North Shore
Children IN THIS ISSUE It’s Back! Our 7th Annual Summer Camps & Programs Showcase– Part 1 of 4! Discipline vs. Punishment Why Punishment Doesn’t Work What Does Work? From A Child’s Perspective Promoting Long-Term Rule Following Community Calendar Education Feature: Harborlight-Stoneridge Montessori School
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It’s Time to Start Thinking About Summer Camps & Programs!
MARCH 2014
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Family & Friends
Marching Into Spring • Making Plans for Your Kids’ Summer • Special Needs by Suzanne Provencher, Publisher Hello again, dear readers! Have you had enough of winter yet??? This has certainly been a more-snow-than-I-can-recall kind of winter. With each new storm, we bundle up and try to clear the snow. On a few occasions, we wondered where we would put all of the snow – as piles reached to the sky, like an igloo village. It’s all quite pretty when it’s white…but then the slushy, sandy, dirty, icy mess remains…which gets tracked throughout the back hall, of course. And sometimes creeps into the kitchen when we “forget” to take our boots off first. Ah, the joys of winter! Sure – the kids have fun and don’t mind missing so much school at all. But come mid-June, when they should be enjoying their summer break, they’ll wish they didn’t have so many snow days this year. You either pay your dues now – or later. This winter reminds me of the winters of my youth, when it seemed to snow every other day. We went tobogganing at Kernwood, ice skating at Mack Park and we made snow igloos with Dad. For a few months, we lived like we were in Alaska – especially when the Blizzard of 1978 hit. With more snow than we knew what to do with, power outages and driving bans kept us holed up for a week. But I remember having a lot of fun with my friends that week – especially in Cindy Cobb’s basement, which had a pool table, juke box, bean bag chairs, pinball games and our circle of teenage friends. Every afternoon,
2nd Annual Merrimack Valley Special Needs Resource Fair Free Admission for Attendees!
Vendor Space Still Available*
!
!
The opportunity for parents to explore local resources for the Special Needs Community.
Sunday, March 30, 2014 • 10am-2pm at Merrimack College Sakowich Center, 315 Turnpike Street, No. Andover, MA (Enter on Route 114 W)
Exhibitors include: • Medical & Therapeutic Services • Specialized Education, Sports, Activities & Camps • Assistive Technologies • Legal Services • Social Skills Programs • Financial Planning • Horseback Riding as Equine Therapy & More! Free for attendees! All are welcome to attend. Learn about the incredible people and resources serving families with special needs in the Merrimack Valley area and beyond. *Vendors: Vendor space is limited. Please register online at mvsnrf.eventbrite.com or call Chris at 781.316.6040 to secure your vendor space. For more details, optional RSVP for attendees and event sharing, please visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MVSNRF.
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Cindy’s Mom, Gert, would yell down to us to announce, “No school again tomorrow, kids!” And we would cheer…until June, when our summer vacation was delayed to make up for so many snow days. But enough about snow! March is a good time of year to start thinking about more sunshine, spring and starting seedlings with your kids. By April or May – you’ll be able to plant your sprouts in the outdoor garden. And by summer, your family can enjoy the fruits (or vegetables, in this case) of your labor. There is nothing better than picking a fresh-off-the-vine tomato or cucumber that you grew from seeds – and taking a bite! March is also the time to start thinking about Summer Camps & Programs – and we have lots of great ideas to get you started on pages 10-13 in this issue in our 7th Annual Summer Camps & Programs Showcase – Part 1 of 4! Many camps & summer programs offer early sign-up, sibling and friend discounts – so sign up by April 1 and save! And check back with us again next month for more summer camps & programs for your children. If you have a summer camp or program and would like to appear in our April camp showcase, please contact suzanne@northshorefamilies.com by noon, Wednesday, March 19, for camp advertising rates and sizes. Save 5% if you appear in our 3 remaining camp showcases for this upcoming summer season! In most cases, one enrollment will cover the cost of your ad(s) – and your camp or summer program will be featured in the largest distribution camp showcases in print on the North Shore! Reach over 50K Moms & Dads in print each month – and more online, where each current issue also appears at www.northshorefamilies.com. We’ve got the North Shore covered! If your school has an upcoming Open House in April, we hope you’ll join us in our April issue – which closes for ad space reservations on Wednesday, March 19, at noon if you require ad production assistance. To see our regular display ad rates, sizes, available discounts, ad production specifications and more, please visit us online at www.northshorefamilies.com/advertise. North Shore Children & Families is seeking technical help, sales help and writers! If you are interested in working with us, please see our ads on page 15. To be considered, please email suzanne@northshorefamilies.com with your letter of interest and resume. No phone calls, please. If you have a special needs child – or if you