October 2023 Newsletter

October 2023 Newsletter

October Dates:

Monday, October 9 – No School

Monday, October 23-Friday, October 27 – Fall Consignment Sale

October Snacks:

We will be serving these delicious snacks in the month of October:

Saltines & cheese slices, Ritz crackers & peanut butter (or cheese), Rice Chex & dried fruit, Goldfish & juice, and ginger snaps & applesauce.

Welcome Back to 4CCN to these 4CCN alumni!

The DMV has a reputation for being a very transient area. Take a closer look at our small community here at 4 Corners Community Nursery!

4CCN alumni are coming back to where their structured education began.

4CCN staff Katie Keach & Amelia Temenak both attended 4CCN and are now on staff. Katie working on MWFs in a 3s class and Amelia in 2s class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

David Chapman, Kelly Barnard & Zack Burger both attended 4CCN (in the original building) and now their children are in our 3s classes.

We also have four grandchildren in attendance from former staff members.

If I have missed anyone, please let me know.

Stop by the office, we may have you picture in our photo library.

Many of our staff members started their journey here with enrolling their children and joined the staff.

Ashley Campbell, Rachael Wetter, Sarah Jacobs, Katie Keach, Carla Temenak, Sara Robb, Alana Kravitz, Allison Nadelhaft, Kate Spigler & Susie Ostermeyer.

So, next time someone says we live in a very transient area, think about our little community and over 30+ years, so many have not gone far at all.

Halloween Celebrations:

Please check your classroom newsletters/emails for more information about your child’s classroom activities.

4CCN FALL CONSIGNMENT SALE

From our Co-Chairs

The Fall Consignment Sale is quickly approaching! This year's fall sale will be held the week of October 23, 2023. We will have a huge selection of season specific children's clothing (NB-12), plus toys, books, games, baby gear, costumes, and maternity clothes and more for sale. 

In addition to shopping the sale, you are also welcome to consign at the sale. This is a great opportunity to clean out your closets and support the school at the same time! If you are interested in consigning, you will need a consignor code. Codes are $5 each.  Please come to the office to pay for your code and pick up tags, information packet and pricing guide.

If you have any items you would like to donate to the sale and give the school 100% of the proceeds (instead of the 50/50 split for the consignor and the school), you can pick up some green tags in the office and label them with code A1. Only donate items that you do not want returned to you.

Please mark your calendars with the following important dates for consignors, shoppers, and parent volunteers: 

Consignor Drop Off Times 

Monday, October 23, 9:30 AM - 1:00 PM and 7:00 - 9:00 PM

Tuesday, October 24, 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Sale Dates

Tuesday, October 24, 7:00 - 9:00 PM

Wednesday, October 25, 9:30 AM - 1:00 PM and 7:00 - 9:00 PM

Thursday, October 26, 9:30 AM - 1:00 PM and 7:00 - 9:00 PM

(Thursday is half price day!)

As you know, an event of this size can only be successful with the help of many hands. Please help us make the most of this sale, our one and only fundraising event at 4CCN, by signing up for and completing your required volunteer shift(s). If you have not received an email with a link to the Sign-Up website, please contact our chairwomen, Brittany Hammond and Sara Robb, via email at consign4ccn@gmail.com. 

Do not forget, everyone who has signed up for their volunteer hours will be able to shop at the pre-sale on Tuesday, October 24 from 5:30pm-6:30pm!

The sale is located on the lower level of Luther Rice Memorial Baptist Church in the Social Hall. Both consigning and purchasing are open to the community, so please share this information with your friends and family. 

Visit from Pediatric Dentist

October is Dental Health Month

Everyone loves a clean mouth, right? And we think keeping that mouth of yours clean on the regular is worth celebrating. In fact, we think it’s worth celebrating not just for a day, but for an entire month; hence, the recognition of the month of October as National Dental Hygiene Month. This month is dedicated to promoting healthy mouths all across the country, and celebrating the hard work your favorite dental hygienist does to keep your pearly whites squeaky clean.

Silver Spring Pediatric Dentistry will visit 4CCN on October 13 & November 2 to teach our children the importance of their oral health. During our visit they will read a book about preventing cavities, and the importance of brushing and flossing, demonstrate how to properly brush and floss and play a short game.

Emergency Preparedness Plans for 4CCN

4 Corners Community Nursery’s philosophy is to always keep your child(ren) safe when he/she is in our care.  We have developed an emergency plan that will be put into place if special circumstances require a different type of care.  Plans for these special types of care are reviewed annually.  The 4CCN staff is trained in the appropriate response and local emergency management is aware of these plans. The specific type of emergency will guide where and what special care will be provided.

