through pillows, otto-

mans, etc. are fun too!

Cold weather is a great

time for an inside rice

tub. Fill up a large lid-

ded container with rice

and a few scoops, muffin

tin, etc. Put it on the

kitchen floor and let

your child have fun fill-

ing and pouring. When

finished, store it up

where they can’t reach

it!

Cooking is always fun

and a great way to heat

up the house too! Mix

up cookies or dinner

together. Let your child

help fill, pour, stir and

talk about everything!

Great language activity

anytime.

Baby its Cold Outside…Let’s Play Inside!

Hearing Screening and Paint a Plate Details

Parent Pages

My computer is telling me it

is –5 degrees without the

wind-chill this morning!

That just isn’t enjoyable to

any but a penguin.

While I encourage you to

bundle up the little ones on

reasonable winter days,

there are some (like today)

you can’t go outside. I know

the kids can get stir-crazy

(can’t we all!) so here are

some fun suggestions for

inside fun:

It’s a classic: Set up the

cardtable (or kitchen

table) and toss a blanket

or sheet over the top.

Load up on stuffed ani-

mals, books, puzzles,

whatever your child

likes and play in the

‘tent’ today. Eat lunch

or snack there too (nice

and safe...nothing too

messy). Another option

would be pulling your

kitchen chairs back to

back and tossing a blan-

ket over them. Use

clothespins, clamps, etc.

to keep the blankets on

and let them have fun

‘underneath’. My kids

loved the ‘shelves’ made

by the seats of the

chairs.

Tunnels in old boxes

(open both ends) and

etc. ! Items will NOT be avail-

able to take home that evening,

they will be glazed and fired and

be ready the following week for

you to pick up. Prices vary from

$6 to $20 per item depending on

what you pick. Handprints and

footprints are popular with the

tiny ones too!

Tuesday, January 18th, Hearing

Screening for your baby or tod-

dler! Meet at the St. George

playroom at 10 a.m. Please

RSVP Dena if you want your

child screened and to help us

plan!

schmitzd@rockcreekschools.org

Paint a Plate at Rinda’s Ceramics

in Wamego on Wednesday,

January 26th! . We will have a

scheduled 6 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.

start time for plate painting. We

will have 20 chairs available for

each time. Please email or call

Dena if your child would like to

paint a valentine’s plate, cup,

USD#3 23 Ro ck C reek Sch oo l s P a ren t s a s Tea ch e r s

Special points of interest:

Hearing Screening January

18th, St. George Elementary

playroom 10-11 a.m.

Paint a Plate at Rinda’s

Ceramics in Wamego on

January 26th! Email to

reserve your spot or call

Dena-785-313-0342.

Playgroup Information!

January/February 2011

Volume 13, Issue 3

Inside this issue:

New Crib Standards 2

Healthy Infant Eyes 2

Restoring Play! 3

Playgroups and Activities 4

Immunization Information 4

Parents Questions Ask 5

Healthy Infants, Healthy Eyes, Healthy Future

Effective June 2011, cribs manufac-tured, sold, or leased in the United States must comply with the new fed-eral standards. Effective 24 months after the rule is published, child care facilities, such as family child care homes and infant Head Start centers, and places of public accommodation, such as hotels and motels, must have compliant cribs in their facilities. The full-size and non-full-size crib standards adopted the current ASTM International voluntary standards with additional technical modifications. For more information on crib safety and safe sleep environments for baby, visit CPSC’s crib information center at: www.cpsc.gov/info/cribs/index.html Picture is of recalled crib: K-Mart, Heritage model#07-1248

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Con-sumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted unanimously to ap-prove new mandatory standards for full-size and non-full-size baby cribs as mandated by the Consumer Prod-uct Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The federal crib standards had not been updated in nearly 30 years and these new rules are ex-pected to usher in a safer generation of cribs. Once they become effective, the man-datory crib standards will: (1) stop the

manufacture and sale of dangerous, traditional drop-side cribs; (2) make mattress supports stronger; (3) make crib hardware more durable; and (4) make safety testing more rigorous. CPSC has recalled more than 11 mil-lion dangerous cribs since 2007. De-taching drop-side rails were associ-ated with at least 32 infant suffocation and strangulation deaths since 2000. Additional deaths have occurred due to faulty or defective hardware. These new standards aim to prevent these tragedies and keep children safe in their cribs.

CPSC Approves Strong New Crib Safety Standards To Ensure a Safe Sleep for Babies and Toddlers

Effective June 2011, cribs

manufactured, sold, or leased

in the United States must

comply with the new federal

standards.

Page 2 Parent Pages

Have your baby’s eyes checked for free!

Cooing, sitting up and crawling are signs that your baby is growing. Your baby’s vision

goes through important stages too. Did you know eye problems can occur without notice-

able symptoms?

An eye and vision assessment is an important step in making sure your baby is learning to

see properly.

