Michigan Theater Family Events

This Saturday, November 22, Ann Arbor gem the Michigan Theater is showing the beautifully restored Wizard of Oz at 1:30 p.m.

Next weekend, November 28th, they're showing the classic version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, also at 1:30 p.m. Admission is free for kids twelve and under! What's more, for every $5 you spend at neighboring shop and movie sponsor Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, you will receive one free adult ticket to Willy Wonka!

The Michigan Theater is a beautiful local landmark that offers a genuine, old-time movies experience. For more family-friendly events, please click here.

-- Admin

Courtesy

We are revamping the Gretchens's House website to make resource sections for staff and parents. Fun project! Please e-mail us any requests or suggestions for things/info/links that you'd find useful.

During the information-gathering process, I came across one of our newer Purple Pages*, the one on Courtesy. The subject of courtesy is particularly relevant as we head into the holiday season--a time filled with family meals, parties, and gift exchanges...and stressful situations. Courtesy is a wide range of civilized bevahiors that children learn over time as they observe us interact with friends, families, and strangers every single day. Remember: our kids mind our manners even when we don't! Check the newsletter out and let us know what you think.

-- H.V.

*Purple Pages* are coffee-break-sized newsletters on developmental topics, family living issues, and group care concerns. We have a large library of topics available in hard copies at our centers. Parents of currently enrolled children have online access to printable versions of the entire collection. Visitors can preview a few of the subjects here (the highlighted titles on that page are links to actual Purple Pages).

NAEYC Handouts

If you attended a presentation given by Gretchen's House Staff at the 2008 NAEYC conference in Dallas, you can find the handouts by clicking this link.

Thanks for attending our sessions. We hope you found them useful!

-- Admin

Strategy: Halloween Candy

There are two basic approaches for dealing with the piles of Halloween candy that trick-or-treaters collect: disciplined and undisciplined.

"Disciplined" folks believe that setting limits is the best way to ensure kids don't go overboard. These parents may set a daily limit of two or three pieces, may surreptitiously make much of the candy disappear, or might say flat-out: " "x" number of pieces is enough. The rest goes in the garbage." The benefit to this approach is that kids don't eat too much; the danger is that by imposing external limits, parents may make the forbidden candy seem more enticing and may not help kids learn to set reasonable limits for themselves.

"Undisciplined" folks take the opposite approach and impose no limits. They let kids eat what they will and experience the consequences. The children might eat ten or twelve pieces before they hit their limit, but once they do, biology kicks in and they'll almost always be sickened (hopefully just to the point of mild stomach upset). Subsequent snacks, if any, will be increasingly smaller. Of course, some kids will eat a horrifying amount of candy before they get sick of it. It's not the end of the world. At the same time, for kids who are already struggling with food issues, it doesn't make sense to give them a pile of it and say, Dig in.

And then there are people who find a happy medium between the two extremes. Reduce the pile of available candy so that potential binges are smaller, for example. Or give kids an allowance for the week and let them decide how many pieces they'll eat at once. (Sidebar: did you know that the ability to delay gratification is often an important factor when measuring success in endeavors from schoolwork to budgeting to sports?!) Whenever you're adding calories to your daily intake, it's always a good idea to increase activity. Take a walk. Play tag. Dance. Just get up and move. Try pairing healthy foods with treats: an apple and a bite-sized candy bar is a perfectly reasonable snack, and more satisfying than several pieces of candy. Always remember that out-of-sight is out-of-mind for kids and adult, so storing the candy somewhere that you're not likely to lay eyes on it frequently will help limit overindulgences, too.

And now there's this tip from dentists: eating several pieces at once is better for your teeth than doling it out several times during the day. In fact, candy may not be any worse for a child's teeth than potato chips, for example. What matters is what dentists describe as the stickiness of food -- how long the food particles maintain contact with the tooth's enamel. The longer it sticks, the more time the accompanying acid will work on the enamel. So a chocolate bar that melts off teeth is better for them than a starburst or potato chip which may stick around for a long while.

Happy haunting!

--Admin

A Bumper (Sticker) Crop

With the election drawing near, your kids are bound to be aware that something big is going on. Maybe you have a candidate or proposition sign on your lawn. Maybe you're having earnest conversations around the dinner table. And maybe you have the TV or radio turned on more than usual, tuned to election coverage. There's a bumper crop of presidential picture books that will help kids of all ages start making sense of all the election buzz.



