Event planned to help former Day Nursery student in her fight against cancer

Carmie and family

Carmela Betsey is an amazing, sparkly Kindergartener who has been diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma.  Carmela loves to dance is bright, intelligent and loves her friends and family.  She has the gentlest loving spirit and is full of sunshine.  Like her sister Aspen, she is one of the most beautiful people inside and out.  She is tough, resilient and a fighter and will need to be for the days ahead.

“Carmie” attended the Day Nursery Clarian/IUH center from October 2008 until June 2011 when she left us to go to kindergarten.  She just returned home this week from St. Jude’s hospital in Memphis where she has been since early February undergoing 6 and a half weeks of heavy radiation therapy battling a rare form of cancer that impacts less than 200 children a year.  Even though Carmie has graduated from Day Nursery, she still has a strong connection to the Day Nursery family. Her infant cousin is currently enrolled at the Day Nursery IUH Center.

 Carmie will continue chemo from home for up to 24 months and her family is hopeful that it and the prayers will continue to force that tumor into submission as much as possible.  They ask that you please continue your love, support and prayers for their family as they move onto Phase 2 of their journey.

Please consider attending the Stay Strong Carmie fundraiser scheduled for Saturday, April 8 at 7 pm at the Harrison Center for the Arts at 16th and Delaware Streets.  Click here to read more about it and please help us spread the word.

 PS-If you would like to purchase a Stay Strong Carmie rubber wristband for $5.00, please call Jesse or Rene at our IUH center at 283-3838

 If you want to support Carmie and her family but can’t make the event, you can help by sending a donation to: Stay Strong Carmie 8215 Groton Lane Indianapolis, IN  46260

The Hundred Languages of Indiana Children

In celebration of the Month of the Young Child, the Indianapolis Reggio Collaborative in partnership with the Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children present The Hundred Languages of Indiana Children, an art exhibit showcasing the work of young children from around the state. The exhibit will be held at the Indianapolis Artsgarden. The show opens one week from tonight on Thursday April 7 at 5:30 pm and closes the next day Friday, April 8 at 4:00 pm so mark your calendar now so you won’t miss it. Each Day Nursery center will have an exhibit in the show including our Start Smart 4 Children center at Ft. Harrison where these very talented students attend Ms. Tracey Wickware’s pre-K classroom.

Wordless Wednesday: Day Nursery State Center

Day Nursery Ruth A. Lilly Center students await warmer weather

Justin and Joe looking at the caterpillars

Shannon Garrity, Director of the Day Nursery Ruth A. Lilly Center reports her students are anxiously awaiting warmer weather.  Many classroom activities revolve around gardening for the next couple of weeks. Both preschool classes are planting their seeds  in pots to transfer outside later when it gets warm. And preschoolers are observing caterpillars in their classroom and  counting down the days until they turn into butterflies.  Our Ruth A. Lilly Center currently has openings for children ages 2-6.  The center is located at 3522 N. Central Avenue. Call Shannon for  more information.

Jeremiah imitates a caterpillar

Now Jeremiah is a butterfly

Day Nursery students enjoy Dramatic Play area

The two-year olds in the Day Nursery Ruth A. Lilly Center, 3522 N. Central, love dressing up. All classrooms are set up with hands-on learning centers.  These children are playing the Dramatic Play/Housekeeping area. To get the most out of dramatic play, children need a variety of materials, equipment, and props to encourage creative expression and imagination.

While you are doing your spring cleaning, keep Day Nursery in mind. We always welcome gently used donations of both men and women’s clothes and shoes as well as items that can be incorporated into prop boxes.  Here’s an example of items you may have around the house that would be perfect for a restaurant-themed prop box:  old take out menus, tablecloth or placemats, dishes, apron, vase and flowers, chef hat, order-taking pads, plastic plates.

You can drop off your donations Monday-Friday at any of our 7 Day Nursery locations listed to the right of this column or call me at 636-9197 ext. 227 if you have any questions about your donation.