have a business, practice, program or facility that specializes in special needs – the 2nd Annual Merrimack Valley Special Needs Resource Fair will be held on March 30, 10am-2pm, at Merrimack College’s Sakowich Center, North Andover. To become a vendor/exhibitor at this event, please contact Chris at 781.316.6040. This annual event is a great way to meet parents who are seeking special needs’ information and resources. At the time of printing this issue, a few exhibitor spots were still available – so sign up today! Please see the ad on this page for more information and details. In closing, I’d like to wish my sister, Sharon, a very Happy St. Patrick’s Day Birthday! And don’t forget to set your clocks one hour ahead at 2 a.m. on March 9 (or before you go to bed the night before) – when our daylight hours increase and we can finally see that spring is just around the corner. Until Next Time ~ Suzanne
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Letter from the Editor
Authority is not a Four Letter Word by Michael F. Mascolo, PhD Most parents yearn for harmonious relationships with their children. As parents, we often struggle with the balance between loving our children and providing them with direction and discipline. We often see loving support as the opposite of discipline. However, this sort of thinking causes problems. Parents who emphasize love over discipline tend to have the most conflict with their children. This is because parents who are responsive but not demanding tend to produce children who are demanding but not responsive! As a result, parents who It is possible to cultivate harmonious seek the most harmonious relationships with their children often and collaborative relationships with children over time. However, this have the most discordant ones. typically requires that parents set the
terms of the authoritative parent-child relationship early in development. This not only means providing children with plenty of warmth, affection and support, it also means not being afraid to assert the legitimate authority that comes with being a responsible parent. It is important to keep in mind that authoritative parenting is not the same as authoritarian parenting. Authoritarian parents are coercive; they set and enforce rules without sensitivity to their children’s needs, experiences and skills. Authoritative parents enforce maturity demands while simultaneously being responsive to their children’s needs.
Harmonious relationships between children and parents develop and become more nuanced and sophisticated over time. However, they cannot develop without the parent first establishing an initial foundation of parental authority in the relationship. This issue describes concepts and strategies for establishing the groundwork for an initial foundation of control early within the parent-child relationship. Later, we will examine how to build upon this initial foundation to build increasingly cooperative and collaborative relationships with children that promote children’s autonomy while simultaneously preserving parental authority.
North Shore Children & Families
www.northshorefamilies.com P.O. Box 150 Nahant, MA 01908-0150 781.584.4569
A publication of North Shore Ink, LLC © 2014. All rights reserved. Reproduction in full or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited.
Suzanne M. Provencher Publisher/Co-Founder/Managing Partner suzanne@northshorefamilies.com Michael F. Mascolo, PhD Editor/Co-Founder/Partner michael@northshorefamilies.com Designed by Group One Graphics Printed by Seacoast Media Group Please see our Calendar in this issue for our upcoming deadlines. Published and distributed monthly throughout the North Shore, 10x per year, and always online. All articles are written by Michael F. Mascolo, PhD unless otherwise credited. Information contained in NSC&F is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. Individual readers are responsible for their use of any information provided. NSC&F is not liable or responsible for the effects of use of information contained in NSC&F. Established 2007.
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North Shore Children & Families
Discipline
Discipline is not the Same as Punishment When we think of parental authority, perhaps the first thing we think of is the question of discipline. The term discipline is a highly charged word. People use the word discipline to refer to different things – instruction, consequences, punishment, “timeout”, etc. At base, however, the term discipline refers to a type of instruction given to people en route to mastering some skill, field or area. A person “has” discipline when he is able to control his behavior in ways that allow him to function within a given field, area or endeavor. We even call the various fields or areas in which people cultivate skills disciplines. The fields of chemistry, biology, psychology and engineering are examples of disciplines. When it comes to parenting, it is helpful to think of discipline in a similar way. To discipline a child is to help that child cultivate discipline – that is, the capacity to control his or her behavior in terms of some sort of rule system. When we discipline a child, we instruct the child about how to cultivate the capacity to control his or her behavior. We discipline in order to help the child cultivate self-discipline. From this perspective, disciplining a child becomes anything that we do to inculcate self-discipline in the child.
