A Note from The Director November 2014 Dear ICDC Families, Here at ICDC, we are in the “business” of education, but isn’t education, or the pursuit of life-long learning, something everyone should enjoy? As much as our primary role here is educating, and caring for, the children, we also see ‘parent education’ as part of our mission. We want to be here for you – to work with you, guide you, offer supplemental knowledge, and join with you as we care for your children together. Are there areas in which you would like to grow as a parent? Perhaps there are topics you wonder about, an area within the field of child development that you wish you knew more about, or questions that have come up for you as you are in the midst of parenting your children. Sibling rivalry? Toilet training? Bedtime issues? Your feedback will help us develop and plan workshops that might meet your needs. I am curious to know what topics might be of interest, as well as what time of day might suit you best. Please take the time to complete the brief survey attached to this newsletter – anonymously if you like – and return it to us at school as soon as possible. I also want to invite you to stop by our Parent Resource Center, located in the alcove just off the administrative offices. There, we have a wealth of information available to you, including a number of books by Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, leading expert in child development. Later this month, on Tuesday, November 18, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m., I will be presenting a workshop for both teachers and parents on discipline and moral development in young children. If you would like to join us, please give us a call so we can plan accordingly. As always, we are here for you, to answer your questions or concerns. Thank you for sharing your children with us. It is a gift to be a part of their growth and development. Warmly, Julie Oudin
‘Like us’ on Facebook, our page is listed as Interfaith Child Development Center. Please encourage your friends to ‘like us’ too.
IMPORTANT DATES Please see page 7 for the many important dates this month. ICDC Newsletter
Curriculum Corner November 2014
Science Lab Fall is finally here! The change in weather will bring changes in nature (and hopefully soon!). Our scientists will spend some time this month discussing the changing colors that we see around us in the fall. They will also have fun mixing colors and looking at objects with the different fall colors. We will also use our some of our science tools to weigh, measure, and compare different fall objects. Here are some great books to read with your children this month: Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni Color Dance by Ann Jonas Why Do Leaves Change Color? By Betsy Maestro Mouse’s First Fall by Lauren Thompson
Literacy News: Acting out Stories is Fun You have heard over and over again that our curriculum here at Interfaith Child Development Center is a literacy-based one, and it is true! Books and experiences to promote early literacy development are integrated throughout every corner of our classrooms. But, by far and away, one of the most “fun” things children can do with books is to act them out. There is no doubt about it, children learn by doing, and by playing. When children act out adult-authored books, when they DO WHAT THE WORDS SAY, the books take on new meaning and come to life. Even the youngest of children – one and two year olds – enjoy these dramatizations. The board books by Helen Oxenbury, such as Tickle Tickle and All Fall Down are a great way to begin. As children get older, they enjoy more ‘complicated’ stories such as the 3’s: Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, and The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Pictured below are some of the children from A-13 in Lauri Cleek and Minerva Gonzalez’s class, having fun with that favorite story about three goats and one not-so-nice troll!
ICDC Newsletter
Health & Safety Autumn is a beautiful season with the leaves dropping and the cooler weather. Along with the season comes more time spent indoors which leads to the spread of colds and the flu.
• Most are aware of the signs of the common cold such as sneezing, stuffy nose, coughing, and sore throat. There are 100s of different virus strains and there is no vaccination available for the common cold. Most of the time, colds should not be treated by antibiotics. Antibiotics only fight bacteria not viruses, and overusing antibiotics can cause resistance. Be careful when offering your children overthe-counter (OTC) medications. Many are not appropriate for young children. The best way to treat a cold is getting plenty of rest, fluids, good nutrition, and treating symptoms as necessary.
Influenza, commonly called the flu, is not the same as the stomach "flu" viruses that cause diarrhea and vomiting. The flu might start out with symptoms similar to a cold, but the flu comes on more suddenly and severely. Symptoms of the flu include fever, aching muscles, chills/sweats, headache, and weakness. It is important to see a doctor if you or your child have signs of pneumonia, bronchitis, sinus infection, or ear infection. The annual flu vaccine is one of the most effective ways to prevent getting the flu. Now is a good time to consider getting flu vaccinations for you and your family to allow for your body to build some immunity before the flu season reaches its peak (typically in JanMar).
The best way to help prevent spreading infection is through hand-washing with soap and water or alcohol-based hand rub. Try to teach your children to sneeze into a tissue or their elbow instead of on their hands. Avoid touching hands to your mouth, eyes, or nose. If your children have a fever over 100.4 degrees, diarrhea, vomiting, unusual discharge from ears or eyes, mouth sores, suspicious rashes, or lethargy please keep them at home.
Have a happy and healthy fall season!
ICDC Newsletter
ICDC Parent’s Club From The President
On behalf of the entire Parent’s Club, we would like to say thank you for supporting our school with your t-shirt orders! We sold 371 shirts!! That is awesome! A big hooray to Lesley Work, as well, for chairing this event and for doing such an outstanding job! ICDC Spirit Days are every Thursday and Friday so have your child wear their new t-shirt to show school spirit! Thank you also to all of our SUPERHEROES who participated in our Innisbrook fundraiser! Amounts earned and other details to come soon… Thank you to our Innisbrook Chair, Elizabeth Reno, for all of her hard work!
A final thank you also to our room parents for organizing our classroom basket donations for the silent auction! The baskets look amazing and we couldn't do it without our parents! Thank you for your generous donations! Our Silent Auction and Family Night will be held on Friday, March 6, 2015. So mark your calendars now to attend this fun, family event! The holidays are quickly approaching and so is the Holiday Teacher/ Staff Appreciation Brunch! This is our chance to show our teachers and staff how much we appreciate them and everything they do for our children. The brunch will be held on Thursday, December 11th. There are many ways you can participate --- you may sign up to bring food, volunteer to take food from cars during carline, or help at the brunch. Sign-up information will be coming soon! Please join us in celebrating our ICDC staff!!
