gift Shop Hours: Mon-Fri 9-2 • Sat 10-2

56 Capen Road, Charlton, MA • 508-736-3974 • Capenhill.org

UMassMemorial Medical Center

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

OUT&ABOUT as we explore maple history, culture, and production filled with sweet treats, fun crafts, and activities. Members $5, nonmembers $8. southshorenaturalsciencecenter.org.

Orin Etkin’s Timbalooloo. Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, 333 Nahanton Street, Newton. 11 a.m. Enjoy a mixture of music from around the world in this jazzy performance for the family. Recommended for ages 2 to 10. Reserved tickets $12, day of $15. bostonjcc.org.

 

Private Lessons & Group Classes Early Childhood Program Musical Theater: Music Man Jr. 36 King Street, Lileton, MA

www.indianhillmusic.org | 978.486.9524

Magic Show. Science Discovery Museums, 117 Main Street, Acton. 12 p.m. Join us as local young magician Rupayan Neogy shares his talents with us in this interactive performance geared towards families. Free with admission. $11.50, children under 1 free. discoverymuseums.org.

Chickadee Birder: Bird Nests. Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary, 208 South Great Road, Lincoln. 1 p.m.-3 p.m. Come examine bird nests closely to discover how and why birds build them, and then build your own nest around an egg to see if it will be protected from a drop off the hayloft. For ages 7 to 11.

Register ahead. Members $10, nonmembers $13. massaudubon.org.

Fun with Animal Footprints and Signs.

Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary, 280 Eliot Street, Natick. 1 p.m.-2:15 p.m. Come as we explore and learn about what tracks can tell us about which animals are active during the winter, where they go and how they survive. For ages 6 to 16. Register ahead. Members: adults $11, children $6; nonmembers: adults $13, children $8. massaudubon.org.

March 14 - 29

Saturdays 11 am & 2 pm Sundays 2 pm

I Love Lucy: Live. Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge Street, Worcester. 1 p.m. & 6:30 p.m. Come enjoy this brand-new hit stage show adapted from the most beloved program in television history.

Recommended for ages 12+. $33-$63. thehanovertheatre.org.

Ami and Tami. Boston Children’s Museum, 308 Congress Street, Boston. 2 p.m. Join us for the U.S. premiere of Matti Kovler’s interactive musical adaptation of Hansel and Gretel set in contemporary times. Free with admission. $14, children under 1 free. bostonchildrensmuseum.org.

9 Monday

Stageloft Repertory Theater 450A Main St., Sturbridge, MA

For Tickets: 508-347-9005 • www.stageloft.com 76 MARCH2015 77

The Addison in Bloom. Addison Gallery of American Art, 180 Main Street, Andover. 2 p.m.-3 p.m. Join us for a special reading of Miss Rumphius followed by a writing activity exploring ways to make the world more beautiful. Free. andover.edu.

10 Tuesday The Secret of Maple Sugar. Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary, 10 Juniper Road, Belmont. 3:30 p.m.-5 p.m.

Come discover the secret life of maple syrup as we collect sap, boil it down, and sample our very own syrup. For children up to age 6.

Register ahead. Members $15, nonmembers $18. massaudubon.org.

Pajama Story Time. Marlborough Public Library, 35 West Main Street, Marlborough.

6:30 p.m.-7 p.m. Children are invited to wear their pajamas and bring a favorite stuffed animal or toy for this story time followed by drawing and snack time. Recommended for ages 3 to 7. Free. marlboroughpubliclibrary.org.

11 Wednesday Garden Discovery. Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive, Boylston. 10 a.m.-11 a.m.

Come explore the notion of wind with a simple craft, story time, and journey outside for a short walk. For children ages 3 to 5 with caregiver.

Free with admission. Members free, adults $12, youth 6 to 18 $7, children under 6 free. towerhillbg.org.

Icky Sticky. Worcester Public Library: Main Branch, 3 Salem Square, Worcester. 10 a.m.11 a.m. Bring your toddlers to this sensory exploration designed by South Bay Early Childhood. For ages 3 and under with caregiver.

Free. worcpublib.org.

Artfull Play. deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, 51 Sandy Pond Road, Lincoln.

10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Fill your day with art and play through a unique opportunity to engage with art, materials, the environment, and new friends. For children ages 2 to 5 with adult. Free with admission. Adults $14, youth 12 and under free. decordova.org.

ArtNight’15. Springhill Suites Devens Common Center, 31 Andrews Parkway, Devens. 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Families are invited to enjoy this exhibition highlighting local artwork by youth from ages 6 to 18. Refreshments will be provided. Free. artsnashoba.org.

12 Thursday Spring in My Backyard. Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton.

2 p.m.-3 p.m. Spring with us by planting seedlings, making a bird feeder from pinecones, discovering how to compost, and meeting animal friends. For ages 5 and up. Free. newtonfreelibrary.net.