The InfantSEE program provides a one-time, no cost eye and vision assessment for babies

6 to 12 months old.

To find a participating optometrist in your area, visit www.infantsee.org or call (888)396-

EYES (3937).

Immunizations…. Are Your Child’s Current?

Welcome to Playgroup...two evenings in February too!

childhood play. Children learn to

control their impulses through games

like Simon Says, play advocates be-

lieve, and they learn to solve prob-

lems, negotiate, think creatively, and

work as a team when they dig to-

gether in a sandbox or build a fort

with sofa cushions. (The experts de-

fine play as a game or activity initi-

ated and directed by children. So

video games don't count, they say,

except perhaps ones that involve cre-

ating something, and neither, really,

do the many educational toys that do

things like sing the ABCs with the

push of a button.)...

"Effort to Restore Children's Play

Gains Momentum," was the encour-

aging title of a recent New York

Times article (January 5, 2011). Here

are a few excerpts from the article...

"For several years, studies and statis-

tics have been mounting that suggest

the culture of play in the United

States is vanishing. Children spend

far too much time in front of a

screen, educators and parents lament

— 7 hours, 38 minutes a day on aver-

age, according to a survey by the

Kaiser Family Foundation last

year. And only one in five children

live within walking distance (a half-

mile) of a park or playground, ac-

cording to a 2010 report by the fed-

eral Centers for Disease Control,

making them even less inclined to

frolic outdoors...

"Too little playtime may seem to rank

far down on the list of society's wor-

ries, but the scientists, psychologi

sts, educators, and others who are

part of the play movement say that

most of the social and intellectual

skills one needs to succeed in life and

work are first developed through

January 25th– Westy 10-11 a.m.

January 26th– Paint a Plate (sign

up for a time! See first page for in-

formation)

St. George: February 1st and 15th—

10-11 a.m. February 16th 6:30 p.m.

Westmoreland: February 2nd 6:30

p.m., 8th and 22nd– 10-11 a.m.

Playgroups provide a wonderful op-

portunity for children and parents

to play together. In the classroom

you will find you and your child will

enjoy exploring puzzles, blocks,

climbers, pretend play, books and

more. Your child gets to decide

which areas to explore first, last or

not at all!

Playgroup is a place for children to

begin learning social skills. They are

learning to take turns, share and

negotiate. However hitting, biting,

kicking or fighting cannot be toler-

ated so please make sure you as a

parent deal with these behaviors if

necessary. If you need help, please

ask. Our remaining January and

February playgroups are:

January: 18th– St. George (hearing

screening in conjunction with), 10-

11 a.m.

fant in California has died from per-tussis this year. To date, there have been nearly 6,000 cases of whooping cough, in the state, leading to the worst rate in over 50 years. Health officials in the state are recommend-ing that anyone in contact with infants or pregnant women be up-to-date on their pertussis vaccine or receive a booster.

Your child’s immunizations are impor-tant (see the next page) and our PAT program is asking for your help in documenting the number of PAT chil-dren who are fully immunized by age 2. We will be asking to see your im-munization record (or you can make us a copy to keep) when we have your child’s screening. Thanks for your help! To find out the recom-mended schedule, click on the follow-

ing link: 0-6 years Immunization Schedule link: http://aapredbook.aappublications.org/resources/IZSchedule0-6yrs.pdf

Pertussis Outbreak Continues A 10th in-

Restoring Children’s Play

Page 3 Volume 13, Issue 3

Harvesters truck also stops

in St. George on the second

Thursday of each month

from 10-11 a.m, Wamego on

the second Thursday from

11:30-1 p.m. and St. Mary’s

on the 4th Wednesday from

11 a.m. to noon. There are

no restrictions or financial

guidelines to participate.

Call Community Health

Ministries for details. 456-

7278

The Harvesters Com-

munity Food network

with partner organiza-

tion, Westmoreland

United Methodist

Church, will host a

monthly rural mobile

food pantry distribu-

tion the first Friday of every

month at the Education

Building parking lot in

Westmoreland. It will take

place from 12-1 p.m. or until

food runs out. The Harvest-

ers community food network

is a distribution of fresh, nu-

tritious food to individuals

and families in need. The

Harvesters Community Food Network

Early Literacy Terms To Know:

Receptive Vocabulary: words needed for understand-

ing what is heard and read

Expressive Vocabulary: words used for speaking and

writing

Definitional Vocabulary: the bank of words for which

meanings are understood

Grammar: the standard organizational rules governing

language

Syntax: the rules that govern how sentences are organ-

ized and the order and relationships of words

PO Box 70, Westmoreland, KS 66549

785-457-3462

Fax785:457-5701

Email: schmitzd@rockcreekschools.org (Dena)

wilkensa@rockcreekschools.org (Amy)

USD#3 23R o ck C ree k Sch oo l s

Parents as Teachers

www.rockcreek

schools.org