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
Lori Samborgna

By now you can see we are in full summer swing at Prime Time.  We are hoping for many sunshine days the next 2 months so we can spend lots of time outside with our water play.  In July and August our Dino’s and Pre-K will all participate in our summer camp program, which is sure to be lots of fun.  We have a lot of great activities planned for our children as well as some exciting trips.

We know that many families plan vacations during these summer months and we would appreciate it if you can let us know these vacation dates as soon as you plan them.  This is also a time when our teachers like to take their vacations and knowing your plans ahead of time can help with scheduling.

Please make sure that you are bringing your child in each day with a towel, bathing suit and shoes to use for water play.  Please label everything!  All suits and towels should go home daily to get washed and dried, we do not have a place to dry them.  Also, if you haven’t done so already, please make sure you have brought in and signed permission slips to apply sunscreen to your child.  We cannot apply sunscreen without signed permission.  You must apply it in the morning and we will reapply it in the afternoon.

We do not allow flip flops in school (they may be used for water play only).  We also recommend that they do not wear Croc’s.  Both these types of shoes are very dangerous and we find the children fall much more when wearing them.  Your child’s safety is our biggest concern.

At the time of this writing, construction had not yet begun.  I’m hoping that as you read this it will have started.  We intend to keep our school running smoothly while we renovate and appreciate your patience as we make Prime Time a new and beautiful school for your children.

Enjoy your summer!

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.  
 
Welcome To:
Niamh    Snugglies
Sophia    Snugglies
Nidith     Kitties
Isabella   Dinos 2
Nicole    Angels

Children’s Anniversaries
July
Tyler    2 years
Haley     2 years
Marissa   2 years
Joshua   4 years
Angela   5 years