Zumba. Worcester Public Library: Roosevelt Branch, 1006 Grafton Street, Worcester.

For more events, visit baystateparent.com

OUT&ABOUT 4 p.m.-5 p.m. Get your exercise today in the best way — dance with Zumba on the big screen. For ages 8 and up. Free. worcpublib.org.

Hairspray: The Musical. The Regent Theatre, 7 Medford Street, Arlington. 7 p.m. You can’t stop the beat to this family-favorite musical set in 1962 Baltimore and performed by the Arlington Children’s Theatre. Runs through the weekend. $15. regenttheatre.com

13 Friday Where I Live. Puppet Showplace Theater, 32 Station Street, Brookline. 10:30 a.m.

Explore the wonders of places we inhabit in this wildly imaginative production styled through delightful vignettes. Recommended for ages 18 months to age 5. $12. puppetshowplace.org.

St. Paddy’s Day Treasure Hunt. The Curious George Store, 1 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge. 10:30 a.m.-11:15 a.m. Help us retrieve the colors of the rainbow that escaped our St. Patrick’s Day pot, as we read themed stories and search the store. Recommended for ages 2 to 6. Reserve ahead. Free. thecuriousgeorgestore.com.

Whooo Are Your Neighbors? Science Discovery Museum, 117 Main Street, Acton.

2:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Enjoy a unique opportunity to see owls up close and handle natural history artifacts as you learn about the owls in your neighborhood. Free with admission. $11.50, children under 1 free. discoverymuseums.org.

Nautical Night. MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge. 5 p.m.8 p.m. “Sea” research at MIT in a new light as you delve into ocean science and learn about the museum’s nautical collections and try your hand at some “knotical” challenges. Free with admission. Adults $10, youth under 18 $5, children under 5 free. mit.edu/museum.

ASD Friendly Family Evening. The Discovery Museums, 117 Main Street, Acton.

5 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Families with children on the Autism Spectrum are invited to participate in this specially designated evening closed to the public. Preregistration required. Free. discoverymuseums.org.

14 Saturday Little League Equipment Swap. St. Mary’s Church, 20 Summer Street, Shrewbury.

9 a.m.-12 p.m. Drop-off your “gently-used” or clean equipment that you no longer need between 6 p.m. Friday the 13th and 9 a.m. the 14th, and gain the opportunity to pick up new equipment for your child. $5 per item, $15 for 4. (508) 871-6754.

Sap to Syrup Farmer’s Breakfast. Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary, 208 South Great Road, Lincoln. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. As the maple sugaring season comes to a close, enjoy the result of our farmers’ hard work as you enjoy a hearty pancake breakfast and explore how sap is collected from trees. Register ahead. Adults $15, children 2 and older $12. massaudubon.org.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard Street, Brookline.

10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Experience this charming Wes Anderson adaptation of the classic Roald Dahl book, featuring the voices of George Clooney and Meryl Streep. Recommended for children ages 5 and up. Adults $8, children $6. coolidge.org.

The Irish Balladeers. JFK Presidential Library and Museum, 220 Morrissey Blvd., Boston.

10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, take a musical trip to the Emerald Isles with this performance mixing traditional stories and dances with authentic Irish music.

Designed for children 5 and up. Register ahead.

Free. jfklibrary.org.

Happy Pi Day. Science Discovery Museum, 117 Main Street, Acton. 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Discover the fascinating concept of pi as we explore and measure various circles and engage in other 3.14-tastic activities. Free with admission. $11.50, children under 1 free. discoverymuseums.org.

Pi Day Celebration. Boston Children’s Museum, 308 Congress Street, Boston.

11 a.m.-3 p.m. Come celebrate circles and all things round on this special 3.1415 Pi Day. Free with admission. Admission $14, children under 1 free. bostonchildrensmuseum.org.

Rumpelstiltskin. Puppet Showplace Theater, 32 Station Street, Brookline. 1 p.m. & 3 p.m.

Come enjoy this whimsical and light-hearted adaptation of the classic tale that comes to life with beautiful, large-scale puppet characters.

Runs through the weekend. Recommended for ages 4 to 10. $12. puppetshowplace.org.

Fun with Animal Footprints and Signs.

Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary, 280 Eliot Street, Natick. 1 p.m.-2:15 p.m. Come explore and learn about what tracks can tell us about which animals are active during the winter, where they go and how they survive. For ages 6 and up.

Register ahead. Members: adults $11, children $6; nonmembers: adults $13, children $8. massaudubon.org.

Family Drop-In. The Umbrella Community Arts Center, 40 Stow Street, Concord.

