St. Paul's Childhood Center
Providing nearly forty years of excellence in early childhood education.
Text Only Version of May 2009 NewsletterThe Newest Member of the SPCC Family!
Our Infant Room Coordinator Tina Draper had her first baby on February 8, 2009! Baby Stella was almost six weeks early, but born healthy and cute as a button!
Tina has
returned from maternity leave; and is welcoming all the discoveries of being a
new mommy! Even when she came to SPCC with Stella to visit, she already looked
like her old self only with a new glow, radiating with happiness holding her
beautiful little Stella!
PAC
It’s been a while since we have had a
regular PAC Meeting!
Our next meeting
is scheduled for Tuesday, May 12 at 9:00-10:00am.
Sue came up with
a schedule of PAC Meetings she thought may be more conducive to parent
participation, the full meeting schedule is posted on our website. Please email
us with any feedback you have!
Center Bytes
If you have
noticed some of the great looking aesthetic improvements, Sue has been
decorating! Her mom helped out with the hallway window and made the cover for
the bench and the curtains, which was incredibly nice of her.
Believe it or
not summer is just around the corner! This summer we will welcome back Mary
Clauser (and her son Dimitri) and Megan Lieder as seasonal floaters! We are so
excited to see them!
Also, our
fabulous Bethany from the Infant Room will be taking on the School Age Program
and Sarah Hansen will slide into Bethany’s Infant room spot for the summer.
Bethany is super creative and fun, the school aged kids are so lucky!
SPCC Page 6
The staff puppy
trend is still in full swing...new puppies to add to list: Zooey (Tina G.’s),
Lucy (Megan T.’s), Blanca (Diane’s)...to add to Atlas (Nils’, Albert (Tina
G.’s), and Henry (Ashley’s). At any given time you can come to the office and
visit one or two of these puppies, (a fact that SPCC kids know very well, thus
have taken to LOVING visits to the office).
Another trend
still going strong? Babies!!! Did you happen to notice one of the cutest baby
bumps ever on our Ashley (of RM A)? She’s due in October! She and her husband
Geoff also just purchased a house very close by, thus she’ll be neighbors with
many SPCC families! Congrats to Ashley and Geoff on everything new and exciting
in their lives! Third staff trend? Beaches...Nils went on a cruise a few months
back, Sue went to Mexico, Mindy will soon be flying off to Oahu, and Bethany
will be going in the summer.
The Artist’s
Focus
Diane
has been super incredibly busy the past few moths! She’s been working in
classrooms so much that some art classes were missed.
Luckily
vacations and maternity leaves seem to be calming down! Diane is even starting
to work with the Infant Program.!
Diane
is also still finishing up the art studio, adding some new components and has
lots of exciting ideas for the summer!
Thank
you to all the parents and families that attended our last art show, we’ll keep
you posted on the next one!
Sue’s Corner
Sue
has been busy, busy busy!
She
picked out the new colors of the hallway and worked with her Mother to
transform the hallway bench into a warmer, more inviting area. Sue’s Mom did a
wonderful job making the bench cushions and curtains! Sue also redecorated the
front entryway to give it a more welcoming feel!
She
chose art work for the walls and shelving to give the center a little bit of a
“face-lift.”
Sue also has been working super hard preparing files for when the center is re-licensed (this happens once every two years, and we are due any time!). So if you’ve seen notices and extra paperwork it is to make sure everything is ready for our licensor and up-to-date.
Sue
has worked really hard to keep the center financially viable, and along with
the relief of Spring to thaw off an icy winter, we have the relief of exiting
the “survival mode” the center has been in the past two years and look forward
with the hopes of a prosperous year ahead of us!
It
hasn’t been all work and no play– that would make Sue a very dull girl! So, she
did find time to kick up her heels and relax on the sandy beaches of Puerto
Vallarta!
Stress and Your Child
I
think it’s safe to say that everyone has felt the impact of the past year,
emotionally and financially. The kids have too, in the past year there was a
noticeable increase in illnesses among children and challenging behaviors. There were times when the need to survive
overcame the genuine desire to improve upon the center’s educational
programming. All of you have felt the impact in several differing ways as have
the teachers. The hope that is we are moving into a time of renewal.
Periodically
I steal some time to devote to seeking out what’s going on in the broader field
of early childhood education and research. I came across many studies focusing
on stress and how it impacts the architecture of the brain, being exposed to
“toxic stress” decreases brain volume in a developing brain, with weaker
connections between the left and right sides. Interestingly enough a little
stress is much needed; “early exposure to manageable amounts of stress helps
the body’s chemical stress-response system to
evolve in an effective way.” Physiologically, mild stress is important
for infants as well; in conditioning appropriate responses from the brain and
hormone systems to more serious stressors that may arise.
