Ongar November Newsletter 2010

Mother Hubbards Newsletter

November 2010

Look who has a birthday this month:

Georgia in Montessori who turned 4

Ronale in Montessori who turned 3 

Andrius in Montessori who turned 4 

Daniel in Pre-Montessori who turned 2

James in Toddlers who turned 2

Armin in Montessori who will be 4 

Welcome

We would like to welcome Natalia to Mother Hubbards and their parents.  We hope you are all very happy here with us.

We would like to welcome back Letitia our area manager from her maternity leave, her daughter Juliet has started in the baby room. We hope you both settle in very well.

And say good buy to Fiona in after school and Edward in the Toddler Room.

Reminder of Christmas Holidays

The sessional Montessori children (9.00-12.00) will finish up on Thursday 23^rd December at 12.00 and will return on Monday 10^th January 2011 at 9.00am.

For all other children the centre will close on Thursday 23^rd December at 6.30pm and will re-open on Tuesday 4^th January 2011.

  

Weather

As the weather is getting colder could all parents please send in a suitable coat and a hat, scarf and gloves for their child for outdoor play.  Wellies and raincoats should be provided for wet days.  You can label these items and leave them in the centre if you wish to do so.

  

Hand Sanitiser

We would like to remind all parents to use the hand sanitiser in the hallway (located at the entrance) when entering and exiting the building to help stop the spread of infection in the centre especially that is winter time and parents who go to Baby room and Wobbler room please use the shoe cover to prevent infection around.

Parent’s Notice board

We have a parent’s notice board located in the hallway (on the left).  We would like to remind parents to check these regularly for notices and updates about activities, parties and goings on in the centre.

Smile

We are in the process of organising our photographer Dermot Ward to come to the centre in the coming weeks to take photos of the children.  Parents are under no obligation to buy these photos and only do so if they wish after seeing the photos.  Look out for signs in the centre with details of dates, prices etc.

Gymboree/Speech&Drama

The Gymboree class is going very well the children are enjoying the class every Wednesday.

Speech and drama class is also in full swing at this moment in the Montessori class children love it.

Thank you to all parents who make this to happen.

Christmas

The children are making some Christmas decorations to help decorate the Centre Christmas Tree. On the 2^nd December at 10.30am the Christmas tree lights will be switched on by all the children in the centre and beautiful decorations!

(The following article is taken from www.rollercoaster.ie)

Healthy Lunchbox Guidelines

As parents we sometimes feel pressurised into filling our children’s lunchboxes with the latest gimmicky foods. 

Make no mistake; we are targeted in a big way by the food industry. Pre-packaged lunchbox “foods”, high in salt, fat, sugar and additives, are pushed by slick advertising campaigns. Cheap to produce and profitable, these unhealthy products use every trick in the book to get into your child’s lunchbox. Adverts often don’t tell the whole story, and ad-campaigns are designed to get kids nagging their parents. We think that it is about time that parents took the power back!

To keep your child healthy – to prevent obesity and the future risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer – it’s important to provide wholesome grub for your child’s lunch. Good lunchtime food will also help your children to perform well at school.

According to the World Health Organisation, Low intake of fruit and vegetables causes about 19% of gastrointestinal cancer, 31% of ischemic heart disease and 11% of stroke. 

Help your child to be healthy, and include fruit when you can! If you don’t have fresh fruit to hand, include some dried fruit like raisins, sultanas, dates or apricots

Lunchbox guidelines

·        Include a piece of fresh fruit in every lunch if you can - as an alternative, you could include a portion of dried fruit (raisins, sultanas or apricots, wrapped in greaseproof paper)

·        Try to include at least one vegetable - many children enjoy scrubbed carrots at lunch

·        For added fibre, choose whole-grain bread for sandwiches – if your children don’t like brown bread, choose a white bread that has some seeds in it

·        If you can, include some salad or fruit in the sandwich - for example peanut butter and banana, ham and tomato, or chicken and lettuce

·        Don’t include fizzy drinks, fruit drinks or sports drinks with lunches - choose water, milk or 100% fruit juice as healthier alternatives

·        Avoid salted, oily foods like crisps (even the “healthy” versions)

·        Stay away from cakes, chocolate and sweets

Making a Difference...
Sometimes we all need that extra bit of encouragement to try new things. It can help to involve your children in lunch box planning and/or shopping.