2 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Come enjoy a fun afternoon of creative and artistic explorations using a variety of materials and under the guidance

THINK SPRING! Saturday, March 7 Spring Vendor Fair

10:00am - 4:00pm Visit with local businesses and learn about their new Spring products & services

Saturday, March 14 Easter Bunny Hop

11:00am - 1:00pm Help E. Bunny hop into his Spring garden with some springtime fun & photos.

Kids Club members receive your very own bunny ears & tail.

Bunny hop begins at Noon

For more info please visit us at themallatwhitneyfield.com

KID’S CLUB

Join the club & join in the fun.

Membership is always free and includes monthly surprises, special offers, a membership card and a treat on your birthday

Sign Up Now at Customer Service

Burlington, JC Penney, Macy’s, Sears, Toys R Us & more than 60 specialty stores 100 Commercial Rd. Leominster, MA At the junction of Route 2 & I -190 978.537.7500 www.themallatwhitneyfield.com

For more events, visit baystateparent.com BAYSTATEPARENT 76 77

OUT&ABOUT Worcester. 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Come enjoy what is widely regarded as one of the most visually inventive silent comedies ever made starring Buster Keaton. $20. thehanovertheatre.org.

of The Umbrella’s talented instructors. Free. theumbrellaarts.org.

15 Sunday Artfull Explorations. deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, 51 Sandy Pond Road, Lincoln. 1 p.m.-3 p.m. Fill your weekend with art and family through group explorations of Sculpture Park installations, and engagements with materials and processes. Designed for ages 2 to 12 with adult. Free with admission. Adults $14, youth 12 and under free. decordova.org.

WingMasters: Birds of Prey. Fruitlands Museum, 102 Prospect Hill Road, Harvard.

1 p.m. Learn about raptors — or hunting birds — their adaptations, and the challenges they face in a changing world, with five live raptors.

Register ahead. Members $10, nonmembers $15. fruitlands.org.

Flat Stanley: The Musical. The Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont Street, Boston. 2 p.m.

Flat Stanley will take audiences on a whirlwind journey filled with infectious songs, laughter, and fun that you do not want to miss. $27. bostonchildrenstheatre.org.

Sherlock Jr. Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge Street,

16 Monday St. Patrick’s Day Craft. Boston Public Library: Hyde Park Branch, 35 Harvard Avenue, Boston. 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Come celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and make a festive hat or shamrock craft. Free. bpl.org.

17 Tuesday Irish Heritage Trail Guided Tour. Boston Common Visitor Center, 139 Tremont Street, Boston. 11 a.m. & 2 p.m. Come celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on this guided tour covering 300 fascinating years of Boston’s unique Irish history and heritage. Adults $15, children under 12 free. irishmassachusetts.com.

18 Wednesday Pajama Story Time. J.V. Fletcher Library, 50 Main Street, Westford. 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Come in your pajamas for this story time filled with songs and lots of fun. Recommended for ages 3 to 7. Free. westfordlibrary.org.

19 Thursday

activity as we paint on really big paper. Free. worcpublib.org.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The Shapiro Campus Center Theater, 415 South Street, Waltham. 8 p.m.-11 p.m. Come enjoy this musical around an eclectic group of youths vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime while disclosing candid hilarious and touching stories. $5. brandeis.edu.

21 Saturday Early Childhood Fair & Jamberries Concert. Watertown Middle School, 68 Waverely Avenue, Watertown.

9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Come to this fair for information on preschools, daycares, early intervention programs, and local organizations serving young children, and stay for the exciting and family pleasing Jamberries concert commencing at 11:30. Free. (617) 926-1661.

20 Friday Teddy Bear Tea. Concord Museum, 53 Cambridge Turnpike, Concord. 1:30 p.m.-4 p.m. Delight the child in your life with an afternoon tea or cocoa with their favorite stuffed animal. Reserve ahead. Members $15, nonmembers $20. concordmuseum.org.

Saturday Sit-With-Me. Morse Institute Library, 14 East Central Street, Natick.

10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Join us for a story and craft time covering the theme “Catch The Breeze”. For children ages 3 to 9 with adult.

Free. morseinstitute.org.

Bread and Bunnies. Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary, 208 South Great Road, Lincoln.

3:30 p.m.-5 p.m. Hop on down and join us in the kitchen for some hare-raising fun as we look to see what those rabbits have been up to. For ages 2 and up. Register ahead. Members $13, nonmembers $16. massaudubon.org.

Josh and the Jamtones. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard Street, Brookline. 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Come enjoy this new exciting Boston-based rock-and-roll family band as they create a unique and original music experience for every family member. Recommended for ages 3 and up. Adults $12, children $9. coolidge.org.

