We’re United all the Way

Sorry for the long span of time between posts.  I am having trouble accessing the blog from our network at work and have not resolved the problem.  Just a quick note from home between breakfast and putting my third grade Day Nursery alum on the bus.  We are in the middle of the annual United Way campaign across our community.  Day Nursery has been a United Way agency for over 80 years.  We are grateful for the support we receive from United Way donors.  It is important to note how generous our own employees are during the United Way campaign.  This photo shows our 2008 campaign ambassadors from our 7 centers, our Child Care Answers program and our administrative office.  Their job is to reach out to our employees and ask for a campaign donation.  Our goal again this year is just over $14,000.  At last tally, we are projected to hit that goal before the week is over.  Our employees see how United Way donors benefit our community every day.  We thank them for their generosity in contributing to the campaign and the agencies who serve our community.  Live United!

Day Nursery United Way Campaign Ambassadors

A Pumpkin Rhyme

Artwork by Madison, Day Nursery Clarian Center

Teaching young children to rhyme is an excellent way to prepare them to read.  Playing with words, sounds and rhymes is an important part of how we teach language development at Day Nursery. This learning component is part of the Creative Curriculum we use and is in line with the Indiana Foundations for Young Children as outlined by the Indiana Department of Education Academic Standards. Here’s a great little fall poem to teach your child.  It comes from Education World’s Early Childhood Education e-newsletter.  I subscribe to their monthly newsletter to gather ideas for the Day Nursery teachers.  There is no reason you, as a parent, couldn’t subscribe yourself.  You’ll find a lot of fun activities to do with your child. Here’s the link http://www.educationworld.com/maillist.shtml#childhood

Pick a pumpkin, (kids bend over to pick)
Take out the seeds,
Cut out a smile,
What else does it need? (giving thought, finger to side of head)

Cut out a nose (point to nose)
And some eyes, too. (point to eyes)
In goes a light…
He’s grinning at you! (kids say last line in unison)

A fashionable fundraiser

Auxiliary member Marge Skarbeck shows off some of the cake centerpieces she decorated.

Each year the Day Nursery Auxiliary holds a luncheon and style show to raise money to support activities in the Day Nursery centers.  This year’s event, which was held October 3 at the beautiful Oak Hill Mansion in Carmel attracted 270 supporters.  The Day Nursery Auxiliary is 70 years old this year so the event took on a birthday theme.  Each table had a colorful birthday cake centerpiece decorated by some very talented Auxiliary members.  Fashions from Secret Ingredient, Lilly’s Boutique Gallery, The Oxford Shop, Escapades Boutique and Day Furs were modeled by Auxiliary members.  Leslie Olsen of WISH-TV8 was the honorary chairperson.  Jenny Rosebrock, Auxiliary president presented a check for $25,000 to Day Nursery Executive Director Carolyn Dederer.  Since 1938, the Auxiliary has supported Day Nursery by raising funds as well as providing assistance in the centers.  Current projects include helping with school picture days, vision screenings and reading to the children. 

Style Show chairperson Carolyn Klinger models the fur shawl donated by Day Furs which went to a lucky guest at the event.

This year’s Day Nursery Auxiliary Style show received generous support from these corporate sponsors: Kirr Marbach & Co., Lincoln Financial Group, Baker & Daniels, Benefit Associates, Ernst & Young; ADP; Appnuity; Clarian Health Partners, Gregory & Appel and Indiana Business Equipment.  We thank them for their support of the event and the children of Day Nursery.

Should you get a flu shot?

Nurse Practioner Joyce Martin administers the flu vaccine to a Day Nursery staffer.

I got a flu shot today.  It didn’t hurt one bit.  Day Nursery Nurse Practitioner Joyce Martin has some good sharp needles and an excellent technique.  Joyce doesn’t visit our office very often.  She spends most of her time in our seven Day Nursery centers administering physicals and immunizations to our children.  Her services are offered at no charge as a convenience to our working and student parents.   During flu season,  Joyce expands her rounds with a special emphasis on our teachers.  Day Nursery staff were offered free flu shots this year.  Many staff members took us up on the offer.  While Joyce was here, she was telling me about the Indiana Immunization Conference she attended last week with Day Nursery Director of Operations Marsha Lindsey.  The event, hosted by the Indiana State Department of Health, was held to update providers on the most current, comprehensive, and best practice in the field of immunizations.  As you can guess, they heard a lot about the new recommendation from the experts that all children older than 6 months should receive a flu shot. On the Center for Disease Control website, information about the flu is the number one request of visitors.  The CDC says that each year an average of 20,000 children under the age of 5 are hospitalized because of the flu. Here’s a direct link to learn more about flu and children http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/children.htm and why it is important to have your child immunized.  Prevention is the best medicine!

