Village Voice
V O L U M E
SPECIAL
POINTS OF INTEREST:

Jan. 1– New
Years Day –
CLOSED

Jan. 10-Parent’s
Night Out

Jan 12-Clean Out
Your Closet
starts

Jan 12-Blood
Drive in GWP
2:30-5:30

Jan. 19-Rainbow
Station CLOSED

Jan. 24 – Parents
Night Out
INSIDE THIS
ISSUE:
Front Desk/
Nurse Notes
2
Happy New Year
3
Around the World
Self-Discipline
4
Clean Out
4
Your Closet
Leadership
Spotlight
5
1 ,
I S S U E
1
J A N U A R Y
2 0 1 5
A Word From the Mayor
Happy New Year! I
can’t believe the holidays have come and
gone already! I hope
everyone enjoyed some
time to spend with
friends and
family. A big
thanks goes
out to all the
families that
gave gifts to
the Village
staff during
the holidays. We really
appreciate your generosity and thoughtfulness!
Here we are back in
the swing of things.
The start of the New
Year is a good time to
check with the nurse
about any medications
that may
have expired
or forms
that may
need to be
updated.
Please also
remember
that all medication
must be registered
with the nurse. This
includes inhalers and
cough drops.
As always, thank you
for choosing Rainbow
Station for your afterschool and Mother’s
Day Out needs. If we
can ever be of assistance, please don’t
hesitate to email, call,
or stop by .
Let’s have a great
year!!!!
Sincerely,
Ms. Julie
Income Tax Statement
We will begin preparing child care statements for your 2014
tax records starting
January 5th.
Please make sure
and clear up any miscellaneous balances
from 2014 prior to
requesting your
statement.
You can review your
account balance anytime in the Village
Office or at the
Front Desk.
PAGE
2
Administrative Notes…Erin Cuny, Angie Gantt
Welcome Back every- weeks of paid tuition
one! We hope every- you will receive one
one enjoyed some
week of tuition credit.
time off with family
One week of credit is
and friends!
earned per child re-
Did you know that if
you refer a family to
Rainbow Station you
HERE’S TO A
GREAT NEW
YEAR...
ferred. This can be
used at either location!!
are eligible for a free
week of tuition?
Here’s to a
great 2015!
Teacher
Workday
Monday,
January 19th
Rainbow
Station
Closed
Tell a family about
the great school your
child attends and
Rainbow Station
have them list your
name when they reg-
The Standard of
excellence in Early
Education, SchoolAge Recreation
and Mildly Ill Care
“Register
all medications with
the
Nurse!”
ister. After two
From the Nurse…...
Any parent that has ever experienced a picky eater
knows how frustrating this
can be. You worry if your
child is getting enough to eat,
and if what they are eating is
healthy and sustaining. Here
are a few things that we as
parents can do. Stock up on
healthy foods. Kids eat what
is made available to them and
many food preferences are
developed early in life. Try to
work fruits and veggies into
the daily routine, aim for 5
servings a day.
Keeping fruits, veggies, and
healthy snacks on hand and
ready to eat is a good idea.
Some good snacks would be
low-fat yogurts, peanut butter, celery or carrot sticks,
whole grain crackers and
cheese. You could also keep
some lean meats on hand as
protein sources.
Choose whole grain breads,
and snack crackers. Now with
the white wheat breads available,
it is easier to incorporate whole
grains and fibers into meals.
Limit fat intake, avoid a lot of
deep fried foods and choose
healthier methods of cooking
such as baking broiling, roasting
and steaming.
Put some limitations on fast food
and drinks loaded with sugar.
Ok, so once in a while chips and
a soda are ok, but not on a daily
basis. Try serving low fat milk,
yogurt drinks water or juices in
place of soda.
Encourage your child to eat
healthy and make healthy
choices for yourself as well.
Kids will follow in your footsteps. Be positive with your approach about what you are eating. Choose fresh snacks if possible. Try to avoid the prepackaged, processed foods.
These tend to be higher in salt,
sugars and fats. Keep it simple
with small portions. For example:
*Low sugar whole grain cereals
*Fresh fruit sliced thin with
yogurt dip
*Cheese slices with crackers
Continue to offer new foods at
mealtimes or for snack time. It
may take several times before
your child tries it, so don’t give
up. Remember to balance. Save
fattening and sweet foods for
occasional treats. Let young children help with preparation, and
then they get to enjoy what they
have made.
There are many healthy cookbooks that offer ways to prep
food to make it more appealing
and fun for your child. You can
also check out this website.
For recipes and ideas visit
www.healthy-kids-snacks.com
PAGE