Giant Paper Painting. Worcester Public Library: Tatnuck Branch, 1083 Pleasant Street, Worcester. 4 p.m.-5 p.m. Come join in this fun

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OUT&ABOUT Debbie and Friends. The Regent Theatre, 7 Medford Street, Arlington. 10:30 a.m. Come with your kids for this interactive and always parent-adored energetic performance, where kids are active participants in every song, and the audience is as much a part of the show as Debbie and her band. Members $7, adults $10, children ages 2 to 12 $8, under 2 free. regenttheatre.com.

Photo courtesy Coolidge Corner Theatre

Bedtime Stories in the Morning. Concord Museum 53 Cambridge Turnpike, Concord.

11 a.m.-12 p.m. Join us in your pajamas and listen to stories about going to sleep and not wanting to go to sleep, and view original illustrations from classic and contemporary children’s books. Free with admission. Members free, adults $10, youth under 18 $5, children under 5 free. concordmuseum.org.

Critter Day: Zooshows. Boston Children’s Museum, 308 Congress Street, Boston.

11:15 a.m. & 12:15 p.m. Discover animals large and small, feathered and furry, fourfooted, two-footed, and no-footed, as we celebrate all kinds of animals. For ages 6 and up. Free with admission. $14, children under 1 free. bostonchildrensmuseum.org.

Shadows Around the World. Puppet Showplace Theater, 32 Station Street, Brookline. 1 p.m. & 3 p.m. Travel the world with shadows, stories, and songs, as we journey to China, Turkey and beyond. Runs through the weekend. For ages 4 and up. $12. puppetshowplace.org.

Capturing Insects with Pen and Pencil.

Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge. 2 p.m. & 3:30 p.m. Participants will observe the shapes, colors, and patterns seen in a variety of insects and learn techniques for drawing them realistically. Members $25, nonmembers $30.

Register ahead. hmnh.harvard.edu.

Bach Birthday Party. Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 73 Lancaster Street, Worcester. 7:30 p.m. Join the Salisbury Singers as they celebrate what would have been Bach’s 330th birthday in this enlivening baroque tribute to the renowned composer. Adults $25, students $10. salisburysingers.org.

Puppet Showplace Slam: International.

Puppet Showplace Theater, 32 Station Street, Brookline. 8 p.m. In honor of World Day of Puppetry, join us for this puppet slam featuring performances inspired by stories and puppet styles from across the globe. For ages 13 and up. $15. puppetshowplace.org.

22 Sunday Jazzy Ash and the Leaping Lizards Family Show. Club Passim, 47 Palmer Street, Cambridge. 10:30 a.m. This live show

Rock-and-roll family band Josh and the Jamtones perform in Brookline on March 21.

enchants children (and grown-ups!) with original music inspired by traditional New Orleans jazz culture. Shows include live instruments, colorful props and costumes, and plenty of opportunities for audience members to join in on the fun.

Non-Passim Members $10, Passim Members: $5, Children: $5. passim.org.

children under 1 free. discoverymuseums.org.

Creative Journaling. Worcester Public Library: Main Branch, 3 Salem Square, Worcester. 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Learn about writing and self-expression by journaling with words, photos, collages, and other art forms. For ages 8 to 12. Free. worcpublib.org.

The Rainbow Fish. TCAN Center for Arts, 14 Summer Street, Natick. 11 a.m. Come enjoy this delightful and touching musical adaptation of Marcus Pfister’s bestselling book about the value of sharing true friendship with others. Adults $12, children $10. natickarts.org.

25 Wednesday

Curious George Musical. Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, 333 Nahanton Street, Newton. 11 a.m. & 1 p.m. Come enjoy this new musical based on the adventure of the inquisitive, lovable little monkey. Recommended for ages 3 to 8. Members $11, nonmembers $13. bostonjcc.org.

23 Monday Welcome Spring Craft. Boston Public Library: Hyde Park Branch, 35 Harvard Avenue, Boston. 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Welcome back Spring as you cut and glue paper birdhouses for your front door. Free. bpl.org

24 Tuesday Block Party. Science Discovery Museum, 117 Main Street, Acton. 1 p.m.-4:30 p.m.

Explore and enjoy our collection of different blocks and other repurposed and recycled building materials. Free with admission. $11.50,

Dance & Movement Class. Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton. 10 a.m.10:45 a.m. Participate in this specially designed music and movement class by the Joanne Langione Dance Center. For ages 2 to 5. Free. newtonfreelibrary.net.

Artfull Play. deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, 51 Sandy Pond Road, Lincoln. 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Fill your day with art and play through a unique opportunity to engage with art, materials, the environment, and new friends. For children ages 2 to 5 with adult. Free with admission. Adults $14, youth 12 and under free. decordova.org.

Fibonacci Flowers. Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton. 4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Come learn what Fibonacci numbers are all about and where they appear in nature, and create your very own Fibonacci flowers.

For grades 2 to 4. Space is limited. Free. newtonfreelibrary.net.

