Community Advisory Committee 2009 Calendar

The Community Advisory Committee is comprised of volunteer parents, educators, and other interested community members who want to make a difference in the eduaction of all children. The CAC believes that every child has a right to fulfill their potential with dignity, hope, and opportunity. You can get involved by attending CAC meetings. All meetings are open to the public and child care is available if you call ahead (661-294-5398).

Meetings are located at Bridgeport Elementary School.
All meetings start at 6:00pm and Parent Workshops start at 7:00pm.

Friday, February 2nd, 2009:
Beyond Chicken Nuggets: Better Nutrition and Picky Eaters

Monday, March 23rd, 2009:
Rick Lavoie Presents....(TBA)

Monday, May 18th, 2009:
Parent Workshop TBA

Thank you to Renee Bowen and Anna Rast for pointing us to the webpage with this calendar. :)

Family Movie Night

Are you looking for a family-friendly, relationship-building activity for the long winter break? How about renting a movie? What's more fun than sharing a movie in the comfort of your living room? Make a night of it. Ask each family member to share in the preparation. Here are a few suggestions that we got from one of our friends.

* Set the date and time in advance. All work (that means you, Mom and Dad) and chores must be done or stopped before showtime.

* Gather all necessary items: comfy seats, pillows, blankets, and snacks (popcorn, cut veggies, etc).

* Start with an old-fashioned cartoon or short film. (a la Dudley Do Right). Follow with a family-friendly film. (Click here to check out CookieMag.com's Top 25 Family Films for ideas.) Give each child a turn to choose the movie for family movie night.

* Take an intermission for bathroom breaks and other necessities.

* The next morning at breakfast talk to your kids about the movie. "What was your favorite character?" "Would you like to visit a town like that one day?"

You can make your own family tradition or create a holiday memory to keep forever. :)

Protecting Your Child's Hearing

"Turn it down!" How many times each week do we say that to our children? In our house, we find ourselves saying it often. It's so frustrating to hear music booming from our son's earbuds when we are a few feet away. He does not seem to grasp the long-term impact this can have on his hearing. "Yeah, yeah...I'll turn it down."

Just how harmful is it to crank up the volume on our earbuds? Is it more harmful than loud music from a speaker? Is a traditional headphone set more or less safe for our hearing? Those are questions to which we as parents need answers. Here's an article to give you the answers. Also, you'll get some tips for alternate, more healthy habits to reduce hearing damage.

The article is "Earbud Ear: Fast Track to Hearing Loss" and you can find it on healthyhearing.com. Click here for the article.

It's a serious problem. Many healthcare professionals predict that we will only fully-appreciate the damage in the future years after our children and teens have had extended exposure to these high-decibel sounds. More and more we are seeing parents putting earbuds on their toddlers -- and yes, I have even seen earbuds on a baby!

Free Treats & Discounts on Your Birthday

Do you like to get treated on your birthday? Here's a website that has compiled a list of places that will treat you on your birthday! There are lots of family friendly places on the list. It's called www.FreeBirthdayTreats.com, of course.

Let me be the first to say...happy birthday!

Homework Help for Teens with ADD

Parents have asked for resources to help with the challenges of teens and homework. We've also had parents ask about how to help ADHD or special needs teens stay on top of their work without taking away their independence.

After reading several sites, I found this article to be really comprehensive. It presents very practical suggestions. Check out this article from the Attention Deficit Disorder Association website, "Helping Your Adolescent wtih ADHD Get Homework Done." http://www.add.org/articles/teenhomework.html

Chore Time Tips!

If you are registered to receive the BoxTops for Education e-newsletter or visit the General Mills BoxTops website, you may have read this article on that site. It offers practical tips from parents on how to teach children to complete chores. Here's a link to the article:

http://www.boxtops4education.com/FamilyMatters/ParentToParent.aspx?FamilyMattersContentId=79

Air Travel with Kids

Winter break is approaching. Here's a link to gather tips for air travel with kids. Let us know what you think of it. http://www.flyingwithkids.com/

Have you read Going on a Plane by Anne Civardi? It's written for kids, age 4-8. There is also the classic, A Day at the Airport by Richard Scarry. Check our local bookstores for several other air travel-related books and coloring/activity books for kids.