If that still doesn't tempt them, then try a sticker reward system. Each time your child tries a new, healthier lunch box food or drink, give them a star or sticker (on a wall chart or special notebook). Once they collect five stars, give them a small reward, like a comic, family walk or outing. It’s best to make it a non-food reward and agree what it will be at the beginning. Linking a new food to a positive experience can help to establish new tastes and habits.

Keep things positive and don’t force your child to eat anything...this is probably the worst thing you could do.

Make sure your school has a healthy eating policy. 

No 6 The Avenue

Ongar Village                            Phone: 01-8260055

Dublin 15                                       

E-Mail:  ongar@motherhubbardschildcare.ie

www.motherhubbardschildcare.ie 

Nephin Road's November Newsletter 2010

Nephin Road November Newsletter 2010

A big Happy Birthday to Maria who was 4 years.

We would like also to wish a happy birthday to Teresa who will be …??? on the 26^th

.Brilliant Time…

All children in Montessori enjoyed their little walk for the Toddle Waddle to the park and had a great time. We would like to thank all the parents who contributed for this event and we are please to let you know that, we have collected a sum of €210. Everyone in the centre had also a fantastic spooky Halloween party.

The Parents’ Evening which was held on the 9^th of November was a great success.  We hope all parents had a great night and enjoyed the fact you were able to talk to the staff member about your child and meeting other parents.  We wish to thank all of you who attended.

	PhotographerDermot, the photographer will be coming to the centre on the Wednesday the 24th to take pictures of the children.  Children who are not attending that day can still come to have the pictures taken.

 

 

 

 Activities in the room

All children are busy doing winter theme in the all rooms.

·        Babies are doing painting at the same time exploring the colours.

·        Toddlers are engrossed in their activities about stars. Young Astronauts…!!!

·        Pre Montessori children are learning their numbers. Genious Mathematicians …!!!

·        Montessori children are learning about life cycle of butterflies and they are showing great interest in growing flowers. Future Ecologists…!!!

 

Reminders

The Montessori sessional children will finish up on the 22^nd of December at 12.00 and return on Monday, the 10^th of January 2011 at 9.00 am.

The centre will close for all other children from the 23^rd of December at 6.00 pm and reopens on the 4^th January 2011 at 8.00 am.

Catherine is coming back on the 29^th after covering Letitia who was on maternity leave.  Jessie will be back in Pre Montessori and Fiona will be leaving us on the 26^th.  We wish good luck and all the best in her teaching career. We will miss you…

We are requesting all parents to bring permission forms for the photo.  Children will not have their picture taken if we do not receive the forms.

 

A big Thanks

Thank you to everyone who donated a box to our Team Hope Christmas Appeal.

 Topic of the month

Your Child's Heart for Life 

Through healthy eating and active living

Until recently, heart disease was viewed as something to become concerned about once we hit middle-age.

We now know, however, that heart disease can begin in early childhood as a result of poor diet and lack of physical activity. A lot of attention is now focused on the increasing levels of child overweight and obesity, conditions which can lead to Type 2 diabetes and, in turn, to early heart disease. 

We have every reason to be concerned as these surprising facts from the Irish.

National Children's Survey show about the state of our children's health:

·         One out of every ten Irish children (aged 8-12 years) is overweight and each year this figure is increasing.

·         One-fifth of Irish children's energy intake comes from sweets, snacks and biscuits - a very high and unhealthy proportion!