Spring Woodcock Watches. Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary, 113 Goodnow Road, Princeton. 7 p.m.-8 p.m. Bring binoculars and view woodcocks as they put on incredible courtship flight displays, spiraling

200 feet into the air before descending rapidly.

Register ahead. Members free, nonmembers: adults $4, children $2. massaudubon.org.

26 Thursday Tiger Tales. Puppet Showplace Theater, 32 Station Street, Brookline. 10:30 a.m. Witness four performers blend Chinese and Western styles of shadow puppetry to create a delightful theatrical experience filled with wit and wisdom.

For ages 6 and up. Runs through the weekend. $12. puppetshowplace.org.

International Folk Music Festival. Berklee Performance Art Center, 136 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston. 8 p.m. Experience this annual performance showcasing a range of musical styles by students and faculty celebrating Berklee’s abundant international student population. $12. berklee.edu.

27 Friday Story and Nature Hour. Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary, 113 Goodnow Road, Princeton. 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Enjoy an hour of nature-themed fun with your youngster, as we read a book, make a craft, and go for a walk on one of the sanctuary’s beautiful trails.

For ages 2 to 5. Register ahead. Adults free, member children $2, nonmember children $3. massaudubon.org.

28 Saturday Eggs-cellent Art. Morse Institute Library, 14 East Central Street, Natick. 10 a.m.BAYSTATEPARENT 78 79

OUT&ABOUT 12 p.m. Come join us during this 2-hour drop-in craft time. For ages 3 to 10 with adult. Free. morseinstitute.org.

Book Swap. Senior Center, 5 Broad Street, Salem. 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Donate unwanted books, commercial CDs, DVDs and videos; all books will be accepted. Everything that doesn’t find a new home will be donated or recycled.

Materials can be dropped off in advance on Friday, March 27 from 5:30-7 p.m. or bring them with you on Saturday (before noon). Come take books, no donation or swap required. Free.

978-619-5679.

Bunny Eggstravaganza. South Shore Natural Science Center, 48 Jacobs Lane, Norwell.

10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. & 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Come as we decorate eggs with natural dyes, enjoy an egg hunt in the Children’s Garden, meet some spring animals, and more. Reserve ahead. Members $10, nonmembers $13. southshorenaturalsciencecenter.org.

Woolapalooza. Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary, 208 South Great Road, Lincoln.

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Celebrate Drumlin sheep with fiber, food, and fun, including viewing new spring babies, traditional hand shearing of our ewes, and opportunities to watch border collies herd sheep. Reserve tickets ahead. Members $10, nonmembers $12. massaudubon.org.

Yo-Yo People. TCAN Center for Arts, 14 Summer Street, Natick. 11 a.m. Guinness World Record Holding husband and wife duo put on an amazing and amusing performance featuring the classic toy. Adults $10, children $8. natickarts.org.

Healthy Kids Day. Boston Children’s Museum, 308 Congress Street, Boston. 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Visit the Teddy Bear Clinic and learn what happens in the hospital as you play and learn about healthy habits. $14, children under 1 free. bostonchildrensmuseum.org.

Opening Night Tickets $15!

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Paper Mitten Crafts. Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton. 2 p.m.-3 p.m.

Join us for a fun afternoon of creativity to create your unique decorative mittens or gloves sure to warm up your winter. For ages 6 to 10.

Free. newtonfreelibrary.net.

Go Wild! Harvard Museum of Natural History, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge. 2 p.m. Join Dr. Scott from Dinosaur Train for this interactive presentation offering inspirational advice and engaging activities aimed at hooking kids on nature. Free with admission.

Adults $12, youth 3 to 18 $8, children under 3 free. hmnh.harvard.edu.

Saturday Family Matinee. Worcester Public Library: Main Branch, 3 Salem Square,

Worcester. 2:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Come drop-in to enjoy Planes: Fire and Rescue with provided popcorn. For families with children ages 12 and under. Free. worcpublib.org.

29 Sunday Randy Kaplan. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard Street, Brookline. 10:30 a.m.11:30 a.m. Join this beloved and innovative children’s performer as he shares his trademark mix of bluegrass, calypso, Tin Pan Alley, and lullabies sure to please the entire family.

Recommended for ages 3 and up. Adults $12, children $9. coolidge.org.

International Day of Puppetry. Boston Children’s Museum, 308 Congress Street, Boston. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. See puppets of all shapes and sizes, participate in puppet-making workshops, demonstrations, and puppet shows.

Free with admission. $14, children under 1 free. bostonchildrensmuseum.org.

Sea Turtles Rescue. Blue Hills Trailside Museum, 1904 Canton Avenue, Milton.

2:30 p.m.-4 p.m Learn about Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary’s efforts rescuing sea turtles and other conservation projects in Massachusetts. Recommended for ages 12 and up. Register ahead. Members $5, nonmembers $7. massaudubon.org.