Give the Gift of Journaling to Your Child

We were just directed to this resourceful webpage...use this "journal jar" idea to create a holiday gift or for no occasion at all. :)

Click here to view it on the original site.

Gifts in a Jar: Child's Journal Jar
Posted by Cynthia Townley Ewer on August, 12, 2008

"Spark young writers with a clever non-food gift in a jar: a Child's Journal Jar. Simple, kid-friendly questions turn journaling sessions into fun! This printable gift in a jar makes a great gift for back to school.
We've made it easy to craft your Child's Journal Jar. Free printable journal prompts have colorful legends and graphics to make a pretty gift. Add a free printable gift tag for a professional touch.
To assemble your Child's Journal Jar, print the colorful journal prompt pages linked below. Each page holds six colorful journal prompts.
Child's Journal Jar Prompts
New! Print our journaling prompts in .PDF format.
Cut apart each journal prompt, and fold it so that the colored graphics are folded to the outside, with the journal assignment on the inside.
Fill the jar with journal slips, and attach the free printable gift tag for a great gift for kids!"

Help Stop Bullying

A parent wrote asking for anti-bullying information. She said parents are looking for practical things to do to resolve bullying issues. We searched a few online resources and the following site seems to be the very comprehensive. It is sponsored by the U.S. Health Resources an Services Administration. It's called, Stop Bullying Now!
Click on this link for resources, advice, and activities: http://stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/index.asp?area=main

We're also going to talk with some local experts to gather more information for you. Down the road, we hope to provide information or possibly a presentation on the topic. However, this is a good start.

Make A Difference Day Results

This just in from the City of Santa Clarita regarding 2008 Make a Difference Day...Santa Clarita community members really did make a difference...here's the report:

"*Over 1,000 volunteers participated in Make A Difference Day this year.
*37 Service Projects were completed.
*Over 5,500 hours were contributed!
*6,000 items were collected for the Hunger Defense Fund."

Mark your Calendar!

Arts & Literary Festival
Saturday - Dec 6th
10am to 4pm
Hart Park, 24151 San Fernando Rd, Newhall, CA 91321



It's a great event for kids of all ages! Be sure to stop by the SCV PTA booth.



Click Below For Map/Directions:
http://maps.google.com/maps?li=d&hl=en&f=d&iwstate1=dir:to&daddr=24151+San+Fernando+Rd,+Newhall,+CA+91321+(Hart+Park)&geocode=CWDw9al0ee3vFUiADAIdBnbv-A&iwloc=1&dq=hart+park+santa+clarita&cid=1418866299381854538&ei=d8YwSfy5B5rGjQOlt-DYCQ

Sunshine!

A simple thought for the day...

"Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves."
James M. Barrie, Scottish dramatist & novelist (1860 - 1937)

Cooking with Your Children

A parent recommended an online resource all about cooking with kids. The webpage below are part of the California Dept. of Public Health's website. There are multiple PDF documents that you can download. Some are quite basic...but many have valuable suggestions. Also on the page are a few kid-friendly recipes.

Try to involve your children in meal preparation occassionally. There are so many skills they will learn: reading, following instructions, measurement, fractions, physical science, safety, and nutrition. Along the way you might make a huge mess, but you'll have fun.

Check out this site and let us know what you think.

CA Dept of Public Health - Cooking with Kids

http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/wicworks/Pages/WICNECookingwithChildren.aspx

Need a Map for a Student Project?

Here's another time-saving tip from one of our PTA moms. Next time your child is preparing a report on a country and needs to draw a map, check out this site. http://geography.about.com/library/blank/blxindex.htm You simply click on a country name and a blank outline of the country appears. What a nice alternative to shaky hand-drawings or tracing paper.

Keep those suggestions for educational online resources coming!

A Parent's Guide to Social Networking

Check out this Federal Trade Commission website for more information on children and social networking. If your kids are online, the information in this article is valuble. It also contains a comprehensive listing of online resources to help you keep your kids safe online. Click below to read it. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/tech/tec13.shtm