From the Principal’s Office
Happy Holidays!
The staff and management of Chesterbrook Academy would like to wish you and your family a blessed holiday season. We have the wonderful good fortune to always get to see this special time through the eyes of a child. You can have the same sense of wonder if you slow down and savor the joys of the holidays. Experience the wonder of seeing Christmas lights for the first time…drive around the city or visit McAdenville (a.k.a Christmas Town, USA). Bake Christmas cookies together…Choose an Angel from one of the many Angel Trees in our area and teach your child the true meaning of Christmas…Sing Christmas carols…Visit a Nursing Home or a shut-in and watch an elderly person’s face light up…Visit Santa at the Mall…Attend services at the church of your choice…See a Christmas Play…Attend a Holiday Concert…Watch a televised Christmas Special…Whatever you do, let your inner-child out to play and this will be a special holiday season!
From our house to yours…Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Calendar of Events
December
Dec. 7, 2019 Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
Dec. 11, 2019 Special Guest: Trinity Ridge Resident Reads (Present Gift Baskets for Residents)
Dec. 13, 2019 PJ Day (Present Pajamas to Family Care Center)
Dec.18, 2019 Pre-K (Ms. Melissa) Christmas Program 2:45pm
Dec. 19, 2019 “Do You Want to Build a Snowman? “ Day
Dec. 19, 2019 Pre-K 2 (Ms. Kim) Christmas Program 2:45pm
Dec. 20, 2019 Ugly Christmas Sweater Day
Dec. 22, 2019 Winter Begins
Dec. 23, 2019 – Jan. 3, 2020 Catawba Co Schools Closed
Dec. 24, 2019 Chesterbrook Academy Closing at 12 noon
Dec. 25, 2019 Christmas Day Chesterbrook Academy Closed
Dec. 26, 2019 Kwanzaa Begins
For Parents and Teachers
Outside Play in Winter Months
It’s that time of year to have outdoor wintertime fun! Article 7, Chapter 110 of the North Carolina General Statutes requires that each childcare center arrange for each child to be outdoors each day, “weather permitting”. “Weather permitting” can be defined as any time except adverse weather (i.e. heavy rain, temperatures below 20° F, Code Orange or Red Ozone/Fine Particulate Pollution Action Days). Operators must use best judgment when deciding to take children outdoors. Remember that short periods of time outdoors MUST be provided even in hot or cold weather. Playing in gentle snow or rain can be both educational and fun for children. Outdoor play is required as part of the daily activities in a child care center. Children who are too ill or cannot go outdoors are not able to participate in all the daily activities and should be excluded from care. All children must be able to participate in all daily activities. If a child is not able to go outside, the child is not well enough to be at the center. All children, including infants, must be taken outdoors daily. If the weather is too bad for the children to go outside, the center must provide some vigorous activities indoors such as a movement experience of gross motor game (Childcare Handbook). Going outside into the cold weather is a stimulating and fun experience. So bundle up and enjoy!
Winter Weather Advisory
With the threat of winter weather approaching, we thought we’d take this opportunity to share with you our inclement weather policy. We will do our best to be open every day, even during bad weather. However, if it is icy and road conditions are hazardous to the safety of your children and our staff, we will delay opening until after the sun has come up and the roads have had time to improve. In most cases, we will delay opening until 8:30am. If severe weather develops during the day, most parents will begin picking up their children early. When the number of children in the building drops below 20, we will begin calling and asking parents to pick up their child(ren) so that we can all get home before road conditions deteriorate. We DO NOT follow the Catawba County School closing schedule and will be here for your child. In the event of an inclement weather closing or delay, we will always put a message on our voice-mail and on our website stating our intentions for the day. We will also send an email blast through our Links2Home system. Please watch WBTV/Channel 3 or log-on to www.wbtv.com for school closing information. (We recommend going to the web-site if possible…when WBTV3 scrolls through all of the many area closings, it may take up to 30-45 minutes for Chesterbrook Academy -Hickory to scroll back around, and then WBTV will almost always go to a commercial break and you miss it!)
