Thursday, November 18, 2010

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 22nd December at 12.00 and will return on Monday 10th January 2011 at 9.00am.

For all other children the centre will close on Thursday 23rd December at 6.00pm and will re-open on Tuesday 4th 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 25th 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 18th 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 17th December.  There will be a Manager, Edel Dwyer, starting on the 13th 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 2nd 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