Winter 2019 Newsletter
Parents as Teachers
Welcome to December- one of the busiest months for many families!
If your family is like many of us, you are busy making plans for the holiday season. For adults, this fun time of the year can be stressful and overwhelming with all the things we want to do to make this time of year special.
For little children, it may mean going to new places and visiting people they don’t know well, staying up later than usual, getting to eat foods they don’t usually get to eat, and the sometimes overstimulating barrage of lights, music, and crowds of people! Not to mention the guy in the red suit, and why do mom and dad want me to smile while I’m sitting on a stranger’s lap? All of this can provide great family fun and memories, but also sensory overload and tantrums for the littles.
Our suggestion? Take some time and slow down. Many of us feel our children are “missing out” on something if we don’t do EVERYTHING that our friends are, but littles don’t care about this. They care about YOU! Spending time with you is the best gift you can give your child this holiday season.
Here are a few of my personal favorite family activities in our area,
What are yours?
-Holiday Lights on Farmstead Lane at the DeAnna Rose Farmstead
-Powell Gardens Festival of Lights, Powell Gardens in Lee’s Summit.
-The Plaza Lights (the BEST outdoor light display in the country!!)
-Christmas Card Lane Olathe, KS (West of Ridgeview and N of 151st
-Singing Christmas carols and drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows
-Baking and decorating cookies (and sharing them with friends!)
From our PAT family to yours- Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!!
Dorothy
Block and Gross Motor Play
No registration necessary
Enter through door "Q" we will be in the gym
Saturday, Dec 14, 2019, 09:30 AM
300 East Loula Street, Olathe, KS, USA
Holiday hours
Our last playgroup of the year will be on December 19th.
We will resume playgroups on January 7th. Please look at the calendar for dates and times.
Saturday Playgroups coming up at Mill Creek Campus
February 22 9:30-11:00
April 4 9:30-11:00
Snow Days and PAT Activities
The Parents as Teachers program follows the district guidelines for snow days. This means that if school is cancelled for the day, all PAT activities are cancelled as well. This includes home visits, playgroups, and group connections. We will post closures on our website and Facebook page and you can always check the Olathe School District website at www.olatheschools.com to find out if school is closed due to bad weather.
Your parent educator will contact you to cancel your visit and will do her best to reschedule as soon as possible.
Please help our home visitors stay safe when they come to see you. Cleaning snow and ice from sidewalks and front steps ensures our staff will be able to safely get to your home. We don’t want anyone to fall on icy steps and risk injury. I know you don’t want that to happen either, so please, be considerate and clear the sidewalk and the steps for us!
Thank you so much for your understanding and your help with the challenges of winter weather home visiting!
Our PAT Staff was officially recognized at the school board meeting for achieving the National Blue Ribbon Excellence Award!! We are dedicated to supporting the families with the youngest children in our school district!
Great Ideas for Dad to do with the Kids!
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Early Childhood Activity Calendars
These calendars are for kids 3-5 years old. You can do some activities with younger kids but all of these activities work on numeracy, literacy, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and other activities such as library day or reading day each week.