30 Monday Rabbit Craft. Boston Public Library: Hyde Park Branch, 35 Harvard Avenue, Boston.

5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. With Easter and Spring upon us, come create a cute and colorful rabbit windsock. Free. bpl.org.

31 Tuesday Mighty Mice. Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary, 10 Juniper Road, Belmont.

10 a.m. Come and learn about the five different species of mice that live in Massachusetts, do a craft, see a puppet show, meet a mouse, and play lots of mice games. For ages 3 to 5.

Register ahead. Members $6, nonmembers $8. massaudubon.org.

Celebrate Nano Days. Science Discovery Museum, 117 Main Street, Acton. 2 p.m.4:30 p.m. Experiment with Kinetic Sand, use a pencil to create electricity, test out some Nano pants, discover colorful thin films, and more.

Free with admission. $11.50, children under 1 free. discoverymuseums.org.

Visit baystateparent.com to post your family event. Email listings to editor@baystateparent.com.

For more events, visit baystateparent.com

Coming to theatres and DVD this month

By Jane Louise Boursaw

Cinderella PG for mild thematic elements In Theaters March 3 OK for Kids 7+ Reel Preview: 4.5 of 5 Reels We all know the story: When young Ella (Lily James) tragically loses her mother, her merchant father remarries and Ella welcomes new stepmother Lady Tremaine (Cate Blanchett) and her daughters Anastasia (Holliday

The Divergent Series: Insurgent

Home

Not yet rated; likely PG-13 In Theaters March 20 OK for Kids 13+ Reel Preview: 4 of 5 Reels

PG for mild action and some rude humor In Theaters March 27 OK for Kids 7+ Reel Preview: 4 of 5 Reels

This second movie in the “Divergent” series raises the stakes for Tris (Shailene Woodley) as she searches for allies and answers in the ruins of a futuristic Chicago. Tris and Four (Theo James) are now fugitives on the run, hunted by Jeanine (Kate Winslet), the leader of the power-hungry Erudite elite.

When Earth is taken over by the overly-confident Boov, an alien race in search of a new place to call home, all humans are promptly relocated as the Boov get busy reorganizing the planet.

But when one resourceful girl named Tip (Rihanna, who also contributes a song) manages to avoid capture, she finds herself the accidental accomplice of a banished Boov named Oh (Jim Parsons).

Tracers PG-13 for some intense violence, perilous action, sexual content and language In Theaters March 20 OK for Kids 14+ Reel Preview: 3 of 5 Reels After he crashes his bike into a beautiful stranger named Nikki (Marie Avgeropoulos), Cam (Taylor Lautner) is introduced to her crew -- a team that uses parkour to pull off heists. Hoping to alleviate his deepening debt to a violent crime gang, Cam quickly joins the group.

As the stakes get higher with more dangerous side ventures, the payouts get bigger and Cam must use every ounce of his skill to stay alive as the crew’s heists grow more daring with each job. Directed by Daniel Benmayor, this movie also stars Rafi Gavron, Adam Rayner and Sam Medina.

Grainger) and Drisella (Sophie McShera) into the family home. When Ella’s father unexpectedly passes away, she finds herself relegated to nothing more than a servant girl. But Ella is determined to honor her mother’s dying words, to “have courage and be kind.” When she meets a dashing stranger in the woods (Richard Madden), she’s unaware that he’s a prince. A glass slipper, a few mice, a pumpkin and a fairy godmother (Helena Bonham Carter) all play into the rest of the story.

The two fugitives realize there’s a lot more at stake than intergalactic relations as they embark on the road trip of a lifetime. Based on the novel “The True Meaning of Smekday” by Adam Rex, this movie is directed by Tim Johnson and also features the voices of Jennifer Lopez, Matt Jones and Steve Martin.

New on DVD: Leap Frog Letter Factory Adventures: Amazing World Explorers Not Rated On DVD March 10 OK for Kids 4+ Reel Review: 4.5 of 5 Reels This all-new Leapfrog movie teaches kids rhyming, storytelling and word building. The Letter Machine Rescue Team helps support children’s language and vocabulary skills, which is awesome since research has shown that vocabulary development, along with a grasp of grammar and language structure early on, is linked to school readiness, as well as reading and math achievement.

Jane’s Reel Rating System • One Reel – Even The Force can’t save it.

• Two Reels – Coulda been a contender.

• Three Reels – Something to talk about.

• Four Reels – You want the truth? Great flick!

• Five Reels – Wow! The stuff dreams are made of.

For more family movie previews and trailers head to baystateparent.com.

BAYSTATEPARENT 81

our march favorites fa sunday

monday

1 88 {Fact}

Who’s ready to spring ahead? More than 1 billion people in about 70 countries around the world observe Daylight Savings Time in some form.