Thinking of discipline in this broader way frees us from the common view that discipline is the same as punishment. It isn’t. We tend to think that we are being irresponsible unless we follow children’s misdeeds with some form of punishment. However, punishment is not the only way to discipline a child. More important, punishment is not an effective way to discipline children. The simple fact of the matter is: Punishment doesn’t work. Happily, it is possible to cultivate discipline in children in ways that do not involve punishment. There are many ways to be an authoritative parent without having to resort to punishment. It may require some re-thinking about how we approach parenting.
Open School
Walk in Wednesdays 9:30 - 10:30am Tours also available by appointment. Meet our extraordinary faculty, visit our warm and inviting classrooms, explore the learning materials that nourish children’s minds and inspire creativity.
243 Essex Street, Beverly www.h-sms.org 978-922-1008
North Shore Children & Families
Discipline
Why Punishment Doesn’t Work Perhaps the most common way of thinking about discipline is the old and clunky theory of reward and punishment. The thinking is simple enough: reward the behavior that you want and punish the behavior that you don’t want. Before moving on, let’s become clear about what these terms mean. By punishment, I simply mean the practice of administering an unwanted or unpleasant external consequence to someone (e.g., a child) for having engaged in an unwanted action. The theory of punishment is based on the idea that if someone knows that he will receive something unpleasant for engaging in some behavior, he will refrain from engaging in that behavior. This approach to discipline is simple, common and just plain ineffective. It takes only a few moments of reflection to prove this to yourself. Consider the following: You are driving on the highway. You are going a bit over the speed limit (okay, maybe more than just a bit…). In front of you, you see a police cruiser on the side of the road. Your heart jumps a bit. Your foot touches the breaks and you slow down. You pass the police officer unscathed. Whew! You feel grateful, and just a little bit afraid of what could have been. So you start driving more slowly. For about a minute and a half. Okay, let’s change the scenario. Same situation – except, as you pass the police officer, you see the lights start flashing. The police officer starts his vehicle and pulls you over. You get a ticket. You put the ticket in the glove compartment. And this time you really do slow down. For about seven minutes. Okay, let’s change the scenario one more time. Same situation. You get pulled over. You get a ticket. But this time, it is a ticket for $50,000.00. They take away your license for a full year. You pay the $50,000.00. At great inconvenience, you take the subway to work for the next year. And now, it’s a year later. Hurray! You get your license back! And you never speed again. Of course, you know this is true. So, what does it tell us about punishment? Well, it suggests exactly what decades of research tell us about punishment. Does punishment “work”? Well, it depends on what you mean by “work”. If by “work” you mean, “Does punishment stop unwanted behavior?”, well the answer is “yes” – but only in two types of circumstances. First, punishment stops unwanted behavior when the punishing agent is present. This occurs, for example, when a speeding driver sees the police officer. The driver slows down out of a fear of punishment. The threat of punishment causes the driver to slow down and drive within the speed limit. However, once the person has driven past the police officer – once the punishing agent is no longer present – the driver is back up to her former speed. The second set of circumstances occurs when the punishment is so severe, so intense, that it is seriously debilitating in some way. A person receiving a $50,000.00 ticket and a year’s suspension from driving would be so severely pained that she would never speed again. Thus, punishment stops unwanted behavior only in the short term when the Continued on page 6
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Why Punishment Doesn’t Work Continued from page 5
punisher is present, or if the punishment is so severe as to be debilitating. Few parents would find either of these conditions acceptable. It is not possible for a punisher (or the threat of punishment) to be present all the time, or even during those times when a child is likely to engage in some unwanted behavior. Even if it were, such a practice would be undesirable. As parents, we do not simply want our children to refrain from unwanted behavior in the short term, we want them to do so in the long term. Still further, we do not simply want our children to refrain from unwanted behavior (e.g., drawing on the walls, grabbing a toy from a playmate), we want our children to learn to engage in wanted behavior (e.g., drawing on paper, making requests from playmates). Punishment does nothing to bring about these desired outcomes. Of course, with respect to the second option – debilitating punishment – as parents, we do not want to bring harm to our children. Compliance to rules at the cost of serious pain is simply unacceptable to us. Even if parents were willing to punish children severely, the effects of harsh and abusive parenting are severe and long lasting. Punishment is not an effective disciplinary strategy.
