LIFE WITH CHILDREN AND THE FAMILY PET



For many of us, pets are an important part of our lives.  I have enjoyed the companionship of a family pet most of my life.  A gentle and loyal German Shepard, a trouble-making thief of a cat named Alex and a small terrier-mix with an extremely large personality are to name a few of the animals that have kept my secrets, demonstrated endless patience with me and loved me unconditionally. 

Here are some benefits of owning a family pet:

• Taking care of a pet can help children develop social skills.

• Developing positive feelings about pets can contribute to a child's self-esteem and self-confidence.

• Positive relationships with pets can aid in the development of trusting relationships with others.

• A good relationship with a pet can also help in developing non-verbal communication, compassion, and empathy.

• They provide a connection to nature.

• They can teach respect for other living things.

• They can be safe recipients of secrets and private thoughts--children often talk to their pets, like they do their stuffed animals.

• Physical activity

The Scottish terrier featured in this blog is our 11-year-old dog, Bailey.  (This time of year, though, she is also known as Noel, Santa’s Christmas dog.)

http://aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/pets_and_children



Carolina Christmas at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Partners In Learning was honored to be asked to attend the preview night of the Carolina Christmas at the Charlotte Motor Speedway by Miller Davis Studios.We were told we could take two bus loads full of children and it would all be free.  I decided to invite our staff with children and families of children of special needs first.  I was going to open the remainder of the seats to the rest of our families.  I began by sending out an email to my staff and families of children with special needs.  To my surprise, within 2 days I had filled two buses with mostly families of children with special needs.  Everyone was so grateful for the opportunity to attend the event.  We had a wonderful time and you can read more about the magical night in the Salisbury Post.

 

What's Cooking?

Mommy and Madison, 5, making homemade macaroni and cheese. We layer macaroni noodles, shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese, and cheese sauce: a blend of milk, flour, egg and extra sharp cheddar cheese

Chef Madison say: Cheese....

The end result after 30 minutes of baking in the oven: Homemade MACARONI-N-CHEESE! Yummy...

Cedric Jr. "CJ", 20 months, learning how to chop celery at the PUSH of a button!

Time to EAT!

Involve your children in food shopping and preparing meals. It gives you the opportunity to teach your children about nutrition, and provide your kids with a feeling of accomplishment. Children will be more willing to eat or try foods that they help prepare.




Michelle Macon, Program Coordinator

IF YOU WANT TO ENJOY A GUILT-FREE THANKSGIVING DINNER, PERHAPS YOU SHOULD AVOID READING THIS BLOG

The holidays are upon us again. We’ll celebrate them with friends, family, gifts, lights, decorated trees and homes and food-----lots of food. I hate to be the Thanksgiving spoiler, but let’s look at the caloric content of a typical Thanksgiving dinner.
Before dinner snacks:
1 celery stalk with cream cheese 45
1 cracker with cheese 70
1 ounce tortilla or potato chips 150
1 tablespoon dip for chips 75

Beverages:
1 mixed drink 250
1 glass wine 120
1 glass cider or sparkling grape juice 120
1 cup eggnog 343

Dinner:
6 ounces cured ham 300
6 ounces white and dark turkey 340
½ cup stuffing 180
½ cup cranberry sauce 190
½ cup mashed potatoes 150
½ cup gravy 150
1 baked potato with sour cream 150
½ cup green bean casserole 225
½ cup candied sweet potatoes 150
1 dinner roll 110
1 pat of butter 20

Dessert:
2 small chocolate chip cookies 150
1 piece apple pie (1/8 of 9-in pie) 410
1 piece pecan pie (1/8 of 9-in pie) 480
1 piece pumpkin pie (1/8 of 9-in pie) 180
½ cup whipped cream 75
½ cup ice cream 145
1 small piece of fudge 70

You do the math.
http://walking.about.com/library/cal/blthanksgivingcalories.htm
Katherine Generaux, Community Inclusion Director

Tips for keeping children with Autism safe

One of the many challenges in cring for a child with autism is that they could wander or run off at any moment, without any warning.  This happened recently in Salisbury.  See the article below:

The all-out search Sunday afternoon for a 21/2-year-old boy ended happily for his family and rescue teams when he was found sitting quietly in tall weeds just 30 feet from the end of his parents’ yard.

