First English Lutheran Child Development Center Newsletter
May 2011
Director’s Corner
In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, I thought it might be nice to take a moment to
chat about the staff at our center. Not one to usually toot our own horn, I am nothing
but proud of the unique staff that we have. I do not think that we consist of your
ordinary group of childcare workers. Most of our staff are at the beginning of long
careers of working children. They join us because they enjoy working with children,
and they are intelligent, with-it and personable. Our staff also love to be around each
other. They hang out quite a bit—happy hours, book clubs, movies, etc. It is great to
see that the nurturing environment that we create for our children starts with the staff
and each other. I think it gets translated to the children and the families who we are
lucky enough to spend our days with. Many thanks to our staff. As parents, we just
couldn’t ask for more.
Always a pleasure,
Teresa
Board News
The Board really struggles each year with looking at tuition increases while still
keeping costs as low as possible. Due to the rising costs of just about everything from
food to gloves and in the hopes of giving our staff at least a cost of living raise, the
Board voted to increase tuition slightly by $20 per child. Therefore, starting in
September, the new tuition rates for Sunbeams, Moonbeams, and Stars will be $915 per
month. The new tuition rates for the Rainbows and Explorers will be $855 per month.
Out and About
Looking for a quick weekend get away with the kids? How about Houston? Houston
has some great, kid friendly places that can keep a family quite busy. Just a small
sampling:
The Children’s Museum of Houston: Recognized as one of the top children’s museums
in the country, the Children’s Museum of Houston truly has something for every
grandchild. Everything is hands-on and the experience is all about play. Favorite
permanent exhibits include the Tot Spot, an enclosed area for babies and toddlers 2 and
under, KID*TV, an interactive television studio, and Farm to Market where kids can
“work” on the farm or be cashiers and shoppers at the grocery store. If the kids need
running room, you can simply go out to the shaded courtyard. Here, they can climb on
an old caboose, send boats down the Babbling Bayou, play on a swing set, or make
giant bubbles in the Bubble Lab.
The Downtown Aquarium: The Downtown Aquarium is much more than just an
aquarium, but we’ll start there. The aquarium itself is huge: over 200 different species
in 500,000 gallons of water. You can explore different aquatic habitats: see a sunken
temple, rainforest river, shipwreck coral reefs, the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana
swamp. Also part of the main aquarium tour is the unique white tiger exhibit, White
Tigers of the Maharaja’s Temple. For an extra charge, you can do Shark Voyage, a
train ride through an acrylic, tunnel-shaped shark tank. Once you’ve seen all the fish,
you can ride the Diving Bell Ferris Wheel (which has become a dramatic addition to
the Houston skyline) or the Aquatic Carousel. In addition, the aquarium also features a
restaurant where you can watch the fish as you dine.
The Kemah Board Walk: The Kemah Boardwalk is packed with carnival-style rides,
games and food that will delight your children of any age. Little ones will love the
Kemah Train and Carousel, and older children will get a kick out of the Crazy Sub, Red
Baron and Aviator rides. All of you will love Joe’s Boardwalk Beast, a custom
speedboat designed to thrill. The captain and crew (who tote water guns) blast the boat
through the water at speeds of up to 40 mph, and warn that they will make sure
everyone on the ride gets wet... so bring an extra shirt or a towel!
Houston Zoo: Located in the heart of the city, the Houston Zoo is a remarkable place to
encounter nature’s wonders. All of your childrens’ usual zoo favorites are here, of
course. You’ll see giraffes, elephants and bears among the 95 species of mammals. See
the meerkats keep watch on their colony, or gasp in awe as a lion roars from the top of
a cliff just 50 yards away from you. Duck into the Kipp Aquarium to escape the sun
and watch jellyfish, octopi and other fascinating creatures. The John P. McGovern
Children’s Zoo has plenty of creatures to pet as well as some fun water play areas for
hot days.
Houston Arboretum and Nature Center: Located on the western edge of Memorial Park
(the largest park in the city), the Houston Arboretum gives even lifelong city-dwellers
the chance to encounter nature on a personal level. Your children can get closer to the
creatures of Houston thanks to an excellent Nature Center building, which hosts
workshops and Discovery Classes on a regular basis. In the Discovery Room, the
mandate is to “touch, please.” Kids can learn about the life of a tree, look at leaves and
seeds under a microscope and discover the names of animals living in their backyard.
Greengate Farm
Looking for more ways to bring healthful foods to your dinner table? Greengate Farms
is a new, local organic farm out in east Austin. You can visit these friendly folks as a
family and even take part in the CSA program. http://greengatefarms.net
Enrichment Classes
Lots of our enrichment classes will be ending their spring semesters this month.
Tumbling ends Thursday, May 5th. Soccer Shots ends on Friday, May 27th. Dance
ends on Thursday, May 26th. Music ends Wednesday, June 1st. Chapel will have their
day on Wednesday, May 11th.
Sunscreen and Bug Spray
The time has arrived for our twice daily lathering up and spraying down of children
before we hit the playground each day. The price of supplying the center with enough
sunscreen and bug spray to coat 60 children twice a day throughout the summer is
pretty darn expensive. We are asking each family to contribute one container of Water
Babies Sunscreen and any insect repellant with 7% DEET or less to their classroom. If
you have elected for your child to have something different than what we use at the
center, please make sure that you have provided the teachers with your desired spray.
Thanks for helping us keep supply costs down!
Clothes
Summer time has hit! Please make sure that your child has a healthy supply of weather
appropriate clothing. If you are in the process of potty training or your child has
frequent accidents, please make sure that there is a good supply of extra clothes in
his/her cubby. Often in the midst of an accident, a child can become quite distraught
when he/she has to borrow clothes.
Teacher Conferences
Teachers are holding their bi-annual conferences the week of May 16th. These
conferences are a great time to sit down with your lead teacher and chat. I always tell
parents that there is not much that we can tell you about your child that you don’t
already know, but we do have the gift of observing your child with a group of peers
without you around, which can be great knowledge to have.
Water Play
Water play will begin in June. We’ll have it twice a week through the summer—
Tuesday mornings and Thursday afternoons. Water play days take a little bit of
planning on both the parts of our staff and families. Each teacher organizes it a little
differently, so please be on the lookout for more information towards the end of the
month.
Wild Card Wednesday
Last year we started something fun that seemed to go over very well—Wild Card
Wednesday. Basically, Shannon and I set up a “surprise” activity each Wednesday in
the Fellowship Hall, and each class came through during the day to play. We did all
kinds of stuff—a lemonade stand, movie in the park, pirate’s ship, etc. We are looking
forward to starting it up again in June!
Randall’s Good Neighbor Program
Interested in an easy way to donate money to the center? We take part in the Randall’s
Good Neighbor Program. If you shop at Randall’s, they will donate a small percentage
of your purchase to our center. Just link up your card to our organization. Our Good
Neighbor Number is 5978.