Punishment from a Child’s Perspective Another way to understand why punishment is an ineffective child management strategy is to examine punishment from the perspective of the child. Imagine that you have asked 7-year-old Tommy to clean up his toys. Tommy is reluctant. He ignores your request, and simply continues to play. In situations like this, parents often resort to threats and punishments. For example, a parent might say, “If you don’t clean up those toys right now, there will be no dessert tonight.” Feel free to replace this particular threat with any other threat that comes to mind. Might this threat motivate Tommy to clean up his toys? As suggested before – yes – the threat of punishment can work, in the short run, if the person doling out the punishment is present, and if the child cares about the punishment. However, even under these circumstances, the threat of punishment often fails. Let’s examine why. In any disciplinary encounter, it is always helpful to ask: What are the child’s interests? What are Tommy’s interests? Tommy wants to play with his toy. He doesn’t want to clean up his toys. It’s no wonder why the request to clean up is a difficult one for Tommy – everything is stacked against him! If he decides to clean up his toys, he has to stop having fun (-) and do something that is not fun (-). If he decides to keep playing, he gets to continue to have fun (+), and avoid something unpleasant (+)! So, given this situation, how might a parent motivate Tommy? Tommy’s mother used the strategy of threatening punishment. How might Tommy experience the threat of punishment? First of all, the punishment is something that has not yet occurred. If it occurs, it is going to occur later – in the fuzzy future. Young children are concrete beings. It is often difficult for them to imagine what’s going to happen two minutes into the future. However, here we have the parent asking the child to imagine a bad thing that may happen after dinner. The future is fuzzy and unclear. However, the present is happening right now. Continued on page 8
North Shore Children & Families
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Education Feature
Harborlight-Stoneridge Montessori School testing requirements and a pre-set curriculum. HarborlightStoneridge teachers are dedicated to joyful learning at all age levels from infant through grade eight. Collaborative Community
fosters relationships, promotes leadership, and develops character. Our core mission is to graduate students who are thoughtful, creative, curious, and socially responsible.
Designed with multi-age groupings at each level, our classrooms instill the values of a sharedlearning experience. This collaborative community
Discover What School Should Be values are deeply rooted in Harborlight-Stoneridge Montessori compassion, social justice, and sustainability. is an accredited, independent school for students infant through grade 8. As a model Montessori school and lab environment for Montessori teacher education, our
Individualized Education Montessori education focuses on the full potential of each child. Teachers adjust the curriculum and style of instruction to present the right amount of challenge for each student. A rigorous and creative curriculum is designed to develop students’ love of learning, appeal to their natural curiosity, and inspire them to pursue their own personal passions and interests. Students are known to take an accelerated learning path at all levels within a nurturing and supportive classroom. Dedicated Teachers Montessori teachers prepare an environment for hands-on learning, with the freedom to teach beyond
Harborlight-Stoneridge Montessori School Quick Facts • Enrollment of approximately 300 students ages 4 months to 14 years (infant through grade 8). • Families come from over 35 cities and towns. • Merit Scholarships for grades 4-8; financial aid for K-8 candidates. • Faculty is comprised of over 80% Montessori certified classroom teachers. • Average class size is 15 for students PK-8. • Student-Teacher ratio averages 6:1. • Located in Beverly on Route 22/Essex Street, directly off Route 128 North. • Campus includes: main building for PK-8, infant & toddler building, greenhouse, headmaster’s house, multiple playgrounds, basketball court, and open fields. • Programs include: Summer Program, School Vacation Program, Extended Montessori (before & after-school), Clubs and Classes, Interscholastic Athletics.
243 Essex Street, Beverly • 978.922.1008 www.h-sms.org • info@h-sms.org The information contained in this education feature was submitted by Harborlight-Stoneridge Montessori, and published in partnership with North Shore Children & Families; www.northshorefamilies.com.
8 North Shore Children & Families
Discipline Punishment from a Child’s Perspective Continued from page 6
Here are Tommy’s choices: If I stop playing (-) and clean up (-), I’ll be miserable right now (- -), but I’ll get dessert sometime in the fuzzy, hard to imagine future (+). If I play (+) and avoid cleaning up (+), I’ll be happy now (++), but I may not get dessert in the fuzzy, hard to imagine future (-). For Tommy, the fun that he gets from playing with his toys is happening now; the misery of having to clean up his toys is happening now. Not getting dessert, however, is something that might happen in the future. Imagining the fuzzy future is less motivating than experiencing the passionate present. It is always important to look at any disciplinary situation from the point of view of the child. Putting ourselves in the child’s position can help us to understand the child’s experience, or even to experience what the child is experiencing. When we do this, we gain greater insight into what motivates the child to act the way that he does. In the case of punishment, we can begin to see that unless it is severe or continuously looming – the threat of punishment is a weak deterrent to unwanted behavior. Children who willingly and fearlessly comply with their parents do so for reasons that have little to do with the threat of punishment.