Reminders!
All payments are due on Friday preceding each week. A $25.00 late payment fee is assessed after
12 noon Monday, no exceptions!
To avoid a late fee, make your payment online through the Parent Portal, pay over the phone with credit/debit card, or consider signing up for Electronic Funds Transfer as a back-up. With EFT, if for some reason you forget to make a payment before 12 noon Monday (i.e. your child was out sick, you went out-of-town, etc..) your payment would be made electronically late Monday evening and you would not be charged a late fee. For your convenience, Chesterbrook Academy accepts VISA, MasterCard, and Discover A 2% processing fee will be charged per transaction.
From the Education Department
December, 2019
|
Topics: Social-Emotional Learning
The holidays are a time for giving, and as you know, our schools are doing their part in giving back to those in need. We greatly appreciate all the parent support with these initiatives, in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. The donations not only[.....]
Read More »
Teaching Children the Meaning of Giving
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead
With the holiday season upon us, it is easy to get swept up in our wish lists and wants for ourselves and our families. Now, however, is the ideal time for us to step back and teach our children that while it is fun to receive, it is equally as fulfilling to give. Frequently, the question is raised, “when is the best time to begin teaching children about giving?” The answer can be found in a recent study which showed that children as young as 21 months of age show signs of empathy when in the presence of negative emotions such as sadness or anger (Hoffman, 2000). With this sense of care for others emerging so early, it is imperative that we begin introducing charity and service to others now. So how can you foster an appreciation for giving in your child at home?
Model and suggest sharing of items that your child enjoys. For example, next time you bake cookies, ask your child if he would like to share some with a neighbor or friend. This gives your child personal relevance to the offering. Read books with your child that focus on the importance of giving. These literary references give you a reference point when you are discussing giving with your child, “Don’t you want to give something to another person like Sister Bear did?” Some ideal books for teaching giving are The Berenstain Bears Think of Those in Need by Stan and Jan Berenstain, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, and The Giving Chair by Yoshiko Kouyama.
Involve your child is choosing the gift or the service. Remember that if the gift or cause has personal significance to your child, it will be more impacting. Your favorite cause may be the environment, but your child may be much more concerned about the abandoned dogs at the humane society. You can help him find a way to give that is most meaningful to him by calling the humane society and asking how he can help.
Talk to your child about giving that you are doing as a family, such as donating food to a food pantry. Involve your child in a discussion about why this is so important.
Remember that giving does not always mean a physical gift; it can also be a gift of time. Is there a service that you and your child can do together to help someone else? Maybe you can get an elder neighbor’s newspaper and bring it to their door. Maybe you can walk your neighbor’s dog when you are walking your own.
But parents aren’t the only ones who can teach children about giving; our schools are also embracing giving as a valuable trait that we can instill in our students. Our schools are looking into the community and finding ways to link our preschool curriculum to real world applications, showing our students that they have the ability to make a difference.
As we go into the holiday season, remember that children learn what they are taught and mimic what they see. Together we can unite to create a generation of empowered, committed givers.
Lauren Starnes, PhD
former Director of Early Childhood Education
(reprinted from December 2009 newsletter)
School Spotlight
Ms. Melissa Killian would like to invite the parents of the Pre-K classroom to join them for a Christmas celebration and short program on Wednesday, December 18, 2019 at 2:45pm.
Ms. Kim Harrelson would like to invite the parents of the Pre-K 2 classroom to join them for a Christmas celebration and short program on Thursday, December 19, 2019 at 2:45pm.
We hope that each of you will be able to make arrangements to join us. The children have been practicing many Christmas songs and finger plays and would love to share them with their parents.
“Enjoy the little things in life…one day you’ll realize that they were the BIG things.”
Screen Time and Developing Brains
November 17, 2017
There is no security on this earth; there is only opportunity.