·         Shelter at the site – This plan would be put into place in the event of weather emergency or unsafe outside conditions or threats. In this plan, children will be cared for indoors with secured and locked doors.  Parents will be notified if they need to pick up their child before regular time.

·         Evacuation to another site – This plan would be put into place in the event that is not safe for the children to remain at 4CCN.  In this situation, staff has predetermined alternate sites for care.  The choice of the site is determined by the specific emergency and what would be an appropriate site.

·         Method to contact parents – In the event of an emergency, parent will be called, a note will be placed on the door, and radio/TV stations will be alerted to provide more specific information.  You can also check for information on our website www.4ccn.org. Depending on the distance from the center, the children will walk if feasible or be transported to the alternate site.

·         Emergency ends/reuniting with children – When the emergency ends, parents will be informed and reunited with their children as soon as possible.  The contact methods listed above will be used to inform parents.

The purpose for sharing this information with you is not to cause worry, but to reassure you that we are prepared to handle all types of emergencies in a way that will ensure the safety of your child(ren).  In the event of an actual emergency, please do not call 4CCN – it will be important to keep the lines open. If you have questions regarding this information, talk with the director or your child’s teacher.

Former 4CCN Parent Offers Therapy

Is your child showing signs of anxiety: Excessive worry? Constant checking? Fear of separation? Heightened attention to every physical symptom?

Have you, now as a parent or in your past, managed anxiety? Do you wonder how your experiences of anxiety impact your parenting and your ability to enjoy the moment? 

Psychotherapy can help alleviate anxiety symptoms while also helping you strengthen your sense of self and life satisfaction. As a licensed psychotherapist, I offer short- and longer-term therapies including SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions), ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), as well as mind-body methods to help you and your child create lives full of the things that matters to you all.  

Appointments are available in-person in Kensington or via telehealth for clients located anywhere in Maryland.  To learn more, visit or call:
www.AshleyThorndike.com

301-200-9210

Ashley Thorndike, LGPC, C-SLDI

Ashley is  former 4CCN parent

she/her

Small Space Education & Therapy is owned and operated by Ashley Thorndike, LGPC, C-SLDI and offers psychotherapy, dyslexia intervention, and holistic Pilates. Ashley's practice is supervised by Ronnie Biemans, LCPC, a Maryland board-approved counseling supervisor. Ashley Thorndike, LGPC is an out of network provider but psychotherapy may be covered in part by your insurance via reimbursement. 

September 2023 Newsletter

Dear 4CCN Families,

Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year!

This time of year, is filled with many emotions. It is always very exciting to begin a new year. Each year

brings some change as well as the familiar. The quiet halls are filled with children’s laughter (and some

tears) and parents reconnect with friends they have not seen all summer or connect with new friends.

Along with the excitement of a new school year, there is anxiety for children and parents who are

experiencing the first day for the first time. In just a few short weeks as the routine becomes familiar

and that anxiety fades. Whether you are cheering as you leave school or filled with tears we will make

your child’s/children’s experience(s) memorable while they are here at 4CCN.

The area is seeing a spike in COVID cases. Maryland Department of Education has released a statement

regarding COVID cases and outbreaks. We will continue to follow CDC guidelines for COVID. The

memorandum from MSD is attached to this newsletter for your reference.

One of my favorite parts of my job is to greet you and your children in the morning. Please be patient as

I learn everyone’s names. I am at the front door mornings and afternoons. I look forward to seeing you!

Wishing families and staff a fantastic 2023-2024 school year!

Susie Ostermeyer

Director

SEPTEMBER 2023 DAYS TO NOTE:

September 4 – No School, Labor Day

September 5 & 6 First Day of 2022 School Year!

September 25 No School

4CCN CALENDAR ON WEB SITE

For quick check on upcoming dates at 4CCN, please check out our calendar on

the web site. It is now on the home page. This is a quick and easy reference to

school closings and activities.

4CCN STAFF for 2023-2024

4CCN has been fortunate to consistently retain staff from year to year.

We have had some changes and movement from last year. Here is a list of

who is where in 2023-2024:

MWF 2s Ashley Campbell & Buffy Stutz

T/Th 2s Amelia Temenak & Sarah Jacobs

5-day 3s Jodi Siff & Rachael Wetter

MWF/WF 3s Sarah Jacobs & Katie Keach

MWF 4s Allison Nadelhaft & Kate Spigler

5-day 4s Alana Kravitz & Kathleen Ficco

5-day 4s Carla Temenak & Sara Robb (MWF) & Allison Nadelhaft (T/Th)

We welcome our newest staff members Sara Robb & Katie Keach.