What Promotes LongTerm Rule Following? Now, this raises the obvious question: What does work? Again, what do we mean by “work”? By “work”, I mean the goal of promoting responsible behavior in the long run. Hundreds of studies on children and parents point to the same general conclusion. The most effective strategies for producing long term rule compliance are those that lead to the internalization of parental values. These strategies include the following: Clear Limit Setting Limit setting simply means having standards for what a child is permitted to do and what a child is not permitted to do. Effective parents have high standards for their children. Limit setting is a form of high standards. When we create rules and set limits – you have to say “please” when you ask for something; homework first; you can play only within the yard; bedtime is 9:00; be home by 10:00 – we are defining the areas for which we want our children to assume responsibility. But simply having limits is not enough – we have to enforce them in meaningful ways. How do we do this? Explanation and Dialogue No, it makes no sense to have a long negotiation with your child about the
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North Shore Children & Families
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it!” Yes! That is correct! Explanation simply clarifies the rule. For some children, a clear explanation is all that is needed. For most children, however, other strategies may be needed to enforce the rule. Meaningful Consequences
rules. You are the one setting the rules (although they can be flexible, given the circumstances). However, we can explain the basis of the rules to our children. Research on the development of the internalization of rules is unequivocal. Children are more likely to internalize a rule if their parents explain the reasons for the rule to their children. Here are some examples of explanations: “Don’t hit your sister! That hurts her! How would you feel if she were to hit you?”; “We don’t write on the walls. It makes the walls messy and then you have to clean them. Instead, we write with crayon and paper”; “I want you in by 10:00 because I am worried about you driving late at night. I want you safe at home, and you need your sleep”. Sometimes, parents are suspect of “explanation” as a discipline strategy. They may say, “I can explain a rule to my child, but that doesn’t mean she will follow
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A meaningful consequence can sound a lot like a “punishment”, but there is a big difference. With punishment, we give a child some unpleasant experience to make a child stop behaving in some way. With meaningful consequences, a child takes responsibility for the unwanted outcomes of his own actions. A child who writes on the walls is not sent to his room. He may be directed to clean the walls instead, and his crayons might be taken away unless he promises to use them only with paper. A child who refuses to eat dinner may be told that she will not get dinner later (and thus that she will have to wait until the next morning for her next meal). A child who cannot find her way home by 10:00 must demonstrate in concrete ways that she can be trusted in performing similar activities before she will be allowed to go out again. Punishments are the arbitrary pairing of pain with some unwanted behavior; meaningful consequences link a child’s behavior to the broken rule in a meaningful way. A Mutually Responsive Parent-Child Relationship The most important resource that you have to influence your child is your relationship with him or her. A healthy relationship is one in which a parent both enforces high expectations in the context of clear and loving communication. High expectations are needed to set a direction for the child; warmth and nurturance are needed to make the relationship work. Children who have healthy relationships with their parents come to see that their parents can be helpful – even through adolescence.
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North Shore Children & Families
Summer Camps & Programs Showcase Series Part 1 of 4
Series continues in our April, May & Summer issues.
Sports and Enrichment Camps FULL- AND HALF-DAY CAMPS Featuring Boston Red Sox Baseball Summer Camp – One week only!
10% discount on Summer Shore Sports and Enrichment Camps if paid in full by April 1st!
BOSTON RED SOX BASEBALL SUMMER CAMPS BOSTON SOCCER ACADEMY PRIMETIME LACROSSE GIRLS’ FIELD HOCKEY GIRLS’ LACROSSE GLOWING FAIRY HOUSE LANTERNS ART AND NATURE BOOK MAKING MARIMBA BAND MARVELOUS MASQUERADES COSTUME DESIGNER’S INSIGHT WHIMSICAL WIRE SCULPTURES CERAMICS and CLAY FUN THE LUNCH BUNCH For more information, to view our brochure, and to register, visit us online at www.ShoreSchool.org/SummerShore.
SHORE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL 545 Cabot Street, Beverly (978) 927-1700 www.shoreschool.org
North Shore Children & Families
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Summer Camps & Programs Showcase Series Part 1 of 4
Series continues in our April, May & Summer issues.
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North Shore Children & Families
Summer Camps & Programs Showcase Series Part 1 of 4
Series continues in our April, May & Summer issues.