During the two-hour search, numerous people were within a few feet of David Croyle without knowing it. The youngster displays autistic-type behavior and has therapists who visit him weekly at his Archer Farm Drive home.   He ... READ MORE

 These tips below may help:

• Use a stop sign and teach your child how to stop and go using the sign.  It may take months/years to teach this new skill.

• Use baby M&M's (or his favorite treat) to get your child to come to you when you call his name.   Get the entire family too assist in this.  Call him/her, dad brings him to you, to clap really big and give him a tiny treat.  Repeat it several times every day.

• If your child ever wanders off, call 911 immediately.  Let them know that the child has autism and will not answer or come to his name. 

• Inform Your Neighbors – Give them a handout with a picture of your child, physical characteristics, emergency contact information and details about how to effectively approach/communicate with and calm your child.

• Place STOP or DO NOT ENTER signs on doors – These powerful visual cues and reminders can help stop a child from wandering.

• Secure Your Home – Use deadbolt locks, keep doors and windows locked and install an alarm system/alert, chimes on doors. Consider motion detectors and window bars.

• Teach Your Child to Swim as soon as possible – Because people with autism are drawn to water, such as pools, ponds and lakes, swimming lessons can be invaluable.

• * Eliminate Triggers for Wandering – If your child has a fixation on certain sounds or objects that draw him/her to investigate and wander, eliminate those distractions when ever possible

• Get an ID Bracelet/Necklace – List emergency contact information on personal IDs and on tags for personal belongings. Another idea is to place the emergency information in their shoe.  Police know to look there

• Use a Monitor/Camera at Bedtime – A sound or video monitor provides constant surveillance, even when you are in a different room.

• Install a Fence – Set latches high and out of reach on the outside of gates.

Norma Honeycutt, Early Intervention Specialist

 

Carolina Christmas Opportunity

Miller Davis Studios has been kind enough to offer Partners In Learning the opportunity to take take two bus loads of children and their parents to be one of the first to go through the Carolina Christmas.  This will be totally FREE to the families!  We have opened this up to all families of children with special needs in our community.  We only have 65 slots so it will be offered on a first come first serve basis.   Carolina Christmas is one of the largest holiday light shows in the United States, featuring more than 600 LED light displays boasting 3 million lights. Carolina Christmas also offers a Christmas Village with a realistic Bethlehem-themed village, a Festival of Trees, photos with Santa and areas with food and music.Carolina Christmas will expand to be bigger and better in 2011. Visitors will love the extended route, reaching nearly 5 miles in length, filled with Christmas lights and displays. Carolina Christmas goers will enter the light park at zMAX Dragway, pass by The Dirt Track at Charlotte and into Charlotte Motor Speedway where a drive on the 1.5-mile superspeedway is part of the holiday fun.  If you would like for your child to be able to participate, please call 704-638-9020.

The Simple Things that Make Children Happy!

Our 2/3 classroom was on the field playing this week and the children discovered a drain. They hovered around the drain to look inside to see what they could find. Mrs. Cindie bent down to discover with the children and she asked a  few of them to run to the other drain on the field so that they could talk back and forth. The children's eyes lit up as they ran down to the other side of the field. Click on this video to hear their excitement:

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you make look back and realize they were the big things.”

 ~Robert Brault

Today, be thankful for the simple things that make you happy...

Dedicated to the Starfish Class.


Michelle Macon, Program Coordinator

Problem Solving with Toddlers

What to do when three children want to all swing at the same time? Children aren't too young to work through this type of issue in a diplomatic way. Here the teacher is problem solving the issue with the children and eventually fairness prevailed and one child was able to happily swing and the others went to play elsewhere.

Cooper has a problem his car is stuck and he is not sure how to get it out of this parallel spot. However, persistence pays off and Cooper gave the car a great big push and went over the edge of the wood to get the car out of a tight spot.