·         Children on average eat only a half serving of vegetables per day - combined with fruit, children need to eat five servings each day

·         One in three children watches over two hours of TV every day

·         Many of our children and young people are not active enough to be healthy

So, together, we have a lot of work to do.

Golden Rules:

·         The family who eats together is healthier
It is a fact that young people who eat with their families consume fewer higher calorie drinks, more
fruit and vegetables, and less fat both at home and in meals away from home.

·         High Five for fruit and veg
Five portions of fruit and veg boost intake of Vitamins A, C, and E, especially good for heart health.

·         Get up and go
Children from the age of 5 to 18 need to be physically active for at least one hour a day. Playing in the garden, kicking a football, dancing on a dance mat and PE in school all count.

·         Variety is the spice of life
Break old eating habits - gradually - and buy healthier options. The more foods your child is exposed to, the more balanced their diet. Check your shopping against the Food Pyramid overleaf.

·         Turn off the TV more often
DVDs and computer games may be educational - at a stretch! - but it's not exercise. Don't underestimate the power of TV in promoting sugary, high-fat and high salt foods.

·         The 'S' words
Some processed foods contain lots of saturated fat, sugar and salt. Buy fresh foods wherever possible to help avoid life-long battles with weight and high blood pressure.

Flowerhill November Newsletter 2010

Mother Hubbards Newsletter

November 2010

Look who has a birthday this month:

John Francis in the Montessori room who turned 4 years

Stacy in the Montessori room who also turned 4 years

Welcome

We would like to welcome Aronas and Muddasser to Mother Hubbards and their parents.  We hope you are all very happy here with us.

Reminder of Christmas Holidays

The sessional Montessori children (9.00-12.00) will finish up on Wednesday 22^nd December at 12.00 and will return on Monday 10^th January 2011 at 9.00am.

For all other children the centre will close on Thursday 23^rd December at 6.00pm and will re-open on Tuesday 4^th January 2011.

Weather

As the weather is getting colder could all parents please send in a suitable coat and a hat, scarf and gloves for their child for outdoor play.  Wellies and raincoats should be provided for wet days.  You can label these items and leave them in the centre if you wish to do so.

Hand Sanitiser

We would like to remind all parents to use the hand sanitiser in the hallway (located under the notice board) when entering and exiting the building to help stop the spread of infection in the centre.

Parent’s Notice board

We have a parent’s notice board located in the hallway and also inside the door (on the right) in the Montessori room.  We would like to remind parents to check these regularly for notices and updates about activities, parties and goings on in the centre.

Smile

We have our photographer Dermot Ward coming to the centre on Thursday 25^th November to take photos of the children.  Parents are under no obligation to buy these photos and only do so if they wish after seeing the photos.  Look out for signs in the centre with details of prices etc.

Gymboree

Can any parent who is interested in their child starting Gymboree classes here with us in Mother Hubbards please return the consent form with €20 to a member of staff before Thursday 18^th November.  We need a minimum of 10 children for the class to go ahead and your place in only confirmed upon payment.  If you have any queries regarding this please contact Sharon (Manager).

Good Luck

Sharon (Manager) will be leaving to go on maternity leave on Friday 17^th December.  There will be a Manager, Edel Dwyer, starting on the 13^th December to take over from Sharon.  A letter will follow to all parents with further details in the coming weeks.

Solstice Arts Centre

The children are making some Christmas decorations to help decorate the Solstice Arts Centre Christmas Tree. On the 2^nd December at 6.30 pm the Christmas tree lights will be switched on so why not go have a look at all their beautiful decorations!

Look what we have been doing this month:

The children in the Montessori room have been very busy this month, learning about people who help us in our community e.g. doctors, nurses, firemen, garda, post-man, lollipop lady/man etc. 

If there are any parents who work in these professions or know someone who does that would like to come in and talk to the children about what they do (for a few minutes) we would love to hear from you.  The children were really interested in this topic and would really enjoy it.  Please contact Sharon or a member of staff.