SUMMER FUN AT
YJ HALF DAY: 3 hours of fun for ages 5+. Gymnastics, tumbling, bouncy house, trampoline, games, arts & crafts and snack time. Program runs July 7-August 24. SUMMER WEEKLY CLASSES: Gymnastics, Stunts and Skills, Cheer Tumbling and Dance. Classes from July 8-August 24.
YJ FULL DAY: Focusing on Olympic Gymnastics events, trampoline, rock climbing, snack, arts & crafts and more! Ages 5+. Week 1 - July 21-24. Week 2 - August 4-7. Week 3 - August 18-21.
978.774.7840 or online at www.yellowjacketsgym.com.
Registration:
Held at our 25,000 square foot air-conditioned facility. 4B Lookout Lane, Middleton, MA 01949
North Shore Children & Families
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Summer Camps & Programs Showcase Series Part 1 of 4
Series continues in our April, May & Summer issues.
BROOKS SCHOOL NORTH ANDOVER, MA
Ages 4-13 – Two-Week Sessions Red Cross Swim Lessons, Outdoor Adventures, Crafts
Grades 7-10 – One-Week Sessions Adventure, Performing and Creative Arts, Field Trips
CALL FOR MORE INFORMATION Grades 3-8 – One-Week Sessions Movie Making, Game Design, Robotics, Swimming
Tel: 978-725-6253 – daycamp@brooksschool.org http://summer.brooksschool.org
North Shore Shore Children Children & & Families Families presents presents the the 7th 7th Annual Annual North
Summer Camps & Programs Showcase Series – 2014! ues ContinApril, in our ummer S May & sues! is
CALLING ALL CAMPS & SUMMER PROGRAMS!
Secure your summer! 4 Boost your summer enrollments & reach parents throughout the North Shore! 4 Over 50,000 local readers - moms & dads with children of all ages & interests! 4 Showcases run on bannered pages! 4 Appears in print & online!
The largest camp showcases in print on the North Shore!
DEADLINE FOR APRIL SHOWCASE ADS: Secure your ad space by noon, Wed., Mar. 19. If you require ad production assistance, your ad materials are also due by this deadline. All showcase ads are due or must be done by noon, Fri., Mar. 21. Special Showcase ad sizes and pricing are offered for this series. To learn more or to secure your space, please contact Suzanne: suzanne@northshorefamilies.com or 781.584.4569.
Ad Space Closes 3/19!
14 North Shore Children & Families
Community Calendar To Submit to our Community Calendar: Please visit us at www.northshorefamilies.com and submit your listings directly through our website. From our Home Page – click on Calendar – then click on Submit and our form will open for you to complete and submit your listings. ALL calendar listings must be submitted directly via our website. While we will make every attempt to post all appropriate listings in our online Community Calendar, space is limited in print – and priority will be given to those events that are free and family-friendly – and those submitted by our advertising partners & sponsors. Calendar listings received online by the 20th of each month will be considered to also appear in our upcoming print calendar. If you need to guarantee that your listing will be posted in print – please contact Suzanne to advertise. To advertise, please contact Suzanne at suzanne@northshorefamilies.com or 781.584.4569.
For complete listing accuracy, we recommend that you call ahead or check the websites listed. Featured listings do not constitute an endorsement from this Publisher and we encourage our readers to always do their own research.
HELP WANTED:
MARCH IS THE MONTH FOR: Irish American Heritage, Music in Our Schools, Crafts, Nutrition, Women’s History, Red Cross, Social Workers
Seeking technical/website help – see ad on page 15!
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Try a free trial class at SoccerTots (Danvers & Beverly)! For kids 18 mos. – 6 years old. See ad on page 8 & save $10! www.aztectots.com
Boston Ballet presents Cinderella – a Boston Premiere – March 13 – 23, at Boston Opera House. See ad on back cover; www.bostonballet.org.
SIGN UP NOW:
Flashdance – National Tour, March 11-23, at Citi Performing Arts Center Emerson Colonial Theatre, Boston. www.ticketmaster.com
Summer Camps & Programs: See page 13 and join us in our 7th Annual Summer Camps & Programs Showcase Series, which kicks off in this issue! Contact suzanne@northshorefamilies.com by March 19 to advertise in our April showcase and boost your summer enrollments! Parents Who Need Summer Camps & Programs for their Kids: See pages 10 – 13 in this issue for lots of great ideas for your kids this summer! Early enrollment is encouraged; many camps offer earlyenrollment and sibling or friend discounts. Check back in our April issue for MORE summer camps & programs! Parents: It’s never too early to start saving for college. Open a MEFA® U.Fund® College Investing Plan account – managed by Fidelity Investments. Fidelity.com/ufund
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Special Needs Vendors/Exhibitors Welcome! Sign up today for the 2nd Annual Merrimack Valley Special Needs Resource Fair, to be held on Sun., March 30, at Merrimack College, No. Andover. Exhibitors include medical & therapeutic services, specialized education, sports, activities & camps, assistive technologies, legal & financial services, social skills programs and more! See ad on page 2 to learn more!