Curriculum Corner...Elaine Hernandez
Happy New Year Around The World
How children ring in the new year with their families.
Armenia
Japan
The Southern United States
The Japanese decorate their front doors
Mothers make a special bread for their
family, kneading luck and good wishes into with pine branches and bamboo to bring
health and long life. They may also add
the dough before it is baked.
fans, seaweed, or ferns for happiness and
Bahamas
good luck. Children are given small gifts of
People spend months creating elaborate
money called otoshidamas. At midnight,
costumes for the Junkanoo parade. The
bells and gongs are rung 108 times to
strangest and most beautiful costumes win chase away 108 troubles, and people laugh
prizes.
to drive away the bad spirits.
Bolivia
Families hang little homemade straw or
Portugal
wooden dolls outside their homes for good
In the north, children go caroling, singing
luck.
old songs called Janeiros from home to
Denmark
home, where they are given sweets and
The Danes throw old dishes at the doors
coins.
of friends' homes for good luck. Finding a
big pile of broken dishes on the morning
Puerto Rico
of January 1 means you have lots of
Children throw pails of water out the
friends!
window at midnight to rid their homes of
Ecuador
evil spirits.
Families celebrate "Año Viejo" by stuffing
old clothing with newspaper and firecrackRomania
ers, much like a scarecrow. At midnight,
each family sets its dummy ablaze, repre- Children wish people a happy new year by
touching them lightly with a bouquet
senting the departure of the old year.
called a sorcova, which consists of twigs
from an apple, pear, cherry, or plum tree
Greece
to represent fertility, health, and purity.
Parents fill their children's shoes with
Traditionally the twigs would have been
presents at night. They tell the little ones placed in water on November 30 so they'd
the gifts are from St. Basil, who was
blossom by New Year's Eve. Today people
known for his kindness and generosity to decorate the twigs with flowers made of
children and the poor.
colored paper.
Rainbow Station is
Closed
on Monday, January
19th for our annual
Teacher
In-Service Day
Many Southerners eat black-eyed peas for
good luck. Round foods are traditional for
the new year in many cultures because
circles represent continuity. Black-eyed
peas are considered especially lucky because they contain two concentric circles
Spain
When the clock strikes midnight, people
eat 12 grapes, one for every stroke of the
clock and for good luck in each month of
the new year.
Switzerland
The Swiss let a drop of cream land on the
floor on New Year's Day to bring good
luck.
Parents Copyright © 2002.
A Message of Kindness: Dr. King’s
Dream
Hand in hand across the land,
For Martin’s dream we choose to stand.
We say it loud, we say it clear,
“Peace and love throughout the year!”
3
VOLUME
1,
ISSUE
1
PAGE
4
Talking About Values: Self- Discipline
Self-discipline is the
act of training and controlling oneself, usually
for personal improvement. Self– discipline
can be accomplished by
setting short and long
term goals for yourself
and meeting these
goals. Especially in little ones, self-discipline
can help children make
good choices.
Parents can help
their child(ren) learn selfdiscipline by sharing personal goals and then keeping them updated on your
progress. Setting goals as
a family and working towards your goals is also a
good way to practice self-
discipline. Lastly,
role-playing different
situations where someone might be aggravating you and might cause
you to lose control and
then coming up with
different strategies of
how you can handle the
situation to show selfdiscipline.
Clean Out Your Closet
During the weeks of January 12-23, Rainbow Station
and it’s families are encouraged once again to “Clean
Out Your Closet” to benefit the San Antonio Battered Women’s Shelter. Bring in any women’s clothing
or jackets to the collection box. They are also asking
for gently used children’s toys as these are always in
demand. Thanks in advance for your help with this
worthy cause!
Leadership Spotlight…..
This month’s spotlight is on a newly developed
leadership program for our Club 5 kids. The members
of our Club 5 Junior Leadership Team (as it’s called)
have been busy helping other friends and teachers in
different ways including safety patrol of the playground, Kindergarten helpers, snack and center set-up,
and just being overall good role models for the other
younger Villagers. They have really stepped up and
shown leadership in so many ways! Way to go Junior
Leadership Team!!