Grace For President, by Kelly DiPucchio and LeYuen Pham, tells the story of a young girl who notices there are no women on the poster of presidents hanging at her school, which inspires her to run for class president. This book has a great explanation of the Electoral College built right into the text, plus an author's note to clarify. Suitable for kids 5 years old and up.

My Teacher for President, by Kay Winters and Denise Brunkus, heralds a different candidate. Second grader Oliver is inspired by all the campaign ads he sees to nominate his teacher as a candidate, and lays out all the reasons he thinks she'd be a good one. (This book will have parents wishing a teacher really would run for president!) Suitable for kids 5 and up.

So You Want To Be President? is by Judith St. George and David Small. Maybe your child (or your spouse!) finds all the campaigning so inspiring, he or she wants to be president. The job is not as easy as it looks, and presidents through the ages have coped with the challenges in all kinds of interesting ways. This Caldecott winning classic is a must-read for school-age kids.

Lives of the Presidents (Fame, Shame, and What the Neighbors Thought) by Kathleen Krull and Kathryn Hewitt is a collection of brief biographies of all the presidents. Pithy, interesting, and packed with lesser-known facts, this book is a great way to put presidents in perspective with their historical eras. Suitable for kids in grades 3 and up.



Kenneth C. Davis' Don't Know Much books are a staple for history buffs of all ages. His Don't Know Much About the Presidents is another fantastic installment in this classic series. Suitable for kids in 3rd grade and up.

Happy reading! And don't forget to vote!

--H.V.

PS: For adult reading recommendations, local bookseller Nicola's Books has started a blog.

Back to School

Okay, we admit it: back to school season threw some of us for a loop this year. Yes, we are trained professionals. Yes, we give (good!) advice to other parents and families navigating this transition each year. And yes--sometimes it's still hard.

But we re-grouped! We are rolling with the punches! And we have a few reminders that may help your family iron out some of the wrinkles, too. None of our tips are rocket science, but even for highly trained professionals like ourselves (wink), an occasional review can really help.

Getting enough quality sleep is critical for parents and kids.

• Timing is Everything. Determine out an ideal bedtime for each of your children (it may not be the same for all of them!) and work backwards to figure out the rest of your schedule: dinner, homework for schoolage kids, baths, etc. Schedule your mornings similarly.
• Routines Are Important. Routines give children security and help parents stay on task and accomplish all the important things on our lengthy to-do lists. Once you determine a functional routine, stick with it. Give it a good two weeks to become a habit. Post reminders (checklists for backpacks and bedtime promote independence) and plan ahead. Pack bags, make lunches, and select clothes the night before to make mornings less stressful.
• Most Adults Need 6-8 Hours of Sleep Each Night. We're talking to you, yes you. Your sleep routine should be as sacred as the one you have for you kids. After all, you're the captain of the ship!

Eating well helps people be more efficient, focused, and manage stress.

• Breakfast is Essential. For people (young and old) who don't feel hungry in the morning, a small meal such as a yogurt or glass of milk with Carnation added plus a piece of fruit is a great start to the day. For those who like breakfast, make sure it is nutritious -- whole grains and protein last longer; sugar-y, processed foods like poptarts usually lead to a serious slump mid-morning.
• Snacks Make a Difference. Many kids are crabby at pick-up time because they've used up their fuel for the day and have to wait another hour or two until dinner. If you can't shift dinner earlier on weeknights, have a small snack ready: cheese, fruit, yogurt, or whole-grain crackers provide a nutritional boost that can prevent dinner-hour meltdowns.

A positive attitude is contagious:

• Model, model, model. Children are like family barometers: they pick up on our tiredness, frustration, and negativity. We need to model a coping, capable attitude for them if we want them to exhibit these traits. It's okay to acknowledge that things are hard, as long as we also emphasize good coping skills: don't sweat the small stuff, we can always start over, and we can make things better if we try are all positive, can-do messages for kids having trouble with transitions.

--Admin

Calendar Note

Please remember that all Ann Arbor Gretchen's House centers will be closed for staff work days August 27th, 28th, and 29th. This is an annual event. Staff attend in-service trainings, do team-building activities, and get their classroom spaces and record-keeping updated for fall.

ALL Gretchen's House centers will also be closed Monday, September 1st for Labor Day.

August is already upon us! Enjoy these last weeks of summer.

-- Admin