… The Annual Planner for Schools program … Annual Summer Camps & Programs Showcase series
Open your home to an international student this summer! See Education First ad on page 8; www.ef.com/host/beverly.
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2014 PUBLISHING SCHEDULE Issue
FREE TRIAL CLASS:
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To explore your advertising options or to secure your space, please contact Suzanne at 781.584.4569 or suzanne@northshorefamilies.com. To learn more, please visit www.northshorefamilies.com.
Gordon College Children’s Choir – fall 2014 enrollment is now underway! See ad on page 6 and visit www.gordon.edu/childrenschoir for more information. Register and pay in full for your child’s Summer Shore Sports & Enrichment Camps by April 1 and save 10%! See ad on page 10; www.ShoreSchool.org/SummerShore. Register for a summer program before April 1 and save 10% - at Danvers Indoor Sports! $10 off per sibling! See ad on page 12; www.danversindoorsports.com.
The Book of Mormon, April 1-27, at Boston Opera House. www.ticketmaster.com NOMINATE A ZOO YOUTH HERO: Nominations are now being accepted through Fri., March 21 at 5pm, for the 2014 Zoo Hero Youth Award. Zoo New England will present this award to a youth between the ages of 8 -18, who has demonstrated a positive commitment to ZNE and its conservation missions and has engaged in some outstanding action to support this. Award will be presented at Zootopia, ZNE’s annual fundraising gala on May 3, at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel. For more info. & nomination forms, visit www.zoonewengland.org/zoohero. WEDNESDAYS: Open School, Walk in Wednesdays – 9:30-10:30am – at HarborlightStoneridge Montessori School, Beverly; see ad on page 4 and feature on page 7. www.h-sms.org MARCH 3: I Want You to Be Happy Day National Anthem Day MARCH 5: PEM Pals, 10:30-11:30am, at Peabody Essex Museum, Salem; for kids & families. www.pem.org MARCH 7 & 8: PEM Composer-in-Residence: Matthew Aucoin’s Words and Music debuts at Peabody Essex Museum, Salem. www.pem.org MARCH 7-9: AAA Travel Marketplace – Indoors at Putnam Club East, Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA. Get the best prices, values & vacations – save on cruises, tour packages & road trips! MARCH 7: Employee Appreciation Day MARCH 8: International Working Women’s Day Salem Film Fest at Peabody Essex Museum, Salem; 10am. www.pem.org
Gallery Spot, 10:30am-12:30pm; for kids & families at Peabody Essex Museum, Salem. Drop-in art activity. www.pem.org MARCH 9: Salem Film Fest continues at Peabody Essex Museum, Salem; 11am. www.pem.org Daylight Savings Time Ends at 2 a.m. Set Clocks Ahead One Hour. Fall back - spring ahead! MARCH 12: Girl Scouts’ Day PEM Pals, 10:30-11:30am, at Peabody Essex Museum, Salem; for kids & families. www.pem.org MARCH 13: Salem Film Fest continues at Peabody Essex Museum, Salem; 5:15pm. www.pem.org MARCH 13 – 23: Boston Ballet presents Cinderella – a Boston Premiere – at Boston Opera House! See ad on back cover; www.bostonballet.org. MARCH 15: Incredible Kid Day Gallery Spot, 10:30am-12:30pm; for kids & families at Peabody Essex Museum, Salem. Drop-in art activity. www.pem.org MARCH 16:
PEM Pals, 10:30-11:30am, at Peabody Essex Museum, Salem; for kids & families. www.pem.org MARCH 20: Open House at The Village School (Pre-K & K), Boxford; 9:30-11:30am. See ad on page 9; www.myvillageschool.com. Spring Equinox; 1st Day of Spring! Artopia, 6-9pm, at Peabody Essex Museum, Salem. www.pem.org MARCH 21 (NOON): AD DEADLINE: FINAL Advertising Space Reservation DEADLINE at NOON for ALL COMPLETED ADS (that do NOT require ad production assistance) for our APRIL issue! To advertise, contact suzanne@northshorefamilies.com! If you need our ad production assistance, please confirm your ad size and submit your ad materials by noon, Wed., March 19! You can see our regular display ad rates, sizes, available discounts & more at www.northshorefamilies.com/advertise.
