A Note from The Director January 2016 Dear Interfaith Families, Happy New Year! I hope your holidays were resWul and filled with many happy moments. May the new year be filled with peace and joy for you and your family! We are so glad to welcome back all of our students, and we are looking forward to seeing the growth they will make over the next several months. Later in January, we will have our annual Parent-‐Teacher Conference week. This will take place January 18th – 22nd. This is an important Fme for you to meet with your child’s teachers to get an overall assessment of your child’s physical, social, emoFonal, and cogniFve development. This will also be a good opportunity for you to discuss any quesFons or concerns you may have. Since you will be discussing your child’s progress, it is important that your child not be present during the conference. If you are a parent of a child in our MDO, ParFal, or School Day programs, unfortunately we will not be able to care for your child during the conference. I encourage you to make other arrangements with a family member or a friend to care for your child while you are meeFng with his or her teachers. There will be more informaFon coming home through the classrooms, so be sure to check your child’s cubby or look for a note in your child’s backpack. We will also send home important informaFon regarding our upcoming registraFon for our summer programs and the 2016-‐2017 school year. Please read through that informaFon carefully as we have made changes to the registraFon process as well as some of our programs. Please look for this informaFon towards the end of the month. We are looking forward to a wonderful 2016! Thank you for sharing your children with us! Warmest regards, Lisa WhiRle
IMPORTANT DATES Please see page 6 for the many important dates this month. ICDC NewsleRer
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Health & Safety This Fme of year children are exposed to many contagious viruses. A common contagious illness is Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease is most frequently caused by the Coxsackie virus. This virus is spread from person to person and usually lasts 3 -‐5 days. The virus causes blisters in the throat, on the tongue, gums, hard palate or inside the cheeks. The blisters leave an ulcer with a reddish base. The soles of the feet and palms of the hands may have flat red spots or red blisters. Other symptoms include: Fever and flu like symptoms Irritable or sleeping more than usual Drooling Prefers to drink cold fluids A doctor may order a mouthwash which can ease the pain. This disease usually clears within a few days. Children must remain home unFl they are fever free for twenty-‐four hours without any medicaFon, the blisters are dry and any mouth sores are gone. Children will need a doctor’s note to return to school. The best way to protect your children from ge_ng this illness is hand washing. The virus can live for several days on objects so be sure to wash all toys with a disinfectant. Best Wishes for a Healthy and Happy New Year! Ms. Georgie Redifer, R.N. ICDC School Nurse *According to KidsHealth.org
Parking Reminders Please remember that the red zones are fire lanes and no parking is allowed in those areas. Also, please be respecWul of the families who live around ICDC and refrain from parking between the “No Parking” signs on Rush Haven Drive. If there are no spots available in our parking lot, please either park along Indigo Sky in the designated areas or pull around into the Falconwing Pool parking lot. Thank you for your cooperaFon!
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Curriculum Corner Science Lab
ROAR!!!
This month it is all about DINOSAURS! Our liRle scienFsts will have fun reading and learning all about dinosaurs. Children will have the opportunity to be paleontologists! They will have a chance to excavate dinosaur bones using sijers and paint brushes. In addiFon, children will have fun watching a volcano erupt.
Library News: Some fun books about dinosaurs that the children will read are: • Dinosaur Roar by Paul and HenrieRa Strickland • My Big Dinosaur Book by Rodger Priddy • Oh My, Oh My, Oh Dinosaur by Sandra Boynton • How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends? by Jane Yolen • Digging Up Dinosaurs by Aliki
Literacy Corner Now that winter has officially begun, you might enjoy reading these stories with your little ones before tucking them into their warm bed at night: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats Snowballs by Lois Ehlert The Mitten by Jan Brett Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson
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People of ICDC
Each month our Parent’s Club will be highlighting some of our teachers in the newsletter. This will give you a chance to get to know the ICDC staff a little better.