-Douglas MacArthur
“Educational apps and TV shows are great ways for children to sharpen their developing brains and hone their communication skills—not to mention the break these gadgets provide harried parents. But tread carefully: A number of troubling studies connect delayed cognitive development in kids with extended exposure to electronic media,” writes Liraz Margalit, PhD, in a Psychology Today article.
Margalit explains that “parents who jump to screen time in a bid to give their kids an educational edge may actually be doing significantly more harm than good—and they need to dole out future screen time in an age-appropriate matter…When a young child spends too much time in front of a screen and not enough getting required stimuli from the real world, her development becomes stunted…Much of the issue lies with the fact that what makes tablets and iPhones so great—dozens of stimuli at your fingertips, and the ability to process multiple actions simultaneously—is exactly what young brains do not need.
“Tablets are the ultimate shortcut tools: Unlike a mother reading a story to a child, for example, a smartphone-told story spoon-feeds images, words, and pictures all at once to a young reader. Rather than having to take the time to process a mother’s voice into words…kids who follow stories on their smartphones get lazy. The device does the thinking for them, and as a result, their own cognitive muscles remain weak.“
ExchangeEveryDay is a free service of Exchange Magazine. View this article online at ChildCareExchange.com.
Source: “What Screen Time Can Really Do to Kids’ Brains,” by Liraz Margalit, PhD., Psychology Today, April 17, 2016
Articles that appear from “Grandma Says” are focused on general parenting practices and philosophy and are not as age-specific as articles that appear in Growing Child.
FIVE THINGS TO SAY TODAY
A friend recently sent me a link to an article concerning five important things to communicate to your children each day. I’m not planning to give you yet another thing to add to your to-do list, knowing it is long enough already.
I’m just hoping that this little conversation will remind you of what is most important in your parenting relationship.
The parenting expert who made the list suggested that the time when parents are tucking kids in might be the time to say these. Certainly making a meaningful connection before bed may help wipe away some of the stresses and busy-ness of the day.
I would also suggest that taking times through the day–when driving in the car or working together in the kitchen–helps both parents and kids focus on what is central in their life together.
What was great today? A key to happiness is paying attention to the things for which we are grateful. In my family, we propose toasts before dinner, naming the events, people or experiences that have been an important part of our days.
This allows us to share, to rejoice, and to talk further, but also focuses the children on their lives, in an intentional way. Reflection is a capacity that can be thus taught early–as Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
What are you looking forward to? These anticipations are also toasted frequently. Looking forward to positive things helps make children hopeful and optimistic, warding off depression and unhappiness.
Being excited about come events is an important part of the preparation process, and also allows parents to share in their children’s lives in an unobtrusive way.
Is there anything you want to talk about? Respecting children’s right to privacy while being supportive is a tricky balance for parents to keep. This open-ended question allows children to consider what they want to share.
This is a good bedtime question, because then children know they have your full attention, and may lead to conversations about worries and other emotions that you might not otherwise know about.
Remember, when kids are sharing, parents do well to be quite neutral in their responses, rather than jumping in with platitudes or solutions.
I’m sorry. While this may not need to be a part of conversation every day, we all know that there are lots of times when we don’t act at out best as parents or as people. Taking the lead on repairing relationships is one of the best examples a parent can give.
Clearing the air before children go to sleep helps all of us, as well as teaching kids important lessons about being human and what it means to love and forgive. Knowing we can all start again fresh in the morning is a wonderful feeling.
I love you. Don’t let this become an automatic sign-off. Instead, consider what you really feel and say it in a heartfelt and meaningful way. What a great close to a day!
This has made me think about the five things not to say. Watch for this in an upcoming article.
© Growing Child 2016 Please feel free to forward this article to a friend.
Receive your free subscription of Grandma Says at www.GrowingChild.com/FreeGrandmaSays or contact Growing Child customer service at service@growingchild.com or call (800) 927-7289
To learn more about Growing Child, and obtain a sample of our products please visit:
www.GrowingChild.com
Chesterbrook Academy December Monthly Newsletter
From the Principal’s Office
Happy Holidays!