15

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9

{WIN}

Keep kids’ lunches cold for up to 10 hours with PackIt’s freezable lunch bags. Fold the bag and keep it in your freezer overnight. The next morning send it to school; the product’s freezable gel liner keeps food cool without an ice pack. Enter to win a PackIt today at baystateparent.com.

16

22

23

29

30 {WIN}

82 MARCH2015 83

tuesday

wednesday

4

Worry Woo stuffed monsters were created to help children understand and express emotions, such as frustration, loneliness, insecurity and more. Get your chance to bring home Wince, the Monster of Worry, and his accompanying storybook by visiting baystateparent.com today.

10

24 BerryBreeze sits in your refrigerator and uses activated oxygen to prevent the premature aging of produce, fruit and meats by neutralizing bacteria and mold and eliminating pollutants, keeping foods fresh up to 2-3 times longer than normal.

For your chance to bring it home, visit baystateparent.com today.

5

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{WIN} 18 8 {Fact} 17 17 In traditional Irish folk tales, there are no female leprechauns, only smartly attired males.

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The Camelio 7” Tablet from Vivitar offers an advanced user experience in a kidfriendly device. More than 25 pre-installed productivity, utility, educational and game apps make the Android-powered tablet as much fun and useful for parents as it is for children.

Today’s winner will also receive a Batman-themed shock-proof case! Visit baystateparent.com today for your chance to win this great device!

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Kids can cuddle up anywhere with the mom-invented GoPillow, a portable, washable pillow with a retractable blanket.

Parents can use it as a nursing pillow with a built-in privacy cover-up, changing surface, infant pillow with attached swaddle blanket, toddler travel pillow, and much more. Learn how you can win the GoPillow at baystateparent.com today.

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The VERVE 2 next-generation tech toy requires no programming or electronics knowledge and gives users the ability to control a computer or the Internet with everyday objects. Get started in just 5 minutes and create fun projects, like turning bananas, apples or any other fruit into a musical instrument or make a burglar alarm that texts the user when their parents enter their room. Head to baystateparent.com today for details on how to enter to win this fun kit, which retails for $119.

28 28{Fact} The first washing machine was patented on this date in 1930. And parents everywhere have rejoiced since.

Starting on the date the prize appears, log on to

baystateparent.com

to enter for your chance to win.

BAYSTATEPARENT 82 83

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ADVERTISER INDEX African Arts in Education........................................... 63 Applewild School..................................................... 62 B.A.W. Inc.............................................................. 63 Backyard Adventures................................................ 33 Bancroft School....................................................... 87 Battleship Cove....................................................... 41 Beacon ABA Services................................................ 21 Big Y Foods, Inc........................................................4 Blackstone Valley Boys & Girls Club........................... 63 Boating in Boston.................................................... 56 Boston Children’s Theatre.......................................... 68 Boston Conservatory (The)....................................... 48 Build Me Up Play Center........................................... 56 Camp Half Moon..................................................... 61 Capen Hill Sanctuary................................................ 75 Casa Vallarta........................................................... 34 Central MA Dance Academy...................................... 57 Century Mill Stables................................................. 49 Charlotte Klein Dance Centers.................................... 60 Chess Camp/Washington Parent................................ 66 Children of Tomorrow, Inc (The)................................ 46 Children’s Development Network, Inc............................8 Cornerstone Academy..................................................3 Cornerstone Behaviorial Health.................................. 16 Country Montessori.................................................. 62 Danforth Museum of Art........................................... 46 DCU Center........................................................39,80 Dramatic Arts Youth Academy . ................................. 51 Eagle Hill School...................................................... 49 Ecotarium............................................................... 60 Exergen.................................................................. 39 Fay School............................................................. 32 Fitchburg Art Museum.............................................. 55 Fletcher Tilton PC..................................................... 20 FMC Ice Sports........................................................ 78 Giguere Gymnastics.................................................. 60 Girls Inc.................................................................. 67 Greater Quincy Child Care......................................... 67 Gymnastics Learning Center...................................... 66 Harrington Oil......................................................... 17 Heywood Hospital.................................................... 24 ID Tech................................................................... 51 Incrediflix............................................................... 66 Indian Hill Music School............................................ 76 Johnny Appleseed Trail Association............................. 72 Kathy Corrigan’s Full Day Care Center......................... 67 Lawrence Academy.................................................. 55 Legoland Discovery Center Boston.............................. 83 Let Go Your Mind Camp............................................ 58

