July/ August 2009
Direct From the Executive Director
Ricci Wasserman M.A., P.D.
Greetings and happy summer to all.
I always start off this July newsletter extolling the beauty and excitement of the June graduations but fear that I might sound redundant. On the other hand each year is unique and so wonderful. The air is filled with smiles and excitement. So many of our graduates have shared our lives since they were in our baby rooms. Their siblings attended or attend our school. We have all enjoyed seeing these children and their families grow and develop. For us, that’s the Hokey Pokey (what its all about). So I must start the July newsletter here each year.
Another topic I have brought up over the past 26 years of Prime Time is sex in the preschool. Summertime and sex education in the preschool often go hand in hand. Four and five year olds are very observant and verbal. They notice the anatomical differences between the sexes as summer clothing covers less. Not only do they notice “regular” folks but pregnant ones as well. They have all sorts of questions and often blurt them out at most inconvenient times. Often parents are embarrassed by the questions and floored by the challenges of wise and appropriate answers.
I have always felt that if we properly acknowledge and name ALL body parts for children from infancy they will be free to talk about their bodies with adults. We can’t run away from their questions so, by opening a dialogue early-on, we establish trust. I support the idea of only telling them when they ask and, in a language they can understand without too much technicality. They will ask for more information as they go along. Good luck, this is a 20 year challenge.
Next, I wanted to address our September price increase. We typically have a 5% annual increase that coincides with most staff salary reviews (staff comprises 70 % of our budget), benefits, rent increases etc… We will have this increase in September but we will continue the 5% incentive for parents who pay by check. Please check with the office to see your new tuition. While you’re at it, please update your child’s medical, your telephone and emergency contacts and e-mail address. Having these e-mail contacts have made it SO much easier to keep in contact with you. Many of you forward our newsletters to your family as well so we all keep in touch. Excellent!
Lastly, since January 2009 our Regional Educational Director, Nancy Nathanson, B.S. has been working with her center based educational directors to update our curriculum. She will be rolling it out this fall and will speak of it at our Back to School meetings. We are very excited about the curriculum and are eager to see it being implemented. See you in September.
Direct from the Director
Michelle Friedman
As I write this I am still reminded of the wonderful Pre-K graduation that we had on June 2, 2009. We had the graduation ceremony at Kenwal Day Camp in Melville. We had 40 children graduate, 15 of them being students that started in our infant classroom with Ms. Carmela and Ms. Blossom. A wonderful day was had by all who attended. Thank you again to the staff of Prime Time and Kenwal who helped with making this event a memorable one.
Now that graduation is over, we start gearing up for the summer. We have a full nine week summer program for students 4-7 years old. We have many students who graduated from Prime Time return and do their summer camp with us. All of the camp students will go on trips and have fun activities come to Prime Time for them.
All of the families with students in our two and three year old programs are invited to join us on August 20 for Carnival Day. We have exclusive use of the parking lot in the front of the building. We will be having a large bouncer and some activities. We are planning the day from 10-2pm. We will keep you up to date on the events and how we are scheduling the classrooms.
During the summer, we also start getting ready for the start of the 2009-2010 school year.
During the month of August I will be holed up in my little office doing all of the student assignments for September. I will write them on paper more than once, enter them in the computer and then work on printed class lists. I do understand that some of you have both positively and negatively requested both staff and students that your child be with. There are many dynamics that go into the move of the children and the classrooms that they will be in for September. While all of your wishes and requests are heard and documented, we can not guarantee that everyone’s wishes will be granted. We will do our best.
All of the two, three and four year old students will have an opportunity to go out on the playground and use the sprinkler. It is very important that you keep an eye on your child(ren)s classroom door for the assigned days and times of water play. We are making a schedule for all of the classes and it will be posted on each classroom door. Please send your child with all of the requested water play stuff and make sure that all items are labeled. The days that the children have water play, they need for all of their wet items to go home and be brought back on the next water play day.
Prime Time would like to congratulate Mr. Al Hodge. He completed his first tri-athalon in the beginning of June.
Congratulations to Ms. Carmela on the birth of her newest grandson.