Deborah K. Howell, Assistant Director

working on small motor skills

Fine motor skills are those skills that allow you to develop the ability to do such things as write and manipulate small objects. Try these simple activities to help your children along the way. 

- Painting. Try to alternate between large, stubby brushes and smaller, finer brushes. The smaller the brush is, the more control they need over their hands. Also try getting them to do some painting with cotton swabs. This affords some really fine work and allows them to develop their pincer grip; needed for learning to write.

- Puzzles. For younger children; start them off with large peg puzzles. Take advantage of natural moments like the one in the video.  Me and my daughter took my granddaughter to Cracker Barrel.  At only 16 months old, she was able to master the peg board and it entertained her while we waited for our meal.

- Playdough. Children will get some great fine motor skill exercise out of Playdough especially if you add some extra equipment such as rollers and cookie cutters. 

- Cutting. Bring out the scissors and some old magazines and let them get to work. Cutting requires a lot of coordination. For younger children who are just getting used to manipulating scissors, you can buy them without any metal. They can start by cutting playdough.

 Norma Honeycutt, Executive Director

Report Card Time!!!

Madison's Kindergarten class on their first field trip.



Make ense of what the report card is really telling you. Read the comments written by the teacher . These comments give you a better idea of how your child is performing overall.

Attend the Parent-Teacher Conference. The teacher has spent hours a day observing your child in the classroom. Often they can paint a better picture of where your child is headed academically.

Put it in context. Some school years are more challenging than others. Certain grades are transition years, such as the first year of high school, or the shift from early to middle school, that are challenging to all students, regardless of their academic abilities.

Go to the Source. If your child’s report card contains some surprises, ask the one person who would know best: your child. But before you do, take some time to read the report card by yourself. Identify the subjects that are the biggest concern and address those concerns when you sit down together and go over the report card. Remember to remain calm—you and your child are allies in education, not enemies.

Take Action NOW. A bad report card can be a serious roadblock to opportunities for the future. But it doesn’t have to be. Just because the school year is out doesn’t mean that parents have to wait until the school year begins to get their children back on track. The report card is a red flag. If parents don’t act now, the urgency of the bad report card will be forgotten and there will be no progress made.


Michelle Macon, Program Coordinator

Tips for Holiday Savings

 

 

In a few short weeks the holiday season will be upon us.  Some of us greet this time of year with excited anticipation while others are filled with dread.  For some the money is the biggest source of stress.  Parenting magazine has offered a few tips to help deal with the stress and to find ways to enjoy the holidays without going broke.

 

Some of the tips include: 

     Give the gift of time to relatives, friends or neighbors by offering a much needed service or help local agencies in the community.

 

     Start a new tradition with your family making gifts together and sharing your talents with relatives, friends and others less fortunate.

 

     Cut your electric bill by switching to led lights on your tree and outdoor decorations.  Incorporate nature's bounty from your yard for eye catching holiday greenery.

 

     Many stores will be offering 100 gifts under $10.00 and online retailers are offering free shipping.  Layaway programs are showing up again so make your purchases early and pay a little each week.

 

For more information to make your holidays stress free and to spend less, click on the link below:

 

 

http://www.parenting.com/article/money-saving-holiday-season?cid=searchresult

 

 

Colleen Carman

Finance/HR Director

ENCOURGING CHILDREN TO PARTICIPATE IN PHYSICAL ACTIVITES

On Saturday, October 29, 2011, Partners In Learning sponsored a Fun Run for children aged two and older.  The event took place at one of Catawba College’s athletic fields, and the challenge was for the children to complete two laps around the track; the equivalent of one-half mile.  Some children had participated in similar events prior to this Fun Run, while this was the first such event for others.

There was a great deal of anticipation at the start line.

Dakota runs while looking back to encourage Ceci during the first lap. 

Ceci’s little brother Peter, age three, runs to keep sight of his sister.

  He was determined to complete the race though he needed the support of his dad running beside him during the second lap.

 He finished his first Fun Run and received a medal as a reward for his determination.

All the children completed the race, challenging their bodies while building confidence in their abilities.