Please check out all the staff bios on our website’s staff page.

New 4CCN Staff for 2023-2024

This year we welcome two new staff members to 4CCN; Sara Robb and Katie Keach.

Sarah Robb will be working with Carla Temenak in the 4-year-old classroom and Katie Keach as the aide

in the 3s classroom with Sarah Jacobs.

Both Sara & Katie are 4CCN parents, have a true understanding of children and will make wonderful

additions to the 4CCN staff. Welcome Sara & Katie.

TUITION PAYMENT

4CCN has enrolled in a payment option through QuickBooks.

Each month, you will receive an invoice with an option of paying via bank

transfer. You many also schedule payments with your bank to arrive by tuition

due date or drop off a check. Tuition invoices are sent to emails on file on the 25 th of each month

(August – April). Payments are due by the 5 th of the following month.

A $20.00/week late fee will be assessed for late payments. Your first tuition payment for the school year

is due on September 5 th .

PLAYGROUND SECURITY CAMERAS

Over the summer we had 2 security cameras installed. One facing the front gate of the playground, the

other facing the playground towards the backside of the fence. Last year we agreed to install fence

screening as well as cameras. The cameras do not take the place of staff or parents being aware of their

surroundings. If you see something suspicious, please say something to a 4CCN staff member or if it is

more urgent call 911 ASAP and then let a staff member know.

4CCN List Serve

Some communication regarding upcoming events, emergency closings and

general 4CCN happenings is made via email. If you have not been receiving

emails regarding Open House and the start of school or you would like to be

added to the list, please send me an email at 4ccndirector@gmail.com.

September Snack

In the month of September, we will serve graham crackers and apple juice for the

entire month. In October we will rotate snacks each week. Snack menus will be

posted in the newsletter each month.

Allergy Check

If your son/daughter has an allergy, please make sure it is noted in your child’s health inventory and on

their emergency form.

PARKING

We are fortunate to have a very large parking lot. You can enter the lot from two

locations, one from University Blvd and a rear entrance from Eastwood Ave.

There are other tenants who use the building and parking lot. Hold your

children’s hands when walking through the parking lot. Never leave children

unattended in your car while you drop off siblings.

For the safety of all families and children, the first 4 parking spaces by the front

door will be blocked. This includes parking in front of the playground. Cars

backing up while families are entering and exiting is too dangerous. Please do not park on the outside of

the yellow lines. We have many families entering and exiting and blocking the traffic flow makes for a

very dangerous parking lot.

FALL CONSIGNMENT SALE

Mark your calendars! The Fall Consignment Sale is quickly approaching! This year's fall

sale will be held the week of October 23 rd . We will have a huge selection of season

specific children's clothing (NB-size 12), plus toys, books, games, baby gear, costumes,

and maternity clothing for sale. 

An event of this size can only be successful with the help of many hands. Please help

us make the most of this sale, our one and only fundraising event at 4CCN, by signing

up for and completing your required volunteer shift(s). A link will be sent to you in a few

weeks for you to sign up for a shift. Our chairpersons for this year are Sara Robb and

Brittnay Hammond. The consignment sale email is consign4ccn@gmail.com if you have

any questions.

JOB OPPORTUNITY AT 4CCN

4CCN Substitutes

We are always looking for substitutes to fill in when a staff member needs a day

off. If you are interested in substituting, please contact Susie Ostermeyer for

more information 4ccndirector@gmail.com.

4CCN SECURITY

A camera/door buzzer is located to the right of our front door. Other than drop off

and pick up, the door will be locked. If you come during the school day to drop off

or pick up your child, please ring the intercom, identify yourself and we will buzz

you in. The inside doors are also locked during the school day, you will be given

the code for the inside doors at Open House.

4CCN Annual BBQ!

Weather permitting, we will have the BBQ on Friday, September 29 th from 5 pm -dusk.

Classrooms will be open from 5-5:30 for to meet the staff, and see what is happening in the classrooms.

Hot dogs and sides will be served on the playground. Family members are welcome to join!

More information will be emailed to you in a few weeks.

Guest Newsletter Contributor

Laura-Lee Nuttall is an RN and freelance writer. She is a mom of 3 children ages 12, 5 & 4. She will be

writing articles for our newsletter on topics which I hope are relevant to you and you enjoy reading. Our

September topic is Healthy Lunches for Picky Eaters. Her newsletter is attached, I hope you find the

information helpful! If there are any topics which you are interested in, please let me know. I

appreciate any feedback!

Unplug to CONNECT, LEARN, BE HEALTHY, and PLAY

http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/sites/default/files/ccfchealthykids.pdf

What's Going On Inside a Toddlers Brain?