Educational Corner
Regional Education Director
Nancy Nathanson, BS
LOVE & LEARN
The delightful children’s classic, Caps for Sale is a good reminder that much like the monkeys in the story, children imitate our behavior. When we shout in anger, tenderly comfort a child, cringe at the sight of a spider or put away our dirty clothes in the hamper, our children are likely to follow our example.
Children also live up to our expectations. If we expect a two year old to be terrible, they will be. If we expect a six year old to make good choices, they will. Adults make a huge difference in how children approach life. How do we help them to learn self-control? Do they trust us? Do they feel competent? Or are they angry…jealous… fearful…restless…frustrated…lacking in self-esteem? These and other emotions and behaviors take a long time for children to develop – starting at birth.
The question then becomes, what can parents do to encourage our children to become responsible, self-controlled adults? When we look at ways for children to be healthy and strong emotionally, we must first have a fundamental understanding of child development and common behaviors. With this knowledge as a basis, we can enable children to develop self-control by exercising the following behaviors ourselves:
*expecting them to act a certain way
*setting reasonable and positive expectations
*respecting their feelings
*trusting them to succeed
*offering them good choices
*talking about problems calmly
Children need a consistent, positive approach to become emotionally mature. Consistency and clarity about acceptable and unacceptable behaviors are essential components of this disciplinary style. Expressing pride, confidence and love toward our children will enable them to learn to trust us. By implementing this “Love & Learn” approach as parents, we are giving the priceless lifetime gift of emotional good health to our children.
Question of the month:
What is your favorite part of summer?
Tyler R - I play ball with mom.
Noah G - I like going to the pool with mom and dad.
Gavin A - The sun
Christina N - I like to jump in the pool.
Adrianne T - I play football with mom and dad.
Daniella R - I love to play with my dolls.
Elena k - I like to get butterflies.
James C - I like to stand up on my swing and run away from Bumble bees.
Dates to Remember:
July 3 - We are closed for Independence Day
August 20 - Carnival Day at Prime Time
Employee Anniversaries:
Albert H - 6 yrs August 19
Elizabeth A - 4 years August 8
Kim D - 2 years August 27
Brittany G - 1 year August 22
Colleen H - 1 year July 3
Linda L - 1 year August 13
Taquasha M - 1 year July 14
Employee Birthdays:
Danielle C July 31
Ashley F July 6
Barbara F July 8
Brittany G August 14
Heather H August 22
Rita J August 2
Jewel J August 19
Christine M July 12
Fatima P August 24
Nicole R July 11
Ashley T July 21
Children’s Aniversaries:
Six years:
Thomas B
Jack D
Five Years:
Sydney P
Aidan S
Simran V
Three years:
Sophia B
Marisa B
Sawyer D
Timothy H
Kaleigh and Logan S
Two year:
Sama and Reyah A
David B
Nathan C
Luke C
Jake G
Kevin M
Sabrina S
One Year:
Jake C
Evan F
Christian G
Kayla Rose L
Benjamin M
Jonathan P
Aman V
Victoria V
New Enrollment:
Helena B
Andrew B
Andrew and Jason F
Stephen F
Valencia G
Michael L
Himani M
Jack S
Kiera V
Childrens B-Days
Spencer A August 3
Katie B July 28
Andrew B July 13
Griffin B August 16
Alexa B August 12
Nathan C August 6
Leila C July 1
Keier C August 3
Like C July 26
Manav D July 25
Sal F July 30
Jason F July 4
Emily G July 16
Tyler G August 8
Christian G August 3
Nicholas G August 28
Tyler G July 28
Nicholas H August 17
Tyler G July 28
Nicholas H August 17
Kiersten H August 21
Ashleigh H July 18
Sophia I July 3
Camille J July23
Jake K August 17
Ella L August 6
Zachary L July 19
Kevin M August 24
Alyssa M July 10
Emily M August 29
William N August 30
Jonathan P August 4
Daniella R July 9
Lillianna S August 5
Sabrina S July 17
Cora S July 14
Greg S August 28
Brody S July 19
Adrianne T August 18
Vincent T July 8
Kristina T July 30
Madelyn T July 24
Victoria V July 24
Lucas W July 14