The staff and management of Chesterbrook Academy would like to wish you and your family a blessed holiday season. We have the wonderful good fortune to always get to see this special time through the eyes of a child. You can have the same sense of wonder if you slow down and savor the joys of the holidays. Experience the wonder of seeing Christmas lights for the first time…drive around the city or visit McAdenville (a.k.a Christmas Town, USA). Bake Christmas cookies together…Choose an Angel from one of the many Angel Trees in our area and teach your child the true meaning of Christmas…Sing Christmas carols…Visit a Nursing Home or a shut-in and watch an elderly person’s face light up…Visit Santa at the Mall…Attend services at the church of your choice…See a Christmas Play…Attend a Holiday Concert…Watch a televised Christmas Special…Whatever you do, let your inner-child out to play and this will be a special holiday season!
From our house to yours…Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Calendar of Events
December
Dec. 7, 2019 Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
Dec. 11, 2019 Special Guest: Trinity Ridge Resident Reads (Present Gift Baskets for Residents)
Dec. 13, 2019 PJ Day (Present Pajamas to Family Care Center)
Dec.18, 2019 Pre-K (Ms. Melissa) Christmas Program 2:45pm
Dec. 19, 2019 “Do You Want to Build a Snowman? “ Day
Dec. 19, 2019 Pre-K 2 (Ms. Kim) Christmas Program 2:45pm
Dec. 20, 2019 Ugly Christmas Sweater Day
Dec. 22, 2019 Winter Begins
Dec. 23, 2019 – Jan. 3, 2020 Catawba Co Schools Closed
Dec. 24, 2019 Chesterbrook Academy Closing at 12 noon
Dec. 25, 2019 Christmas Day Chesterbrook Academy Closed
Dec. 26, 2019 Kwanzaa Begins
For Parents and Teachers
Outside Play in Winter Months
It’s that time of year to have outdoor wintertime fun! Article 7, Chapter 110 of the North Carolina General Statutes requires that each childcare center arrange for each child to be outdoors each day, “weather permitting”. “Weather permitting” can be defined as any time except adverse weather (i.e. heavy rain, temperatures below 20° F, Code Orange or Red Ozone/Fine Particulate Pollution Action Days). Operators must use best judgment when deciding to take children outdoors. Remember that short periods of time outdoors MUST be provided even in hot or cold weather. Playing in gentle snow or rain can be both educational and fun for children. Outdoor play is required as part of the daily activities in a child care center. Children who are too ill or cannot go outdoors are not able to participate in all the daily activities and should be excluded from care. All children must be able to participate in all daily activities. If a child is not able to go outside, the child is not well enough to be at the center. All children, including infants, must be taken outdoors daily. If the weather is too bad for the children to go outside, the center must provide some vigorous activities indoors such as a movement experience of gross motor game (Childcare Handbook). Going outside into the cold weather is a stimulating and fun experience. So bundle up and enjoy!
Winter Weather Advisory
With the threat of winter weather approaching, we thought we’d take this opportunity to share with you our inclement weather policy. We will do our best to be open every day, even during bad weather. However, if it is icy and road conditions are hazardous to the safety of your children and our staff, we will delay opening until after the sun has come up and the roads have had time to improve. In most cases, we will delay opening until 8:30am. If severe weather develops during the day, most parents will begin picking up their children early. When the number of children in the building drops below 20, we will begin calling and asking parents to pick up their child(ren) so that we can all get home before road conditions deteriorate. We DO NOT follow the Catawba County School closing schedule and will be here for your child. In the event of an inclement weather closing or delay, we will always put a message on our voice-mail and on our website stating our intentions for the day. We will also send an email blast through our Links2Home system. Please watch WBTV/Channel 3 or log-on to www.wbtv.com for school closing information. (We recommend going to the web-site if possible…when WBTV3 scrolls through all of the many area closings, it may take up to 30-45 minutes for Chesterbrook Academy -Hickory to scroll back around, and then WBTV will almost always go to a commercial break and you miss it!)
