March 2017 News

Upcoming DatesMarch 9 & 10
Teacher Inservice (No School)
March/April
Parent/Teacher Conferences
March 16
PAB Meeting
6:30 p.m. @ CMP
March 31
Tuition Due

Important Calendar Note: Classes return from Spring Break on April 18th.
(school calendar is incorrect, it says 4/16/17)

 SAVE THE DATE

Friday, APRIL 28th

Parents NIGHT OUT!
@ ALT Brewing.
Dear Parents,Over the years social media has became part of all our daily lives. Yet, it is fairly new to the parenting world. Yes, there are studies done and currently being done, but now we need to add the years to these studies.
We still don’t quite know what the actual long term outcomes will be. What we do know is everyone needs awareness, education and, most important, balance. I am as addicted to social media as the next person. Recently, I ran across this article that helped me look at my smart phone (as well as other social media that I use) and the effect it may have on children in another light. It gave me some education and awareness but, mostly, it gave me the presence, balance and foresight on something in parenting that one can do for their child to create a positive outcome. It is a one-page short read-powerful!

Ms. Patty

Your Smartphone or Your Life
by P. Donohue Shortridge, MA

On a crisp Saturday morning at a Denver farmers’ market, the smell of roasted chilies hangs in the air.  A wiggly 10-year-old girl waits in line at the burrito vendor’s cart, arm linked with her dad’s.  All skinny jeans, sweatshirt, and braces, she sways to the nearby music of a guitar and mandolin duo.
Food in hand, daughter and dad sit across from each other at a small cafe table.  She looks adoringly at him as she’s about to take her first bite.  In that golden moment, dad slips his phone out of his pocket. Her eyes pivot instantly to that thing, that mortal enemy that will once again rob her of her dad. Engrossed in his phone, he does not notice as his daughter draws back from the table, her eyes glaze over, and she looks distractedly at the moving crowd, accepting her not-unfamiliar plight:  At any moment, her dad may abandon her for his phone, exiting this intimate father-daughter space and going elsewhere.
This true story is one of many:  Anecdotally, parents use mobile devices in front of their children all the time.  Children have become used to their precious parent time being interrupted, without apology or permission, by their parents’ exiting at will to attend to their electronic life.  The device’s ubiquitous presence at the dinner table, on the nature walk, and during drive time and downtime signals to sons and daughters that they must compete with these inanimate objects for their parents’ attention or simply resign themselves to the shared attention.  Some act out, thinking negative attention is better than no attention.  Others adapt and imitate their parents’ behavior, begging for a mobile device of their own.  New research from Common Sense Media found that “almost twice as many children have used mobile media compared to two years ago and the average time children spent using mobile devices has tripled” (2013, p. 9).
Distracted parents model that it is acceptable not to be present when you spend time with your loved ones.  Children quickly learn that attending to a mobile device is an approved value.
But how do children really feel about their parents’ use of mobile devices in their presence?  In her book, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, Sherry Turkle recounts one boy’s lament that he could understand it better when his dad worked at his desk computer than when he sat next to him with his mobile device in hand, physically there but not fully present.  Says Turkle, “Children have always competed for their parents’ attention…with parents being off with work, friends, or each other.  Today, children contend with parents who are physically close, tantalizingly so, but mentally elsewhere.”  (2011, p. 267).
Our children need and deserve our full attention when are with them.  So what’s a parent to do?

  •      Keep your smartphone out of sight when you’re with your children.  Better yet, turn it off and put it in another room.  If you do need to use it, excuse yourself and take the call elsewhere.  Make it short, come back quickly, and apologize for the interruption-because that’s what it is, an interruption of your in-the-moment life with your child.  The same goes for checking or sending voicemail, email or text message.
  • If you’re going to look something up on your device when with your children, ask their permission before doing so.  This is a good habit to get into whenever you are with another person.
  • Vow to break the habit of fooling yourself that your electronic gadget use when with your children is not a distraction. It is.  And it cuts deep.
______________________________________________
Seroogy’s Chocolate
Seroogy’s Chocolate orders are due on March 24th. Please get out there and sell and buy some stuff for your kiddos’ (or nieces or nephews) Easter baskets, too!  All proceeds go toward the driveway fund.  We appreciate your support!
______________________________________________Join other CMP families in connecting on Facebook
There is a CMP site for this-Countryside Montessori Preschool Families.  Please go to it and request to be accepted.  It’s a great place for information and fun.
______________________________________________

Have we told you?
Countryside was founded in 1993.  Since 1993, CMP has been a high quality early childhood program on the Northeast side.  Acquiring a 5-star rating, and many accolades from both the City and the State, it has been a desired school for many families for 20+ years! We are blessed to have you and your children!  Thank you!  We appreciate you and your commitment to your child and their most important start in life. The years of 3-6 are the building blocks and foundation for the years to come in their life.  Dr. Montessori was committed to the young child’s curiosity for learning and desire for consistency and security. We value your relationship with your child and to each teacher. Thank you for the ways you support CMP!  Whether it be through volunteering to fix something, donate materials, a little thank you note in the log book, bring in meals for staff dinners, or donate time on boards and committees-it means SO MUCH!
______________________________________________

Check List
* sign in each day
* clean out cubbies/mailboxes
(thanks for the help on housekeeping!)
* hold hands in the parking lot, please
* Camp sign-up
* Letter of Intent
* visit gofundme.com, and please SHARE!
* SMILE-you are doing a great job!
______________________________________________

“It is spring again.
The earth is like a child
that knows poems by heart.”
–Rainer Maria Rilke

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *