As parents, you are Family Star’s best advocates out in the community.  You’ve seen our work first hand and know that we offer the best quality programs for children and families.  This year, we’d like you to consider participating in a new way with us – by being a Table Captain at our Lunch with the Stars event on May 15, 2012 from 12:00 to 1:00pm at the EXDO Event Center in Denver.

 Event Details:

• The goal for this event is to raise funds for our programs and to spread our message in the community.
• It’s totally free to attend
• It will only be one hour long
• There is no requirement that anyone make a donation at the event
• More than anything, we want people to come and find out about the great work we do
• It will make you proud to be involved with us!

Our Table Captains are key to the success of this event!  As a Table Captain, your responsibilities would be as follows:

• Fill a table of 10 people (including yourself) at the event.  This means that you must personally remind/confirm with all of your guests the day before (we can also pair you up with another parent as “co-captains,” to help spread out the duties).
• Arrive at the event at least 30 minutes early to greet your guests as they arrive.
• Towards the end of the event, pass out pledge cards to your table guests, when instructed.
• Collect completed pledge cards from your guests and turn them in to the event coordinator before you leave the event.
• Contact your guests after the event to thank them for coming.

We will host a special training session for Table Captains to go over all of the event details, answer your questions and help you create a guest list.  The event coordinator is available to answer any of your questions, provide encouragement along the way and help fill your table, if necessary.

If you are interested in being a Table Captain, or would like more information, please contact Jen Hinderliter at (303) 477-7827 or jhinderliter@familystar.net.

Thank you!

On the 4th Wednesday of every month, our two Mental Health Consultants, Lauren Ross and Jillian Faux, host Parent Coffee Hour at our Northeast Center from 8am to 9am. There is a different topic each month, and this is a great chance for parents and families to connect with our great consultants, ask questions, share experiences, and gain knowledge on different topics that frequently come up when parenting young children. Coffee and light refreshements are always provided.

Wednesday, February 22nd, the topic is Self Care. What is self care, why is it important, and how you can practice self care, and other such queries will be answered at this Parent Coffee Hour. No RSVP is needed; we hope to see you there!

One thing that is frequently the sign of a Montessori Child is the way that they demonstrate self-discipline.  This can be seen as they clear the table after a meal and push in their chairs, or in choosing to go lie down when they are feeling tired. It is demonstrated when they choose to use their words to express their displeasure (instead of letting their frustration become physical) and when they choose to walk instead of run to their next piece of work.

For many parents, the question becomes how to support this journey to self discipline at home, when their children are outside of the authentic Montessori environment. It can be as easy as offering basic choices to you your child, such as between two different types of fruit, or which sheets they would like to have on their bed. One thing many parents have trouble with is thanking their child for the task accomplished (ex: “Thank you for helping me wash the dishes”) rather than loading them up with praise for doing what was expected of them (ex: “I’m so proud of you for being such a good boy and helping!”).  Being authentic in your reactions, and not heaping on praise for small things allows your child to feel helpful, part of the family and want to help again.

For more tips like these in providing your child with an environment to develop self discipline, please check out this article on ten tips for self discipline provided by AidToLife.org.

~Learn about how YOU can get more involved~

Jen Hinderliter and Shanna Kattari are working hard at Family Star to get the word out about this great organization, as well as help plan and secure a sustainable future for the school. We want to meet our number one advocates; you! As parents, you have the power to talk up Family Star, in addition to supporting the organization in so many different ways. Come meet us in the lobby during pick up on Thursday, February 16th at Northwest and Tuesday, February 21st at Northeast to learn the many ways you can get involved in reaching out to the community, and in volunteering to support Family Star. We’ll be there from 4:30-5:30pm, and look forward to getting to speaking with you about getting involved! Can’t make it, but want to learn more? Contact Jen Hinderliter at jhinderliter@familystar.net or (303) 477-7827 to get more information.

On the 3rd Wednesday of every month, our two Mental Health Consultants, Lauren Ross and Jillian Faux, host Parent Coffee Hour in the conference room at our Northwest Center from 8am to 9am. There is a different topic each month, and this is a great chance for parents and families to connect with our great consultants, ask questions, share experiences, and gain knowledge on different topics that frequently come up when parenting young children. Coffee and light refreshements are always provided.

