PAG Meeeting Location Change

The Parent Advisory Group meeting on March 4th will be at GH-Mt. Pleasant, not W.I.S.D. as listed below. Please make a note of it.

Welcome!

To those of you who are here as a result of the flyer we sent home, thanks for stopping by. Please note that the navigational bar at right lists archived posts by subject. We'd love to hear your feedback about this new tool, and we're open to suggestions for future posts. E-mail us or leave a comment. Thanks!

-- G.H.

Family Game Night

With the super cold temps keeping us indoors more than usual, it's easy to get a little stir crazy. Why not pass the time with family game nights? Set aside one night or time every night -- to play together.

You may be thinking, "I don't have any extra time in my schedule. Here are some ways to squeeze half an hour of fun into the day:

• Don't do everything yourself. Do a five or ten minute pick-up where everyone cleans as much as they can, then let the rest wait. When your kids are grown, which will they remember and appreciate more: a clean house, or fun times?
• Play while dinner cooks. Most casseroles bake half an hour.
• Play in between loads of laundry.
• Turn off the television and video games.

Besides the camraderie, playing games has important developmental benefits.

• Kids who play games with supportive adults play better with their peers.
• Many games encourage cognitive, language, and/or fine-motor skills. They also help teach important social and problem-solving skills: taking tuns, compromising, strategizing, and dealing with disappointment.
• Game-playing is a great way to help siblings learn to get along better. Big sibs can help younger sibs. Younger sibs enjoy a shift in power when games of chance let them win over big sibs. Both can witness the fact that it's sometimes hard for game players of all ages to lose, and see how other people handle disappointment (effectively or not so much, as the case may be).

I once babysat for a family who insisted I let the kids win every time we played games in order for the kid to develop healthy self-esteem. Bad idea! Kids are smart. They know when they're being soft-soaped. Instead of building self-esteem, letting kids win destroys it because it sends the message that kids can't win on their own. A better plan is to play with kids as though you were their age. Which is to say, don't play no-holds barred Monopoly with a five-year old. Allow yourself to be distracted or single-minded, in the way that kids are. Talk about the way you play to help your child develop strategies, and offer to coach if they want it. Then again, back off if they don't.

You can play lots of luck-based games with a deck of cards: crazy-eights, spit, go fish, old maid, war, etc. Start out with cards face-up until they get the hang of it.

Some other games grouped by age:

2-3: Memory, 25-50 piece jigsaw puzzles, who stole the cookie from the cookie jar

3-4: Connect Four, pick-up sticks, checkers, Boggle Junior, Guess Who, dominos

4-6: Monopoly Junior, Clue, Yahtzee Junior, Othello, Pictionary

6-10: Chess, Yahtzee, Boggle, Battleship, Trouble, Scrabble

(These age ranges aren't absolute, but based on the manageable frustration level for average kids. Older kids can play any of the younger games.)

If your favorite game is missing critical parts, many manufacturers make it easy to order replacements: Hasbro, Milton Bradley & Parker Brothers. For older games, try secondhand stores or ebay.

--H.V.

Ready for Kindergarten?

Maybe you're sure that your child is ready for kindergarten, you just need to decide where.

Maybe you're not sure if your child with a fall birthdate will be ready for kindergarten by September.

Maybe you're not even sure what "ready for kindergarten" means.

We're here to help!

Several Ann Arbor Gretchen's House locations offer high-quality kindergarten programs and afternoon enrichment programs (with transportation) for children enrolled in public school kindergarten. We have certified teachers, small group sizes, and low student-to-teacher ratios. We're hosting open houses this month to help parents grappling with the questions above. Participants will learn about our curriculum and philosophy, get answers to technical questions, and get an idea of what kind of a setting will work best for their child's personal development.

Join us:

February 20th: 2340 Oak Valley Drive, 6-7:30 p.m.
February 27th: 2625 Traver Blvd., 5:45-7:00 p.m.
Date t.b.a.: 1580 Dhu Varren Rd. (being rescheduled due to inclement weather.)

Feel free to e-mail the center directors individually using the links above if you have further questions. Driving directions can be found at each center's web page. If you're unable to make it to your first-choice location, you can attend one of the others and set up an appointment to tour the most convenient facility for your family at a later date.

-- Admin

Hello, Snow!

Due to the ongoing snowstorm, all Gretchen's House childcare centers in the Ann Arbor area will be closed today, February 1st, 2008.

(Gretchen's House at Little Oaks in Pontiac remains open as long as the Oakland County government stays open.)

--Admin

Sleep Solutions

Feeling tired and grumpy? You're not alone. Sleep issues are one of the most popular searches in online parenting forums.

At our centers, we have had so many conversations about sleep with new and experienced parents alike that we made a summary of our sleep suggestions. You can download a printable copy of our purple page on the topic here. Purple Pages are our coffee break-sized newsletters about various developmental and family challenges. We're up to more than forty different topics by now! Parents and visitors can pick up hard copies at any of the centers. Parents of currently enrolled children can download printable pdf files of all the purple pages plus other original material from our website, on the Child Development tab.

We recently received a mailing from parent educator Elizabeth Pantley introducing her No-Cry books and website. You can download her helpful suggestions at the links below:

• Newborn Babies and Sleep
• 8 Sleep Tips for Every Child
• Moving from Crib to Bed
• Solving Naptime Problems

Ms. Pantley is holding two sleep-related contests on her website. The deadline is Feb. 29th; four inners will have their choice of an autographed No-Cry book.

My own contribution to better bedtimes is a picture book called Hillside Lullaby. It's a story about a "wild little child" lulled to sleep by the sounds of the animals outside her window. You can download a free MP3 file of the song that goes with the book from my website.

Sleep tight!

-- H.V.

Winter Parent Workshops

Child development expert and GH Director of Curriculum Beth MeLampy is conducting a series of parenting workshops for Gretchen's House this winter. Parents need to sign up in advance with LoisAnn Arnold.

Topics include:

• January 30th: Encouraging Cooperation
• February 13: Alternatives to Punishment and Problem Solving
• March 5: Encouraging Autonomy

Spaces are filling fast, so if you're interested in participating, don't delay!

-- Admin