Children’s Clothing & Equipment Sale is April 16th

The Northside Twins & Multiples Annual Spring Sale has relocated to Fishers United Methodist Church at 9690 E 116^th St. Over 10,000 square feet of gently used infant & children’s clothing, equipment, books, toys and more will be sold April 16, 2011 from 8 a.m. to noon.  

You do not need to be a parent of multiples to shop the sale.  The sale is open to the public on Saturday, April 16th from 8am-noon.  They do; however, have special shopping times for parents of multiples before the public has access.  Parents of multiples can contact ntmclothingsale@gmail.com.

Vendors will be present representing both services and products for moms, kids and families.  Also present, a bake sale with proceeds benefitting The March of Dimes.  Non-perishable items will be collected on behalf of the Come-to-Me Food Pantry. This sale is cash-only, please plan accordingly.  

Northside Twins and Multiples is a not-for-profit organization open to expecting mothers, parents, and guardians of twins and higher order multiples. The organization offers monthly support groups, educational/social activities, and more. The mission is to provide activities, support and friendships throughout the membership of over 200 local families.

Families with multiples or expecting multiples are eligible to shop before the sale opens to the public. E-mail ntmclothingsale@gmail.com or visit www.indymultiples.org for more information.

Day Nursery Federal Center children focus on food

Students in the 2 1/2-year-old class at the Day Nursery Federal Center have been talking about sharing during the last two weeks and have read and discussed the fable Stone Soup.  This story book is just one of several items in a learning kit they have borrowed titled You Are What You Eat.  In the fable some hungry travelers used whatever people would give them and put it in their soup.  The children made the story come alive earlier this week when they made their own stone soup with items they brought from home. Their teachers are Nina Woodbury and Brittany Walton.

The Pre-K class used the learning kit as a springboard to building a classroom restaurant. To start their project, they visited the cafe upstairs in the Federal Building and talked to the manager and the cook.  There were several props in the learning kit that came in handy in their restaurant including a cash register, cookbooks, pretend fruits and vegetables and a diagram of the food pyramid.  Shirley Williams is their teacher.

 Our Child Care Answers program has been making learning kits like this one available to child care providers in our city for several years through their Resource Library.  Membership in the library has recently been opened up to parents who would like to borrow materials.  The annual membership fee of $20 allows parents to check out materials for up to four weeks at a time.  For more info about the Child Care Answers Resource Library contact Lenore Friedly 317-926-3401 ext. 312

Day Nursery preschoolers show off their fitness center to Fox 59

Sherman Burdette of the Fox59 Morning News is notorius for tracking down neat places in our city.  He called us a few weeks ago because he had been tipped off that we had a fitness room in our Day Nursery Indiana State Government Center location and he wanted to check it out.  Yesterday he arrived with a photographer to tape a few segments that are scheduled to air on the station tomorrow (Thursday) morning in the 7 and 8am hours of the show.  Thanks to Center Director Heike Imler and her staff, we located a handful of four and five year olds who weren’t camera shy to show Sherman how the equipment works.  Watch for Marsha Lindsey, our Chief Operating Officer with Day Nursery State Center students Hazel, Lilly, Milan, Sam 1 and  Sam 2 tomorrow morning on Fox59.  Special thanks to teacher Toni Hayward for helping out with the students during the taping.

Day Nursery students welcome spring

The Preschool 2 class at the Day Nursery Hendricks County Early Care and Education Center in Avon got a jump on spring last week and starting taking the grass out of a small corner of their playground so they could plant a garden after the threat of frost is past.  Under the direction of teacher Matt Miller, the children followed up their time on the playground with an art project using some of the mud they turned over in the yard.  Spring is in the air at Day Nursery!

Rules of the Road: Children Rear-Facing Until Age 2

Parents who mark their children’s first birthdays by turning their car seats to face forward should think again. New advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggests children stay safer longer in rear-facing car seats.

While some media outlets are touting this as new info, the staff at Riley Hospital for Children has been promoting the safety benefits of rear-facing car seats for a long time.  Instead of parents looking ahead to the next transition for their child, the doctors there say parents should instead monitor their child’s height and weight to see when they reach the limits of their car seat.  Visit the IU Health blog for more info.