The Montessori children were also learning about road safety this month and enjoying the new road safety pack we received from the Meath County Childcare Committee.  The children have started letter recognition, learning the letters ‘s’, ‘a ‘and ‘t’ this month. They will be moving onto the letter ‘i’, ‘p’ and ‘n’ next.  When doing these letters we focus more on the sound each of them make more so than the name of the letter.  The children are also learning songs with actions to go along with each letter they learn.

The afterschool children have been making jewellery and having fun playing hairdressers and with the clics.  They have been busy doing lots of arts and crafts and will be making Rangoli patterns to celebrate the Hindu festival Diwali (Festival of lights) celebrated in November by Hindus in India. 

(The following article is taken from www.rollercoaster.ie)

Healthy Lunchbox Guidelines

As parents we sometimes feel pressurised into filling our children’s lunchboxes with the latest gimmicky foods. 

Make no mistake; we are targeted in a big way by the food industry. Pre-packaged lunchbox “foods”, high in salt, fat, sugar and additives, are pushed by slick advertising campaigns. Cheap to produce and profitable, these unhealthy products use every trick in the book to get into your child’s lunchbox. Adverts often don’t tell the whole story, and ad-campaigns are designed to get kids nagging their parents. We think that it is about time that parents took the power back!

To keep your child healthy – to prevent obesity and the future risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer – it’s important to provide wholesome grub for your child’s lunch. Good lunchtime food will also help your children to perform well at school.

According to the World Health Organisation, Low intake of fruit and vegetables causes about 19% of gastrointestinal cancer, 31% of ischemic heart disease and 11% of stroke. 

Help your child to be healthy, and include fruit when you can! If you don’t have fresh fruit to hand, include some dried fruit like raisins, sultanas, dates or apricots

Lunchbox guidelines

·        Include a piece of fresh fruit in every lunch if you can - as an alternative, you could include a portion of dried fruit (raisins, sultanas or apricots, wrapped in greaseproof paper)

·        Try to include at least one vegetable - many children enjoy scrubbed carrots at lunch

·        For added fibre, choose whole-grain bread for sandwiches – if your children don’t like brown bread, choose a white bread that has some seeds in it

·        If you can, include some salad or fruit in the sandwich - for example peanut butter and banana, ham and tomato, or chicken and lettuce

·        Don’t include fizzy drinks, fruit drinks or sports drinks with lunches - choose water, milk or 100% fruit juice as healthier alternatives

·        Avoid salted, oily foods like crisps (even the “healthy” versions)

·        Steer away from cakes, chocolate and sweets

Tips for Parents
Buy a set of small plastic food boxes for individual portions of chopped vegetables, salad and fruit. You can prepare the contents the night before
and store in the fridge ready for the morning.

Add cherry tomatoes, raw vegetables sticks/shapes, half a red pepper, a piece of fruit, fruit salad or a small pack of dried fruit.
Ask your child to design a healthy lunchbox menu using these tips - a great way to interest them in healthy food.
Add variety by using different bread - wholemeal, pitta, granary, tortilla wraps, bagels, walnut or soft grain bread.
Try rice, noodle or pasta-based salads or a colourful mixed salad roll.
Sweet foods like chocolate and sweets should be occasional treats rather than everyday items. Children these days eat far more sweets than previous generations...and this will cause serious health problems in the future.
Good sandwich fillings include sliced meat, cheese, tuna, egg and peanut butter.
Water and milk are the best lunchbox drinks. Avoid fizzy drinks, colas and flavoured “fruit drinks” which contain very little fruit.

Making a Difference...
Sometimes we all need that extra bit of encouragement to try new things. It can help to involve your children in lunch box planning and/or shopping.

If that still doesn't tempt them, then try a sticker reward system. Each time your child tries a new, healthier lunch box food or drink, give them a star or sticker (on a wall chart or special notebook). Once they collect five stars, give them a small reward, like a comic, family walk or outing. It’s best to make it a non-food reward and agree what it will be at the beginning. Linking a new food to a positive experience can help to establish new tastes and habits.

