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Greetings!
FALL IS HERE!
The leaves are falling – fall must be here! Our teachers are planning lots of fun and festive activities to help us celebrate the beginning of autumn. Remember to keep seasonally appropriate clothes at the center; including a light jacket, hat and mittens for those chillier days ahead. We will continue going outside every day.
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HALLOWEEN PARTY
Our annual Halloween Party will be held on
Monday, October 29, from 6-7:30 PM
.
In order for us to prepare for the party, we would appreciate if you could pick up your child by
5:30 PM
.
Thanks for your help!
Our staff will host a variety of age appropriate and fun activities throughout the center. Apple cider and a light snack will be served. Costumes for all (parents included!) are encouraged. We hope you can join us!
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TRICK-OR-TREATING
The preschool children will go trick or treating for the Brookdale seniors and through the Edinborough office complex on
Wednesday, October 31
. Please dress your child in his/her Halloween costume in the morning—but leave smaller accessories at home so they are not accidentally lost for your evening festivities. We will go trick or treating after dance class. We are looking forward to a fun day!!
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OCTOBER PRESCHOOL FIELD TRIP
On
Tuesday, October 16
, the preschool classes will visit Minnetonka Apple Orchard. The children will have an opportunity to go on a wagon ride through the apple orchard, learn how apples grow and taste one of the fresh grown apples from the orchard. The bus leaves at 9:15 and we will return to the center just before rest time. Please have your children dressed for the weather & bring a peanut/nut-free bag lunch!
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VISION SCREENING
On
Thursday, October 25
, representatives from Lions Kid Sight will be providing vision screening for children 6 months and up. A consent form will be sent out in mid-October. No child will be screened without a signed consent form.
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DEVELOPMENTAL SCREENING
Early childhood developmental screening is a check of a child’s development, vision, hearing, growth, health history and immunizations. Screening takes approximately 1 hour and a parent or legal guardian stays with the child during the process. Edina School District is offering screening by appointment on select days in November and December. This screening must be completed before starting kindergarten in a Minnesota public school. For more information, visit:
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UPCOMING HOLIDAY REMINDER
EFC will be closed on
Thursday & Friday, November 22 & 23 for Thanksgiving
.
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EFC CELEBRATIONS AND TREATS POLICY
EFC strives to create a healthy environment at our centers. We are also happy to celebrate special occasions with children, staff and families. We believe occasional treats, when enjoyed in moderation, contribute to a spirit of celebration. We know, however, that at times it can be difficult to limit the number of sugary treats children consume. In addition, we are eager to ensure that children with food allergies are safe and feel included in classroom celebrations. Finally, we recognize that bringing food to class is taxing for many families – in both time and money.
For those reasons, our policy is to promote healthy and/or non-food celebrations in the classroom. Our classrooms have many traditions in place to ensure that each child feels honored on his/her special day. If families would like to help celebrate a child’s birthday or other special occasion in the classroom, we request that you consider one of the ideas below.
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If you would like to bring food to celebrate your child’s birthday or other special occasion, we ask that you bring in a healthy choice. All food brought to EFC for the purposes of sharing with the class must be commercially packaged and labeled with the ingredients (i.e. not homemade).
In order to provide a safe and healthy environment for all children, we do not allow the following items to be brought to the center:
- Peanut products
- Candy or sugary treats
- Soda/pop or sugary drinks
- Cakes, cupcakes, brownies, etc.
EFC Parties and Celebrations
EFC does not provide treats to children on a regular basis. We will continue to offer treats (i.e. cake) in moderation for special events such as graduation, family parties or center-wide celebrations.
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SPOOKTACULAR COMMUNITY EVENTS
September 22-October 28 (Saturdays and Sundays): The Great Pumpkin Fest, Valley Fair
October 26-27: Parade and Party, Anoka
October 27: Thrill Kenwood, Kenwood Park, Minneapolis
October 27: Pumpkin Fest, 50
th and France, Edina
October 27: BooBash, Maplewood
October 28: Great Pumpkin Halloween Celebration, Landmark Center, St. Paul
October 31: Halloween Party, Bloomington Ice Garden
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FALL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY
We had a great day on Friday, August 31, when all EFC employees gathered together for training. The kickoff was recognizing long term employees. This year there were 56 employees honored who have worked at EFC for 5 years or more. 36 of those people have worked for 10 years or more. We are so grateful for their commitment to early childhood education and the stability they create in our centers. Pictured below are 8 of the 11 employees who have worked at EFC between 26 and 38 years!!
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The training topics of our day included a session on
Strengthening Families led by Samantha Baker, the co-director of our Edinborough center. Samantha has her Master of Arts Degree in Early Childhood Education and has qualified as a Master Trainer for the Minnesota Early Childhood staff training system. Her presentation was thought-provoking as it gave us many opportunities to look at our own families of origin and reflect on how those experiences and values shape how we interact with the families we serve. It also gave us insight into the different ways families develop their unique family dynamics. Using a strength-based perspective, our job as teachers is to listen and try to understand your needs and support your child’s growth through the lens of your family’s values. We want to respond with a two-generational approach, taking into consideration the needs of parents and children at the same time rather than supporting parents and children in isolation from one another.
The second session employees attended was led by Nancy Hafner, an early childhood specialist. The infant and toddler staff explored a
relationship-based approach to challenging behavior. After observing to try to understand the child’s behavior, Nancy gave us many concrete ideas for responding and specific ways to soothe infants and toddlers.
Nancy’s session for preschool staff was titled
Understanding and Preventing Challenging Behaviors in Preschool Children. She emphasized the importance of reframing the way we look at challenging behaviors. She said to put aside any beliefs about the child trying to make adults angry. Instead, ask what it is that the child wants or needs that is resulting in this challenging behavior. An image she gave us was an iceberg where most of the iceberg is under the surface. After trying to understand the reason for the behavior, or what is beneath the surface, the challenge is to help the child obtain what he wants using acceptable behavior. Again, Nancy gave many practical suggestions that we can use in our classrooms as well as excellent resources for obtaining even more information as we encounter specific challenges in the future. One of our goals as an organization is to continuously provide evidenced-based resources and tools to our teaching staff on these and other topics to help them, and the children in their classrooms, thrive.
If you would like to check out some of the resources we learned about yourself, see the websites below:
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TWIN CITIES
FAMILY EVENTS
Apple Orchards & Pumpkin Patches
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Whether one is 3 or 30 or 80, sometimes it is hard to manage emotions such as anger, sadness, or anxiety. This video, taken from one of the resources mentioned in the Especially for Parents article, reminds us how powerful breathing deeply can be, and that even young children can benefit from the practice.
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Especially for Children
3300 Edinborough Way
Edina MN 55435
(952) 835-0505
Center Directors:
Anna Wilson
Samantha Baker
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