As the parent of a toddler, your big adult mind is always trying to make sense of what’s going through their tiny kid one. “Why are you flopping on the ground?” “Why are you biting me for no particular reason?” “Why are you peeing yourself while maintaining eye contact?” The biggest issue is that you don’t know what they’re thinking, and they can’t tell you yet. But science can.

Dr. Dean Burnett, a neuroscientist (and author of the Idiot Brain, and Guardian columnist who moonlights as a stand-up comic), says that the early days of brain development are fascinating because all of the connections needed throughout life are forming and coming together. Dr. Burnett is also father to a 4-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter, so this is basically applied science. Here’s why your kid’s still-forming gray matter makes their behavior anything but black and white.

Your Kid Is Dory From Finding Nemo

Adults have mental models based on experience and the memory of how things should work. These are schemas to organize situations. Young children don’t. “Everything for toddlers is new and exciting; they don’t have a wealth of experience on how to judge things,” says Dr. Burnett. In fact, kids younger than 7 are basically hardwired to not store many memories. Since they’re not Arnold Schwarzenegger, you can’t assume a child will have total, or even partial, recall.

Repetition Vs. Comprehension

The brain doesn’t grow in the exact same way as the rest of the body. A kid can master crawling through repetition, but that doesn’t mean they will grasp the concept of why they need to put on shoes. What toddlers do understand is that when something is different than the day before, it sets them off. “All the connections in their brains aren’t made yet,” says Dr. Burnett. “When their expectations aren’t met, toddlers have lost control. They don’t know how to react, so they get distressed and sound the alarm bells because you’ve given them a red sippy cup instead of the green one.” (To be fair, that red sippy cup is superior.)

Small Brains Work Twice As Hard

“There’s actually a lot more connections in a child’s brain than in adult one,” says Dr. Burnett. “It isn’t until adolescence that the process of pruning begins, whereby the brain starts losing memories that aren’t ever activated to be more efficient.” Yes, your toddler is processing too much, not too little, which should blow both your minds. Conversely, teens are doing a ton of pruning, which is why they’re always sleeping instead of mowing the lawn.

It’s All Fight Or Flight

There’s a safety detection system that resides deep within the brain, right around the hippocampus, which triggers the “fight or flight” response to high-stress situations. Some of the potentially-lethal things to avoid are part of the evolutionary process (spiders, snakes), while others are learned human behaviors (roller coasters, Phish concerts).  A young child’s brain doesn’t recognize the difference. What’s benign to grown-ups isn’t necessarily to toddlers. “They don’t know when a thing is harmless, they just know it’s unfamiliar, which can set them off,” says Dr. Burnett.

The Evolution Of Screaming

Your toddler’s freak-out over anything (everything?) is to be expected. It’s a form of self-preservation. “From an evolutionary standpoint, part of the reason a child cries and throws a tantrum is to get the most possible attention from an adult within a group or community,” says Dr. Burnett. Flailing and wailing can both scare off predators and call an adult, which makes screaming fits a biological imperative. You can share this exciting scientific discovery the next time you bring your kid on a plane.

They’re Not Tasting Broccoli The Same Way

We all want to teach our kids to be good eaters. But, there’s a cerebral reason children prefer birthday cake over, say, broccoli cake. “Toddlers have different taste sensations, foods can be more vivid for them, so spinach and broccoli may be more bitter or sharp, says Dr. Burnett. “As opposed to ice cream, which is full of sugar. The brain likes it because it’s high energy, so treats will be sought out.” Well, if nature says you should eat this doughnut …

Doomed to Repeat the Past, Only Louder

You thought that, as kids move out of the toddler years, things get more mature. Wrong. As their brains form more permanent memories, kids can be even harder to handle. “At, say 5 years old, children have a base level of understanding, which can make crying fits worse because they have a sense of how things should go,” says Burnett. Tantrums may be infrequent, but they can be doozies because kids, like adults, have to work through their anger. It’s the difference between a toddler melting down for a minute before being distracted by a shiny object, versus a kindergartener’s entire world collapsing when you turn off Doc McStuffins.

The Good Will Hunting Takeaway

A toddler’s head is a complex place. But think about how chaotic your fully-formed brain can be — and you’ve had 30 to 40 years operating it. Dr. Burnett says parents should always remember, it’s not their fault. “They don’t mean it,” he says. “They don’t want to keep you up all night, ruin your schedule, or make your life actively harder.” Or maybe science just hasn’t discovered your kid’s long con, yet.