The best answers we have for helping our children to be successful? “Quality prenatal care, confronting child abuse and neglect, ensuring the best possible child care, addressing depression and mental health challenges (for parents and caregivers), advocate for change in public policy regarding funding for early childhood education.” (1)President Obama has pledged a much needed and unprecedented $10 billion for early childhood education. The goal is to get organized systems in place to ensure high quality early childhood education, which means teachers educated in early childhood development and paid well for their work as well as standards set in place that help to foster success in teaching and learning– not just setting a minimum standard of acceptable care to be met. Knowing what’s going on in the field can help you be a voice for your child and all children. For information on public policy you can visit : www.naeyc.org/policy I came across much information regarding the prevalence and effects of depression in parents and caregivers. Less than half of depression sufferers seek help and when they do cost can be a significant barrier. Depressed parents and caregivers have difficulty responding to their children in ways that make them feel loved and secure; consequently the children suffer a number of adverse effects.
Reading
all of this information reminded me that I had an idea to start a group with
the focus being supporting parents, especially new parents as enrolling your child in group care for the first time can cause
parents to have feelings of guilt, anxiety and conflicting feelings regarding
family and career. I have also had phone
calls asking for a parent support resource. I would like to explore starting a
group like this more, if you have feedback let me know!
1.
References:
http://www.developingchild.net/pubs/persp/pdf/Stress_Architecture_Brain.pdf
2.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/uspolitcs/17early.html
3.NIEER
(National Institute Early Education Research)
Close-Up With Sarah Hansen
Each month I’ll be interviewing a staff member as a fun way to share more of the wonderful people who take care of your (and mine as well) children everyday!
Q:
How did you come to work at SPCC?
A:
A friend of mine, Evelyn Hernandez,
worked at SPCC and suggested it. I had just studied abroad and was working at a
Spanish Charter school. In the fall that will have been six years ago!
Q:
What is a memorable SPCC moment?
A:
Water fights on “Water Day,” and then freezing in the ice cold air conditioning
all wet!
Q:
Do you have a favorite age group to work with?
A:
I like working with all pretty equally, each has their pros and cons/
Q:
What is your favorite thing about SPCC?
A:
(after “the kids”): It’s a unique place and draws a diverse group of
interesting teachers and cool, fun families.
Q:
How do you see child care differently now that you have Diego?
A:
I now know the struggles and stress of having to bring your child to other
people to take care of. I have more sympathy for parents, dropping off there
children with people they don’t know as well as I know Diego’s teachers.
Q:
How has being a mother changed you as a teacher?
A: I now have a parent perspective first hand, so I can relate to parents more. I also see individual requests through a different light, with more understanding.
A Note From Tina
If
you are wondering where all the newsletters have been, this one started as a February,
then March, and April until it became the May Newsletter! I have been spending
most of my time in classrooms, as I will be in the weeks ahead. I have
absolutely loved spending time with the infants and other rooms, but it is nice
to make a dent in the pile waiting for me on my desk. Once I can spend
m0re regular time in the office I can
get back to regular newsletters and web updates.
I
want to say thank you to people who brought things in for my brother Greg
stationed in Afghanistan. One of his squad mates recently took his own life, so
I know that his group is definitely feeling extra pressure and stress right
now– knowing there are lots of people thinking about all of them helps through
the roughest moments.
While
sifting through the research citing stress as the main challenge for children
and families currently, I came across some great information about involving
children in animal advocacy and pet therapy. Professor of Early Childhood
Education at California State University, Jyotsna Pattnaik wrote an article
called “On Behalf of Their Animal Friends: Involving Children in Animal
Advocacy.” This article highlighted some of the social/emotional benefits of
pet therapy, and she argues for the vast attributes of the child-animal
relationship in terms of education including, “preparing school children as
caring, compassionate, and eco-friendly individuals.”
The
article which was well articulated and informative also touched on how
child-animal interactions and care have a gender neutral aspect that has some
really positive implications especially for boys “who very early internalize
the misperception that caring is a feminine domain.” There are also researched
health benefits; just petting an animal induces a calming sensation in children
and adults.
I’ve
found that children visiting the office love seeing one or two of the dogs that
may be visiting, (and calm down quickly if they came in upset) I think it’s a
great benefit to children and staff! When my newest dog, a little Maltese named
Zooey is old enough I plan on taking him through Dog Therapy Certification.
So
not only is Zooey just plain cute– he brings with him a wealth of benefits to
children and teachers who visit him in the office!
Special Dates to Remember
May
5 Happy Cinco de Mayo!
May
8 Mother’s Day Breakfast 7-9am
May
10 Happy Mother’s Day!
May
11 Happy Birthday
Lorraine!
May
12 PAC Meeting 9-10am
May
13 Happy Birthday Sue!
May
16 Armed Forces Day
May
19 Happy 6 Year Anniversary Lorraine!
May
20 CPR
Class 6-10 Great Hall
May
25 SPCC Closed-Memorial Day
June
3 Room X Graduation
4-5pm