Reminders!
All payments are due on Friday preceding each week. A $25.00 late payment fee is assessed after
12 noon Monday, no exceptions!
To avoid a late fee, make your payment online through the Parent Portal, pay over the phone with credit/debit card, or consider signing up for Electronic Funds Transfer as a back-up. With EFT, if for some reason you forget to make a payment before 12 noon Monday (i.e. your child was out sick, you went out-of-town, etc..) your payment would be made electronically late Monday evening and you would not be charged a late fee. For your convenience, Chesterbrook Academy accepts VISA, MasterCard, and Discover A 2% processing fee will be charged per transaction.
From the Education Department
Ways Our Students Are Giving Back This Holiday Season
Read More »
Teaching Children the Meaning of Giving
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead
With the holiday season upon us, it is easy to get swept up in our wish lists and wants for ourselves and our families. Now, however, is the ideal time for us to step back and teach our children that while it is fun to receive, it is equally as fulfilling to give. Frequently, the question is raised, “when is the best time to begin teaching children about giving?” The answer can be found in a recent study which showed that children as young as 21 months of age show signs of empathy when in the presence of negative emotions such as sadness or anger (Hoffman, 2000). With this sense of care for others emerging so early, it is imperative that we begin introducing charity and service to others now. So how can you foster an appreciation for giving in your child at home?
Model and suggest sharing of items that your child enjoys. For example, next time you bake cookies, ask your child if he would like to share some with a neighbor or friend. This gives your child personal relevance to the offering. Read books with your child that focus on the importance of giving. These literary references give you a reference point when you are discussing giving with your child, “Don’t you want to give something to another person like Sister Bear did?” Some ideal books for teaching giving are The Berenstain Bears Think of Those in Need by Stan and Jan Berenstain, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, and The Giving Chair by Yoshiko Kouyama.
Involve your child is choosing the gift or the service. Remember that if the gift or cause has personal significance to your child, it will be more impacting. Your favorite cause may be the environment, but your child may be much more concerned about the abandoned dogs at the humane society. You can help him find a way to give that is most meaningful to him by calling the humane society and asking how he can help.
Talk to your child about giving that you are doing as a family, such as donating food to a food pantry. Involve your child in a discussion about why this is so important.
Remember that giving does not always mean a physical gift; it can also be a gift of time. Is there a service that you and your child can do together to help someone else? Maybe you can get an elder neighbor’s newspaper and bring it to their door. Maybe you can walk your neighbor’s dog when you are walking your own.
But parents aren’t the only ones who can teach children about giving; our schools are also embracing giving as a valuable trait that we can instill in our students. Our schools are looking into the community and finding ways to link our preschool curriculum to real world applications, showing our students that they have the ability to make a difference.
As we go into the holiday season, remember that children learn what they are taught and mimic what they see. Together we can unite to create a generation of empowered, committed givers.
Lauren Starnes, PhD
former Director of Early Childhood Education
(reprinted from December 2009 newsletter)
School Spotlight
Ms. Melissa Killian would like to invite the parents of the Pre-K classroom to join them for a Christmas celebration and short program on Wednesday, December 18, 2019 at 2:45pm.
Ms. Kim Harrelson would like to invite the parents of the Pre-K 2 classroom to join them for a Christmas celebration and short program on Thursday, December 19, 2019 at 2:45pm.
We hope that each of you will be able to make arrangements to join us. The children have been practicing many Christmas songs and finger plays and would love to share them with their parents.
“Enjoy the little things in life…one day you’ll realize that they were the BIG things.”
Screen Time and Developing Brains
November 17, 2017
There is no security on this earth; there is only opportunity.
