AUGUST 2020
Greetings!

SUMMER GARDENS
We will be ending our garden season at the end of this month. The children have had so much fun tending our garden this summer and sampling the vegetables that they grew. We are excited to see what else we will harvest before the end of the season!
PARENT REMINDERS
HEALTH CARE SUMMARY AND IMMUNIZATIONS
We appreciate everyone’s efforts to keep their child(ren’s) files updated at our center. Our license requires us to keep current records on site of each child. We need annual physical forms as well as the computer print out of updated immunizations. If you have an appointment scheduled, feel free to stop by the office to gather the necessary paperwork. Again—thank you for your help!
CENTER CLOSED
EFC will be closed on Friday, September 4 , for our Staff Professional Development Day, as well as Monday, September 7, for Labor Day.
STAR WELLNESS
star wellness
STAR WELLNESS OUTDOOR GAMES

FUNS SPINS ON DISC GOLF: Hang a hoop from a branch or clothesline, then grab a Frisbee and try these fun spins on the game of Disc Golf at home!

BASEBALL: Set out four bases (cardboard squares work well) with a home plate near the hoop. Players start at home and work around the diamond, shooting the frisbee from each base. Three “strikes” (misses) and you are out; complete the circuit to earn a run and another turn (with three strikes).

OBSTACLE GOLF: Starting and ending with the frisbee shot through the hoop, players race to complete a course of challenges (crawl through a tunnel, kick a soccer ball into a net, swerve in and out of cones or other objects, and so on). Keep time, the fastest player wins.

D-I-S-C: For the spellers out there: The game is the same as H-O-R-S-E in basketball. One player throws a frisbee through a hoop, then the other players need to match the shot or earn a letter; the last one to spell D-I-S-C wins.

*And, for extra fun, you can even add a little science lesson on flight physics while you are playing!

PARENT RESOURCES
FLOWER PEDAL PRINTING
Check out this idea from the Community Playthings blog:

“Capture some of that wondrous splash of color from your flower garden on paper. Experiment with different flowers and leaves. We found that marigolds and parsley made the most vibrant colors.”

BUILDING AN ANTI-BIAS LIBRARY
One of the things we are working on at EFC is building an anti-bias library. We are doing so based on helpful criteria outlined by Social Justice Books and wanted to share these ideas with you.

When reviewing a book with an anti-bias lens:

  • Check the illustrations
  • Look for stereotypes
  • Look for tokenism
  • Look for invisibility
  • Check the Story Line and the Relationships Between People
  • Look at Messages About Different Lifestyles
  • Consider the Effects on Children’s Self and Social Identities
  • Look for Books About Children and Adults Engaging in Actions for Change
  • Consider the Author’s or Illustrator’s Background and Perspective
  • Watch for Loaded Words
  • Look at the Copyright Date
  • Assess the Appeal of the Story and Illustrations to Young Children

You can find more detail around each of these suggestions here: https://socialjusticebooks.org/guide-for-selecting-anti-bias-childrens-books/
ESPECIALLY FOR PARENTS
THANK YOU!
We wanted to take a moment to recognize and thank our amazing EFC teaching staff and managers for all they have done over the course of this pandemic. We truly appreciate their hard work and dedication to EFC families, one another, and the organization. They have been flexible, positive, caring, energetic…they have been AMAZING!

On behalf of EFC Administration, THANK YOU, to all the members of our staff.
Especially for Children
2 H South Pine Dr. 
Circle Pines MN 55014 
(763) 786-9410 

Center Director:
Linda Burck
Center Assistant Director:
Kris Steffens
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