Linx Camps............................................................. 49 Mall At Whitney Field............................................... 77 Marchand Financial, LLC........................................... 21 Mass Audubon - Central MA...................................... 53 Mass Audubon Society............................................. 67 Metrowest Jewish Day School................................... 68 Millbury Federal Credit Union.................................... 17 Millbury Savings Bank.............................................. 31 Mindset Learning..................................................... 52 Music Together Corporation....................................... 61 New Horizon Karate & More..................................... 62 Next Generation Children’s Ctr.....................................5 Nichols College........................................................ 41 NRHS Friends of Drama............................................ 69 Old Sturbridge Village............................................... 64 Pakachoag Community Music.................................... 43 Parenting Solutions.................................................. 71 Paula Meola Dance.................................................. 47 Perkins School........................................................ 43 PR Running............................................................. 27 Regatta Point Community Sailing..................................2 Reliant Medical Group.............................................. 28 Rovezzi’s Ristorante................................................. 12 Sharks Minor Holdings, LLC....................................... 32 Shawna Shenette Photography.................................. 31 Shrewsbury Children’s Center.................................... 70 Shrewsbury Montessori School.................................. 69 Signarama Worcester............................................... 41 Skribbles Learning Center.......................................... 63 Smith College ........................................................ 11 Stageloft Repertory Theater....................................... 76 Summer Fenn/The Fenn School................................ 48 Teamworks............................................................. 62 The Children’s Workshop........................................... 61 The Hanover Theatre..................................................6 The Learning Zone................................................... 33 The Whale Camp..................................................... 52 Turn 4 Hobbies........................................................ 17 UMass Memorial Medical Center.......................27,75,88 UNH Project SMART................................................. 52 Wachusett Theatre Company..................................... 22 Westfield Child Center................................................7 Wheelock College Theatre......................................... 53 Worcester Academy.................................................. 65 Worcester Art Museum.........................................59,71 Worcester JCC......................................................... 49 YMCA Central Branch............................................... 53 YMCA Greater Boston............................................... 43 YMCA-Metrowest..................................................... 65

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For advertising information contact Regina Stillings at regina@baystateparent.com or 508-865-7070 ext. 210.

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with Lizz Gordon

take eight

As director of the Girl Scouts’ 52-acre Camp Green Eyrie in Harvard, Lizz Gordon knows a thing or two about summer camp.

It will be a while before the tents go up, but Gordon took some time to talk summer camp with us, envisioning warm summer days and cool camping nights.

1

What are the 5 essentials every camper must pack?

1. Double the amount of socks and underwear they planned to bring.

2. Layers, as the temperature can be quite varied from day to night. 3. Pre-addressed stamps and envelopes. 4. Flashlight (and don’t forget those spare batteries!).

5. Sturdy shoes may sound simple, but the children will be more than appreciative they have them after a week of running, playing, hiking, and exploring.

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5

How do you see camp change a child?

One of the biggest changes I see in children is how they express themselves throughout their time at camp. They are given the opportunity to have a “clean slate,” allowing different sides of their personality to shine through and be comfortable amongst new friends. I see shy kids become extroverts, and natural leaders take the chance to step back and allow themselves to relax. I see children at camp gain independence, confidence, and self-appreciation as they express themselves in a way that only camp allows.

2

What is your favorite camp activity?

This is another hard question, but I would have to say boating. I love being out on the water, and before I was the Camp Director, I worked on the waterfront for several years.

There’s nothing better than taking a group of girls out to explore the pond, whether it is kayaks, canoes, sail boats or row boats – I love them all!

7

How have you seen the camp experience change over the years?

I have definitely seen the importance of the camp experience change for children, as it draws them away from technology, social media, and the pressure of staying connected. Screen time has become more integrated in children’s lives, and the chance to become “unplugged” at camp allows them to connect with nature, peers, and themselves on a deeper level.

What’s your favorite camp song?

That is a tough question for any camp staff person! I honestly have several, but to name one of these, it would be “Boom Chika Boom.”

It’s a repeat-after-me song that energizes and excites both campers and counselors. It gives them the chance to be silly and creative in the verses, and when we sing it at our Opening campfire, it definitely represents what the upcoming week will be like!

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What’s the No. 1 thing everyone forgets to bring to camp?

It’s not always on a summer camp’s packing list, but an often-forgottenabout item is a fitted sheet. A fitted sheet not only provides a little comfort of home (especially for those kids who are unfamiliar with sleeping in a camp setting), but also offers more comfort during those nights when the sleeping bags slips a little and you wind up laying against the mattress.

6

What would parents be surprised to learn about camp?

I would have to say how much their child can grow and become independent in one week. Camp teaches children so many different lessons and life experiences, such as working together with people they’ve just met, keeping track of their own belongings, and taking control of how they choose to experience camp.

If you could camp anywhere in the U.S., where would you go?

I would love to go to some of the National Parks out west, such as Yosemite, Yellowstone, and the Grand Canyon. I have yet to travel out West, and I would love to experience these beautiful places first hand.

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