-Douglas MacArthur
“Educational apps and TV shows are great ways for children to sharpen their developing brains and hone their communication skills—not to mention the break these gadgets provide harried parents. But tread carefully: A number of troubling studies connect delayed cognitive development in kids with extended exposure to electronic media,” writes Liraz Margalit, PhD, in a Psychology Today article.
Margalit explains that “parents who jump to screen time in a bid to give their kids an educational edge may actually be doing significantly more harm than good—and they need to dole out future screen time in an age-appropriate matter…When a young child spends too much time in front of a screen and not enough getting required stimuli from the real world, her development becomes stunted…Much of the issue lies with the fact that what makes tablets and iPhones so great—dozens of stimuli at your fingertips, and the ability to process multiple actions simultaneously—is exactly what young brains do not need.
“Tablets are the ultimate shortcut tools: Unlike a mother reading a story to a child, for example, a smartphone-told story spoon-feeds images, words, and pictures all at once to a young reader. Rather than having to take the time to process a mother’s voice into words…kids who follow stories on their smartphones get lazy. The device does the thinking for them, and as a result, their own cognitive muscles remain weak.“
ExchangeEveryDay is a free service of Exchange Magazine. View this article online at ChildCareExchange.com.
Source: “What Screen Time Can Really Do to Kids’ Brains,” by Liraz Margalit, PhD., Psychology Today, April 17, 2016
Articles that appear from “Grandma Says” are focused on general parenting practices and philosophy and are not as age-specific as articles that appear in Growing Child.
FIVE THINGS TO SAY TODAY
A friend recently sent me a link to an article concerning five important things to communicate to your children each day. I’m not planning to give you yet another thing to add to your to-do list, knowing it is long enough already.
I’m just hoping that this little conversation will remind you of what is most important in your parenting relationship.
The parenting expert who made the list suggested that the time when parents are tucking kids in might be the time to say these. Certainly making a meaningful connection before bed may help wipe away some of the stresses and busy-ness of the day.
I would also suggest that taking times through the day–when driving in the car or working together in the kitchen–helps both parents and kids focus on what is central in their life together.
What was great today? A key to happiness is paying attention to the things for which we are grateful. In my family, we propose toasts before dinner, naming the events, people or experiences that have been an important part of our days.
This allows us to share, to rejoice, and to talk further, but also focuses the children on their lives, in an intentional way. Reflection is a capacity that can be thus taught early–as Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
What are you looking forward to? These anticipations are also toasted frequently. Looking forward to positive things helps make children hopeful and optimistic, warding off depression and unhappiness.
Being excited about come events is an important part of the preparation process, and also allows parents to share in their children’s lives in an unobtrusive way.
Is there anything you want to talk about? Respecting children’s right to privacy while being supportive is a tricky balance for parents to keep. This open-ended question allows children to consider what they want to share.
This is a good bedtime question, because then children know they have your full attention, and may lead to conversations about worries and other emotions that you might not otherwise know about.
Remember, when kids are sharing, parents do well to be quite neutral in their responses, rather than jumping in with platitudes or solutions.
I’m sorry. While this may not need to be a part of conversation every day, we all know that there are lots of times when we don’t act at out best as parents or as people. Taking the lead on repairing relationships is one of the best examples a parent can give.
Clearing the air before children go to sleep helps all of us, as well as teaching kids important lessons about being human and what it means to love and forgive. Knowing we can all start again fresh in the morning is a wonderful feeling.
I love you. Don’t let this become an automatic sign-off. Instead, consider what you really feel and say it in a heartfelt and meaningful way. What a great close to a day!
This has made me think about the five things not to say. Watch for this in an upcoming article.
© Growing Child 2016 Please feel free to forward this article to a friend.
Receive your free subscription of Grandma Says at www.GrowingChild.com/FreeGrandmaSays or contact Growing Child customer service at service@growingchild.com or call (800) 927-7289
To learn more about Growing Child, and obtain a sample of our products please visit:
www.GrowingChild.com