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September 2008 Newsletter—Rice County PLAYGROUPS Lyons Evening Playgroup (NEW!) Thursday, Sept. 4th 6:30-7:30 p.m. LRC Gym Daytime Playgroup Wed., Sept. 17th 10:00-11:30 a.m. LRC Gym Sterling Wed., Sept. 10th & 24th 9:30-11:00 a.m. Sterling Library Little River Wed., Sept. 10th & 24th 10:00-11:30 a.m. Congregational Church MEDIEVAL CARNIVAL NEW! BROWN BAG PLAYDAY September 3rd, 11:30 a.m. PAT Center Let’s do lunch! Join us on the first Wednesday of each month to eat lunch and share parenting experiences with others while the kids play. Each family is asked to bring their own lunch. ACTIVITY GROUPS (Designed for ages 3-5 years) Lyons Sunday, September 28th 3:30-5:30 p.m. Lyons Recreation Commission Gym Friday, Sept. 12th & 26th 9:00-9:45 a.m. PAT Center Sterling Friday, Sept. 5th & 19th 9:00-9:45 a.m. Sterling Library (more details on page 2) Cornerstone Friday, Sept. 5th & 19th 10:30-11:15 a.m. Cornerstone Daycare Parents as Teachers 800 S. Workman 1-620-257-5293 1-877-808-9639 Tracy Suhler, Supervisor ext. 152 Wendy Comley, Educator ext. 128 Kari Troyer, Office Assist. ext. 142 www.usd405.com Welcome! We welcome our new Parent Educator, Wendy Comley to the staff this year. Parenting Press Tip of the Week—August 2, 2008 by Shari Steelsmith TIP: Understanding the reasons behind a child’s emotional intensity can help you respond more effectively to a tantrum. Temperamentally, some children just come more intense or stubborn than others. Children who are high on the intensity scale are often prone to emotional meltdowns. These temper tantrums that happen are so intense, parents often feel overwhelmed. When the tantrums are frequent, parents can also become aggravated—wondering why their youngster has to react so strongly to things that seem so ordinary to them. Like, everybody has to leave the park sometime, don’t they? Why does their child act like it’s the end of the world and then subject family members to a screaming fit? TOOLS: Therapists Jennifer Brown and Pam Provonsha Hopkins, authors of What Angry Kids Need: Parenting Your Angry Child Without Going Mad, point out that parents commonly discount the intensity behind a child’s feelings because they view the world through an adult lens; they forget to account for a child’s lack of experience and maturity. A young child doesn’t necessarily understand that the park will still be there tomorrow and that opportunities for playing will abound. To a child, it feels like leaving forever. Brown an Hopkins offer the following examples for equivalent child and adult reactions. Child Stresses over: Is equivalent to adult stresses over: Two year old loses toy momentarily to a sibling. Adult has his car stolen. Six year old has to end a play date early. Adult has to say goodbye to a family member who is going overseas for many years. Twelve year old doesn’t get chosen for baseball team two years in a row. Adult gets passed over for a promotion ten years in a row. Thinking about a child’s distress this way makes it easier to empathize wit their emotions. If you don’t take care to consider the disparity between child and adult perception, it is easy to dismiss a child’s reaction as unreasonable and to belittle his emotional experience. Instead, your child will benefit enormously if you offer support and guidance for finding a way through the situation. Copyright Parenting Press, www.parentingpress.com, reprinted by permission September 2008 Sunday 7 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 Lyons Evening Playgroup 6:30 p.m. 5 3-5 groups Sterling 9:00 a.m. Cornerstone 10:30 a.m. 6 8 9 10 Playgroups Sterling 9:30 a.m. Little River 10:00 a.m. 11 12 3-5 group Lyons 9:00 a.m. 13 CYKI-Sterling 14 15 16 17 Lyons Daytime Playgroup 10:00 a.m. 18 19 3-5 groups Sterling 9:00 a.m. Cornerstone 10:30 a.m. 20 21 22 23 24 Playgroups Sterling 9:30 Little River 10:00 a.m. 25 26 3-5 group Lyons 9:00 a.m. 27 28 Medieval Carnival 3:30-5:30 LRC Gym 29 30 August Birthdays Jackson, Ellie, Ayston, Boston, Shelby, Karissa, Aiden, Shaylee September Birthdays Caty, Caitlin, Eric