Halloween costume inspiration

Day Nursery children model costumes donated last year by the employees of Ingersoll Rand.

There are so many cute Halloween costumes out there.  I can’t resist looking at the costumes for infants and toddlers even though my youngest Day Nursery grad is now in third grade.  (Who can resist a baby dressed up like a pea in a pod?) For the second year in a row, the employees of Ingersoll Rand in Carmel are collecting new and gently used costumes to donate to Day Nursery.  Thanks to their generosity, many children who might not otherwise have a costume on October 31, receive one through this donation.  Some of the donated costumes get year-round use in the classroom dramatic play area.  Our children love to dress up all year. If you are stumped for an idea for a costume for your child this year, check out this costume photo gallery I just found on the About.com website.  I especially like the little boy who dressed up like a coconut tree from the book Chicka, Chicka Boom Boom  http://familycrafts.about.com/od/costumes/ig/Costume-Photo-Gallery/

What are you going to be for Halloween?

Read for the Record

A volunteer from Pearson Education

Last Thursday,  Day Nursery joined over 425,000 people across the country  in Jumpstart’s Read for the Record, shattering a world record and bringing early education to a national stage.  At the Day Nursery in the State Government Center, volunteers from Pearson Education made sure every child received their own copy of Corduroy, the book that was featured this year.  The visitors read to the children and worked with them on a craft project. 

At the same time, at the Day Nursery Avon Center in Hendricks County, the preschool classrooms participated in the national reading effort too.  We didn’t have any national celebrities reading at Day Nursery, but we were happy to have some great teachers and volunteers heading up our efforts in Indiana.  If you are interested in supporting Jumpstart and their national effort to put books in the hands of children, check out their on-line auction of celebrity autographed Corduroy books http://www.cmarket.com/auction/item/Browse.action?auctionId=74159581

If you would like to give closer to home, Day Nursery always welcomes donations of new or gently used books that are appropriate for children from infants through age six.

Today is Child Health Day

Bike riding on the playground is great exercise!

I didn’t see a single greeting card at the Hallmark store to remind me that today is Child Health Day.  Good thing I subscribe to the Fit City enewsletter.  FitCity is a community-wide childhood obesity fighting campaign of Learning Well, Inc., with support from The Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis, the City of Indianapolis, United Way of Central Indiana, Marion County Health Department and Connect2Help 2-1-1.  If you are interested in keeping your family fit, I encourage you to get on their mailing list.  Their monthly newsletter is packed full of info about events around Indianapolis.  And, as a bonus, they usually include a recipe.  This month it is for Cream of Pumpkin Soup (yum!). 

At Day Nursery, every day is child health day.  We do this by offering healthy meals and snacks, a safe environment for learning and exercise and by offering low or no cost health screenings.  Each center is visited regularly by a pediatric nurse practioner who administers physicals and immunizations as a service to our families. 

I am sorry I don’t have a card to send you for Child Health Day today.  But, I do have a link to a very informative website sponsored by the U.S. Surgeon General.  For tips on helping your child eat healthy and stay active, visit the Department of Health and Human Services website: http://mchb.hrsa.gov/childhealthday/

Counting down to the election

Volunteers at the recent Step Up for Kids day were spotted wearing this message on their tshirts.

Because many Day Nursery parents and staff members lead hectic lives, last week we arranged to make one thing easier for them.  Volunteers visited four of our centers to register people to vote.  Twenty new voters were signed up during this time. 

The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral agencies (NACCRRA) sent out an email last week asking parents how much they know about the candidate’s position on major children’s issues and urging parents to speak out up on these issues.  Here is an excerpt from their email and a link to their positions.

One thing we know for sure– during these uncertain times, making child care a priority for the presidential candidates will be a challenge. We know the candidates have a lot to consider right now, but we need to continue make our voices heard about accessible and high quality child care. After all, parents can’t work without child care, and our economy can’t recover without working parents. Now is the time to learn more about the presidential candidate’s positions on children and child care. Both have posted information about their positions. http://www.naccrra.org/policy/every_child_matters/candidate_positions.php