Playing Outside Seems to Help Kids' Vision

By Karla Zadnik and Don Mutti November 11

The ready availability of technology may make the children of today faster at configuring a new smartphone, but does all of that screen time affect the development of their eyes?

While conventional wisdom dictates that children should do less up-close viewing, sit farther from the television and perhaps even wear their eyeglasses less, we have found in recent studies that another factor may be at play: Kids need to go outside and, if not play, at least get some general exposure to outdoor light.

To our surprise, more time outdoors had a protective effect and reduced the chances that a child would go on to need myopic refractive correction. The size of the effect was impressive.

What causes nearsightedness?

Myopia, or nearsightedness, is a condition in which you can’t see far away but can see up close without glasses or contact lenses. It typically starts during the early elementary-school years. Because kids don’t know how other kids see, they often think their blurry vision is normal, so regular eye examinations are important.

With myopia, the eye is growing, but growing too long for distant rays of light to focus accurately on the back of the eye. A blurry image results.

For children, eyeglasses or contact lenses move the focus back to the retina, and a clear image is formed. The too-long eye cannot be shrunk, so refractive correction is then a lifelong necessity. In adulthood, surgery is an option.

But kids don’t always like wearing glasses, sometimes with good reason. It is harder to play sports in them. Swimming is nearly impossible, and kids tend to lose or break them.

Myopia on the rise

A worldwide epidemic of nearsightedness has been reported, associated with a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Besides creating the need to wear eyeglasses or contact lenses or to seek a surgical remedy, myopia can result in blinding eye diseases late in life, including retinal detachment or degeneration.

Risk factors include having myopic parents. A debate about the influence of reading and other close work has flourished for more than a century.

The bad actor in the environment was always assumed to be near work, such as reading, sewing and now computer, video game and smartphone usage. That theory makes so much intuitive sense. The eye in childhood is naturally growing longer, even in normally sighted children. In a child developing myopia, the eye grows to focus on the frequently observed, near-viewing field.

No less than Johannes Kepler, the astronomer and inventor who refined glass lenses for eyeglasses, was convinced that his poring over astronomical charts and calculations in the late 1500s was responsible for his nearsightedness. Kepler had it right when it came to the orbit of planets, but he was wrong about how the environment influences prescriptions for eyeglasses. The latest evidence says that near work is not to blame for nearsightedness.

We studied this question for over 20 years in 4,979 children as part of the Collaborative Longitudinal Evaluation of Ethnicity and Refractive Error (CLEERE) Study, funded by the National Eye Institute, in order to put near work, computer use and watching television in their proper place: essential for study and recreation but not an important factor in whether a child will need glasses.

Impressive differences

If a child has two nearsighted parents, the hereditary genetic effects increase the child’s chances of needing glasses to about 60 percent if time spent outdoors is low.

More time outdoors, about 14 hours per week, can nearly neutralize that genetic risk, lowering the chances of needing glasses to about 20 percent, the same chance as a child with no nearsighted parents claims.

A survey of papers from around the world, including Australia, England and Singapore, in the past decade align almost perfectly with what we published in 2007 from the Orinda Longitudinal Study of Myopia.

Parents may ask: What about children who already wear glasses? Does more time outside help already nearsighted children?

Unfortunately, we and others have found that time outdoors has little to no effect on how prescriptions change over time in children who are already nearsighted, although more study of this is ongoing.

Enlightening theories

So what’s so good about being outdoors for a child without glasses? There are several theories.

One is that children may exercise more when they are out of doors and that exercise is somehow protective. Another is that more ultraviolet B radiation from the sun makes for more circulating vitamin D, which somehow prevents abnormal childhood eye growth and myopia onset. Yet another is that light itself slows abnormal myopic eye growth and that outdoors light is simply brighter.

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The dominant theory is that the brighter light outside stimulates a release of dopamine from specialized cells in the retina. Dopamine then initiates a molecular signaling cascade that ends with slower, normal growth of the eye, which means no myopia.

Evidence from our work and from animal models of myopia indicate it’s the actual light exposure, not just a decrease in the time spent reading because children are outdoors, that may work the magic.

There’s clearly much more to learn, but before you send your children out to run around the block, remind them to put on sunscreen and to wear sunglasses. Even as time outdoors might prevent the development of nearsightedness, parents will want to ensure they aren’t creating other skin and eye problems from ultraviolet light exposure.

Read more

Blue light from electronics disturbs sleep, especially for teenagers

Teens are sleep-deprived. Here’s how that affects sports, school, health.

Decoding the mysteries of a child’s developing brain

Zadnik is the dean of the College of Optometry at Ohio State University. Mutti is a professor of optometry there. This article was originally published on theconversation.com.