Wednesday, February 15th, the topic is Self Care. What is self care, why is it important, and how you can practice self care, and other such queries will be answered at this Parent Coffee Hour. No RSVP is needed; we hope to see you there!

Encouraging our children to become independent is a major goal of most parents. However, trying to figure out how to provide the type of freedom to allow for independence while still keeping our children safe and secure can be a tough challenge for many parents. It may be easier for us to pick out their clothes, offer unbreakable dishes, and pick them up to get them where we are going. However, this shortcuts that may make life a smidgen easier for us can also serve to deprive our children of their independence. Conversely, allowing our children to decide on an outfit between a few choices we offer them, to help prepare dinner by peeling the oranges, and to drop the occasional breakable plate so that they learn caution with those objects can really serve to offer them the opportunity to be independent and a vital part of their family.

Over at AidToLife.org, they have compiled a list of ten tips for supporting your child’s independence, that are usable in many home settings, and don’t require a huge amount of change from what you already do. Some of you may already be doing many of these, and others might just have a light bulb moment when reading through them.

Tomorrow night, Thursday, February 9th, is Family Night at our Northeast Center. This month, we’ll be talking about raising a social child, who interacts well with others.  We’d love to see any and all family members join us for this fun, interesting, and educational evening. Starting at 5:30, this is a great way to get more involved with your child(ren) and their teachers, as well as learn about some great parenting skills. See you there!

It’s for real now—we are committed!  We’ve been talking about it for six months– was anyone beginning to wonder if this was ever going to come together?!

It took a lot of expert help from skilled and dedicated friends of Family Star, but we now have a formal agreement and are moving forward with renovation work to move Family Star’s program to 929 29th Street.

Why are we moving?  What will be great about moving to Curtis Park?
•    Healthier, more solid facilities are a vital priority for the future of our Northeast Family star program.  We are so happy to have found such a wonderful location to move our program.
•    It is important to consolidate our Northeast program into one building and on one property!
The playground will be just a few steps outside the classroom—no need for any of our children to cross the street to use the playground!
The building has a gymnasium where Family Star students will be able to exercise their large muscles each day, even when the weather doesn’t allow for going outside.
The gymnasium also allows us to provide separate nap space for the Primary children who still nap.  This will allow the older children to have a second work cycle in the afternoon free from concern that they will disturb the napping children—allowing for more learning!
We will streamline our administrative structure a bit, with one Center Director for the Northeast program.  This will help reduce the unfortunate confusion for teachers and parents that occurs due to licensing rules requiring separate Center Directors for separate buildings.
•    We are also excited about the fact that we will be on a campus that has other wonderful community services, including the Denver Economic Prosperity Center.
•    More info and “meet and greets” to come. We promise to provide ongoing updates, answer questions, and ensure transparency and accountability.

When are we moving?   I am hoping we will be able to move in fall 2012, and will let everyone know when we get a clearer answer on the time over the next couple of months.

How can parents get involved?  We would love to have parent involvement in some of the planning.  For example, some parents will be interested in helping plan the move and others can help with planning for a wonderful transition experience for the children. Other parents might want to coordinate with the development department on communications, updates and the community campaign.  We will be in touch in the upcoming months about all these things.  If you want to get involved, contact Jen Hinderliter at (303) 477-7827 or jhinderliter@familystar.net to add your name to our volunteer list.

For now—a toast to a beautiful new facility for Family Star’s flagship Northeast Program!  We are glad you are part of Family Star’s family.  Please join us in this next adventure as we continue to strengthen our foundation and grow our roots!   Thank you.

Ginny Trierweiler, Family Star CEO
February 2, 2012

From the day we are born, throughout out entire lives, we as humans are driven to communicate with one another. Whether through motions, words, or other mechanisms, babies, toddlers and children all learn communication from those around them, especially their parents, families and teachers. While it can be quite easy to fall into the habit of baby talk, or watching TV as a family, studies show that speaking to your child in a calm, direct manner using the correct names for things, and sharing reading and story time together, can both help your child develop a more varied and rich vocabulary, and really improve their communication skills. Here at Family Star, we offer complete respect to our students, and talk to each and every one, regardless of the age, using the appropriate terms, in both English and Spanish.

For some tips on how to optimize communication with your child(ren) (at any age of development), AidToLife.org has compiled a list of ten ways you can use Montessori concepts when engaging with your child(ren) at home. Click here to read the list and start integrating some of these ideas into your life!