Hello! My name is Cait Derr. I am 22 years old and was born and raised in Northern Illinois. Over the summer I was with the 4-‐5 year olds in A-‐14, but this school year I am with Mrs. Pat in A-‐7. I love every minute with my 3 year olds!! I am a recent graduate of Sam Houston with my BS in Criminal JusFce and Psychology. Most of the 2014-‐2015 year I spent living Ville D'Avray, France, a beauFful suburb of Paris. During my year abroad I found a love for travel and other cultures. I climbed three mountains in the Black Forest of Germany, spent two days barefoot with Monks in Istanbul, and have even eaten snails (yuck!). While I plan on conFnuing my educaFon at Sciences Po in Paris, I am currently enjoying teaching here at Interfaith and living with my Best Friend Alli and our two cats, Luna and Remy
My name is Breanna Bilbo. I am the afternoon assistant in A-7. However, much of the fall semester I spent working in T-1 helping out in the afternoons. I attend Lone Star College at the moment just covering my basics. I love being a part of the Interfaith team and being around all of your little guys.
On behalf of the enFre ICDC staff, we would like to thank the Parent’s Club and all of the parents who brought in food for the Holiday Brunch on December 10th. The food was absolutely delicious and we enjoyed feasFng on it all day (and the next day, too!). Many thanks go out to the parents who helped set up and serve as well. We appreciate all you do for us! We would also like to give a special thank you to Amegy Bank for their generous donaFon to our school. We will use the funds to purchase educaFonal materials for our Great Room. Thank you to Jill Daigle for thinking of Interfaith Child Development Center and helping us to obtain this donaFon.
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ICDC Parent’s Club From The President Welcome back and Happy New Year!! First things first -‐ Thank you!! Our teachers and staff members really enjoyed the Holiday Brunch held on December 10th! Thank you to all who provided a delicious dish or volunteered to lend a helping hand at this event! Also, a big thank you to Lindsey Perkins for chairing this special event! SAVE THE DATES… Please join us for our annual Silent AucFon and Family Night – Deep In the Jungle -‐ Friday, March 4th at the school. All aucFon items are donated from each class and the community. If you or someone you know would like to donate something, purchase an ad in the event program or volunteer to help at the event, please contact our aucFon chair Gina Lee at leegina05@gmail.com. We are requesFng all donaFons by January 15th to ensure inclusion in the event program. Our next parent’s club and silent aucFon meeFng will take place on Wednesday, January 13th at 1:30 pm. If you would like to be involved in helping with upcoming events or our silent aucFon, please come! As always, thank you for supporFng our school! Mary-‐Kathryn D’AgosFno ICDC Parent's Club – President mkdagosFno@sbcglobal.net
Lost and Found
On Thursday, January 14th and Friday, January 15th, we will place all of the lost and found items we have collected over the past year in the Science Lab for you to go through and retrieve any items that your child may have lost here at school. Ajer Friday, January 15th, we will donate all unclaimed items to Interfaith’s Hand Me Up Shop. Please take a few minutes on either of these days to look for any items that may belong to your child.
Did you know we’re on Facebook? Search for: Interfaith Child Development Center.
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Other Notes January 2016
Important Dates
Thurs. & Fri.
Spirit Days – wear your ICDC T-‐shirt
January 4
Full Day and School Agers Programs Resume
January 5
ParFal Day, School Day, and MDO Programs Resume
January 13
Parent’s Club meeFng 1:30 p.m.
January 18
MLK, Jr. Holiday **Full Day and School Agers Programs only
January 18-‐22
Full Day Program Parent-‐Teacher Conferences
January 21-‐22
MDO, ParFal, and School Day Parent/Teacher Conferences **Please look for more informaFon soon regarding classroom closure dates.
February
RegistraFon for Summer 2016 and the 2016 -‐2017 School Year **Specific dates and Fmes will come home soon.
February 25
Dad’s Day for T/TH classes
February 26
Dad’s Day for M/W/F and M-‐F classes
March 4
Silent AucFon and Family Night
Following the break the enrichment programs will be resuming on the following dates: Program
Resumes:
D is for Discovery Science
Week of January 25
Music by Mary:
January 5
Boni’s Dance:
January 6
Playball
January 6
Calling all Dads!
Please save the date for Dad’s Day on Thursday, February 25th (T/TH classes) and Friday, February 26th (M/W/F and M-F classes). More information will come home later this month.
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