HELP WANTED
Everything You Do is Right Day Freedom of Information Day How Big is Infinity? Story Trails for kids & families at Peabody Essex Museum, Salem; 2-3pm. www.pem.org MARCH 17: Happy Birthday, Sharon!
Earn commissions by helping us sell ads!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! MARCH 19 (NOON): AD DEADLINE: If you need to advertise in our APRIL issue, and if you need our ad production assistance, please confirm your ad size and submit your ad materials by NOON TODAY! You can see our display ad rates, sizes, available discounts & more at www.northshorefamilies.com/advertise or contact suzanne@northshorefamilies.com. Camps & Summer Programs – contact suzanne@northshorefamilies.com by noon, today, for our 2014 camp showcase ad rates, sizes & available discounts, to secure your April camp showcase ad space and to get started on your ad if you need production assistance.
North Shore Children & Families
Sale of the Year at the Peabody Essex Museum Shop, Salem. www.pem.org
Many territories available. Work from home. Please email letter of interest & resume. Contact Suzanne Provencher, Publisher, at suzanne@northshorefamilies.com No phone calls, please.
MARCH 22:
MARCH 27:
Help Me Get Ready to Read, 10:30am12:30pm; free for parents at Meeting House, 617 Main St., Lynnfield. Educators provide early literacy reading strategies; criteria for choosing good picture books, parenting strategies & more. PDP certificates provided. www.lynnfieldlibrary.org
National “Joe” Day! Hi, Dad!
Gallery Spot, 10:30am-12:30pm; for kids & families at Peabody Essex Museum, Salem. Drop-in art activity. www.pem.org Sale of the Year continues 3/22 & 23 at the Peabody Essex Museum Shop, Salem. www.pem.org MARCH 25 (NOON): Community Calendar listings’ DEADLINE at NOON for our APRIL issue print calendar! Please submit all listings for APRIL events directly through our website (see beg. of this Calendar for details). National Agriculture Day PEM Pals, 10:30-11:30am, at Peabody Essex Museum, Salem; for kids & families. www.pem.org
Seeking:
Family-Friendly Writers!
15
Open House, 6:30-8pm, at Odyssey Day School, Wakefield. www.odysseydayschool.org North Shore Ballet School – Open house, 3:30-6:30pm, at Manchester Community Center, 40 Beach St.; meet the Director and enjoy free sample classes for children. See ad on page 3; www.northshoreballet.com. MARCH 30: 2nd Annual Merrimack Valley Special Needs Resource Fair, 10am-2pm, at Merrimack College, No. Andover. Exhibitors include medical & therapeutic services, specialized education, sports, activities & camps, assistive technologies, legal & financial services, social skills programs and more! See ad on page 2 to learn more! Take A Walk in the Park Day APRIL 6: Open House at Camp Christopher, on the campus of St. John’s Prep, Danvers; noon-3pm. See ad on page 13; www.campchristopher.com.
Attention Moms, Dads, Students & Others!
WE NEED ONLINE TECHNICAL HELP! We are looking for an online professional who has experience in:
Would you like to share your story or expertise with local families? We are looking for experts, mothers, fathers, and others who would like to join our mission of helping local families throughout the North Shore. We cover all ages and stages of development – for individuals and for family units.
Areas of interest include:
Education Special Needs Behavior Nutrition Development Safety Health & Wellness Family Fun Medical Parenting Stories & More! If you would like to be considered to have your words published in North Shore Children & Families, please send a writing sample, along with your resume and/or letter of interest, to suzanne@northshorefamilies.com. No phone calls, please.
• Website development & maintenance • Search engine optimization • Social media skills • Online ad production • Site metrics We have a unique, highly desired and informative print product with a loyal following of readers and advertisers for over 6 years. We would consider working with a college intern, an independent contractor or working on a trade partnership arrangement. This is a perfect opportunity to work from home if you have the online technical skill set we need - and the knowledge and can-do attitude to get the job done! Interested and qualified applicants, please email a letter of interest, along with your resume, to Suzanne Provencher, Publisher of North Shore Children & Families: suzanne@northshorefamilies.com.