And last, but not least, the numbers are in and our spirit day event with Chick-fil-A earned $195 for our school! This is the highest earning spirit event for our school! Be on the look-out for our next one coming soon… Our next Parent’s Club meeting will take place on November 11th at 1:00 pm, with a silent auction meeting to follow at 1:45 pm. All are welcome! If you have any questions, please contact me at skdelapaz@gmail.com or 713/851.1411. I hope you and your families have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving! Shannon de la Paz ICDC Parent's Club - President
Does your employer operate a matched giving program? Several large companies operate matched giving programs where they will either match a donation made by an employee to ICDC or offer funding where employees volunteer time at the school or a school fundraising event. Corporate gift matching programs enable you to increase the value of your gift to ICDC thanks to your employer matching it to a varying percent.
To find out if your company operates such a program please contact your Human Resources department who should be able to provide you with further information. If your company does have a matching program they should be able to advise you how to take part and make the value of your gift to ICDC even greater. If you need any information from the school to enroll in such a program please contact the Director, Julie Oudin.
ICDC Newsletter
2015 Silent Auction Under the Sea Friday, March 6, 2015 Planning for the ICDC 2015 Under the Sea Silent Auction and Family Night is well underway and there is a way everyone can help. Next time you are having your hair styled or getting a facial, ask the owner if they would like to help your child’s school by donating a gift card or basket of products. Remember, every business you patronize wants more customers like you! Just think… •
Does your friend or neighbor have a business that would benefit from new clients or marketing? Accounting services, lawn care, personal training, catering, pet services, physical or speech therapy, photography…
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Do you or does someone you know have a special hobby that could provide our auction with a one-of-a-kind, custom made creation? Is your Dad a woodworker who could create a play table & chairs, a monogrammed toy truck or a dollhouse? Does your Mom quilt, sew or create treasured scrapbooks or floral arrangements?
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Do your friends or cousins have a vacation home that they would be willing to provide for an awesome family get-a-way?
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Perhaps you have something in the attic that was gifted to you at Christmas 3 years ago that you will never use? A bread maker? A telescope? A bone china tea set?
When you think about it, we can all help in some small way. And the kindness of our friends, family and acquaintances is what helps our school thrive. All donations and the contributors will be listed in the Silent Auction program which is distributed to every family in our school. We also display the merchandise or gift card at the event where it will be viewed by hundreds of people. There is also opportunity to purchase ads in our Silent Auction Program. If you have a donor in mind, please email our Silent Auction Co-Chairs Mary-Kathryn D’Agostino mkdagostino@sbcglobal.net or Shannon de la Paz skdelapaz@gmail.com for our easy to complete Silent Auction forms.
ICDC Newsletter
Other news Each month our Parent’s Club is highlighting one of our staff in their newsletter. This is a great way for you to learn more about our wonderful teachers and staff.
My name is Beverly Bennett, and I am a new three-year-old teacher at Interfaith. I have the wonderful honor of co-teaching with Carina Schultz. Together, we share the exciting adventure of twenty-nine three and four-year-olds each week! I have recently moved back to the Conroe area after living in Tennessee for several years. My husband and I lived in The Woodlands during the 90’s. Two of my daughters graduated from The Woodlands High School. After the loss of my husband in 2008, I returned to Texas to be close to my daughter and her family. I love spending time with my two precious grandchildren! One of my greatest joys in life has been working with children. I have spent over the past thirty plus years “teaching” and “loving” children of all ages. It has been a true blessing watching so many little ones blossom and grow through their learning experiences! I have met many wonderful people at Interfaith and am proud to be a part of the teaching staff. I know that we are going to have a GREAT YEAR!
911 While we hope this never happens, if your child needed attention from emergency medical services, you would want them to be able to pull up right in front of our building.
It is for that reason we ask you to PLEASE be respectful of our fire lanes. The red curb areas are NO PARKING ZONES. When parents repeatedly park in these areas, they pose a serious hazard in the event that an ambulance or fire truck needs access to our building.
Please do not park in the fire lanes designated by the red curbs. A special thank you to Richard Patzig, husband of Bobbie Patzig, teacher in P-19, for his donation of time, effort and supplies in repainting our red curbs/fire lanes! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
ICDC Newsletter
Happy Harvest A big thank you to all those who helped with our Parade of Costumes and fall parties. Imagination and pretend play bring joy to all of us!
ICDC Donation Helps Puppies Everywhere Here are ICDC, in addition to educating your children, we are helping to build character. Part of this involves encouraging the children to perform acts of kindness towards others. This includes animals as well as people. This fall, when we purchased new nap mats for your children, we tried to find worthy organizations which could make use of the old ones. Over 40 of these mats were donated to the following organizations to provide warmth and shelter for some needy dogs and puppies:
Operation Pets Alive Foreshadow Pet Resorts Pawsitively Petsitting It’s nice to know that the mats could be recycled and be put to good use. Share this story with your children and encourage them to perform acts of kindness. Even young children can learn to feel good by helping others.
November 2014
Important Dates
Thurs. & Fri.
Spirit Days – wear your ICDC T-shirt
November 7
Re-Screening for Vision and Hearing – 4-Year-Olds
November 18
Teacher Training Series (Parents are Welcome) “Following the Rules: The Acquisition of Children’s Moral Development” presented by Julie Oudin. 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
November 24-28
No Partial Day Preschool, School Day, and MDO Classes
November 26
Thanksgiving Day Eve Open at 6.30am Close at 5.00pm
November 27-28
Thanksgiving Holiday Break – Center Closed
ICDC Newsletter