Keep things positive and don’t force your child to eat anything...this is probably the worst thing you could do.

Make sure your school has a healthy eating policy. 

151 Blackcastle Lodge                          Phone: 046-9070558

Flowerhill                                           Fax:  046-9070670

Navan                              E-Mail:  Flowerhill@motherhubbardschildcare.ie

Slane Road November Newsletter

Mother Hubbards Newsletter November 2010

Happy birthday to all these children who have their birthdays in November!

Grace will be 2

Abigail will be 2

Ana will be 3

Emily will be 4

Deimanas will be 4

Keelin will be 4

Parents Evening

A big thank you to the parents who attended our Parents Evening recently. It was a great night and we hope parents enjoyed being able to talk to the staff about your child’s development and meet the other parents.

Congratulations to Josie on the birth of baby Cillian. We wish her and Stephen the best of luck!

Reminder of Christmas Holidays;

The Montessori and Pre Montessori sessional children will finish up on 22^nd of December at 12.00 and return on the 10^th January 2011 at 9.00am.

The centre will close for all other children from the 23^rd December at 6.00pm and re open the 4^th January 2011 at 7.30am.

Thank you to everyone who donated a box to our Team Hope Christmas Shoebox appeal. We received 18 boxes!!

As the weather is getting much colder we ask all parents to ensure that their child has a scarf, hat and gloves for outdoor play during the day. Also please supply wellies and raincoats on wet days! Thank You!

Can all parents please ensure they look at the Parents notice board in the hallway regularly for notices and updates about activities, parties etc! Thank You!

Jenny in Montessori will be going on holidays for a month from the 9^th November. Ashling Farley will be covering for her in Montessori for that time. Ashling has a Diploma in Montessori Teaching and and Fetac Level 6.

What we are doing in our rooms this month;

Toddlers are learning all about winter, they have been making winter clothes like hats, scarves and woolly jumpers!

Playschool are also learning about winter and have made a winter clothes line. They have learned about the winter weather and what we need to keep us warm and dry! They are making a nursery rhyme book at the moment and their next topic will be My Body! Their stories this month are Little Red Riding Hood and Three Little Pigs!

Montessori are learning all about Winter weather, winter clothes and the Penguin. Their next topic will be All about Me and parts of the body! They have also made some Christmas decorations to help decorate the Solstice Arts Centre Christmas Tree. On the 2^nd December at 6.30 pm the Christmas tree lights will be switched on so why not go have a look at all their beautiful decorations!

After school have been busy with a group project making large weather wall chart. They have also been colouring winter pictures, painting and doing dot to dot and colour by number activities. They are playing games too like Twister, snakes and ladders and frustration!

Smile!!!

We have the photographer coming to the centre the 8^th of December to take pictures of the children. The pictures are only taken on spec. so parents only pay if you like the finished pictures. Please see the parent’s notice board over the next few weeks for prices etc.

Topic of the month; Food Refusal

Food refusal is a common problem with children up to the age of 5 years, but it may occur at any age. This can be a worrying time for parents so here is a few tips on how to deal with the problem;

• Offer regular meals and snacks, this is better than letting children ‘pick’ through the day
• Drinks should not replace meals, drinking all the time will ruin children’s appetite for nutritious meals
• Parents should try to eat at the same time as children
• Mealtimes should be an enjoyable experience
• Sit at the table if possible and use brightly coloured and attractive plates and cups
• Try to eat in a calm relaxed area without the television as children are easily distracted
• Try not to rush meals as some children may be slow to eat, a half an hour at a meal is about right.

Mother Hubbards, 56 Blackcastle Demesne, Slane Road, Navan.

046- -9059967

Website; www.motherhubbardschildcare.ie

E-mail; navan@motherhubbardschildcare.ie