Why Tomorrow is Totally Terrific Tuesday

Tuesday, March 20th, 2012 is the perfect example of why I created NorthPennUnderTen.com.

Tomorrow evening there are three different "Kids Night" events happening at restaurants in West Point, Hatfield, and Harleysville. There is a "Family Night" at a restaurant in North Wales featuring free kids meals, clowns, balloon animals, and face painting.

Rita's will be offering FREE water ice all day at all three of our local locations (Lansdale, Montgomeryville and Harleysville).

Both the Lansdale and North Wales public libraries are holding terrific free events for children during the day.

And a local church is hosting a seminar presented by the Area Nursery School Association on Kindergarten Readiness tomorrow evening.

Hello! How is anyone supposed to keep track of all of this??

Oh, right. That's my job. ;-)

Be sure to check out the North Penn Under Ten Calendar - and not just once in a while. Check it daily. And, for goodness sake, become a fan of NPUT on Facebook if you aren't already! At least then when the kids ask why you're on Facebook so much you can retort with "I'm finding fun things for us to do, Sweetie!"

Have a Totally Terrific Tuesday, North Penn!!

You Can Win FREE Swim Lessons!

True or False: I can't wait to spend the summer by the water. My kids are like fish! I have no fears about their abilities to be safe whether in the pool or at the beach. They are top-notch swimmers and have NO room for improvement!

Unfortunately, this is a great big, fat FALSE for many of us (myself included). Surely, I don't have to remind anyone about the importance of water safety. But, luckily, our local Philadelphia Sports Club (right over at Highpoint / Chalfont) offers swim classes for children as young as six months. Wouldn't it be nice if both you AND your child were comfortable with their abilities in the water?

Here's some even better news... One lucky North Penn Under Ten reader will be awarded FREE swim lessons for their child courtesy of our friends at PSC! Here's the scoop:

Enter to win FREE Swim Lessons!

DO YOU WANT TO BE A LUCKY DUCK????

ENTER TO WIN A FREE 8 WEEK SWIM LESSON SESSION

at Philadelphia Sports Clubs at Highpoint (One Highpoint Drive, Chalfont, PA).

Winner receives a Beach Bucket filled with a Swim Academy Cinch Bag, goggles, dive toys, rubber ducky, bubbles and a Camp Highpoint t-shirt!.

WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN ON 4/1/12 and announced on 4/2/12.

To enter, email Lisa.Marsland@town-sports.com

Subject Line : Lucky Duck ~ North Penn Under Ten

Parent Name:

Phone:

Email:

Child’s Name and Date of Birth:

Is Your Child Ready for Kindergarten?

"Is your child ready for kindergarten?"

I vividly recall the tension among my fellow mom friends a few years ago as we discussed the upcoming kindergarten registration time and whether our children would be enrolling that year or the next. Though I was excited for my firstborn to head off to elementary school, I felt a huge weight lifted when I discovered that he had "missed the cutoff" by seven days and would have no choice but to wait until the following year to make the leap into elementary school. You see, while other moms I knew, with children born in August and early September had to debate, ponder and attempt to predict whether or not their old-enough child really should head off to kindergarten that fall, the decision was out of my hands. My kiddo would be waiting... like it or not. There would be no second-guessing my decision for the next 18+ years! He had clearly missed the deadline and was destined for the Class of 2023. I will never have to wonder whether I should have "held him back" or not. His late-September birthday held him back and lifted that burden for me. However, this is not the case for many other parents.

Fortunately, for parents who are currently in a situation of kindergarten limbo, pondering and prognosticating whether their wee one is ready, there is an upcoming seminar addressing this very issue. Its free and its coming up next week.

The Area Nursery School Association has scheduled a "Kindergarten Readiness Information Night" for Tuesday, March 20th from 7:00 to 8:15PM to be held at Christ United Methodist Church in Lansdale "for parents to learn about the rigors of the kindergarten curriculum in our local schools and to provide an opportunity for parents to ask questions". Ellen Perla, long-time kindergarten teacher and early childhood coordinator for the Perkiomen Valley School District, will be the main presenter for the evening. All local parents are welcome and pre-registration is not required.

For your convenience, this event is also listed on the North Penn Under Ten calendar.

A Great Time Was Had at the Summer Fun Fair!

Did you attend the first annual North Penn Summer Fun Fair today? Over 150 local families did!

Approximately 400 North Penn area residents of all ages collected information on fun summer programs, sampled free refreshments, and enjoyed live entertainment this morning at the Towamencin Fire Hall in Kulpsville. Many children also enjoyed a mini free trial class!

The first 150 families that arrived were each given a North Penn Under Ten knapsack filled with information and goodies and everyone received a raffle ticket, giving them the chance to win one of the many door prizes that were given away!

A slideshow of photos taken during the day is now available on the Summer Fun Fair webpage.

Thank you SO much to our wonderful sponsors and exhibitors! Save the date for March 2, 2013 for the 2nd Annual Summer Fun Fair and keep an eye on NorthPennUnderTen.com for information on the next event, The North Penn Under Ten Birthday Bash, which will be held in June!

Giving Back Via The Summer Fun Fair

The 1st Annual North Penn Summer Fun Fair is coming up soon!

In addition to helping you gather helpful information, collect fun freebies, possibly win a fabulous door prize, take in some quality entertainment and just have a super fun FREE time...the Summer Fun Fair will also offer you an opportunity to help others in our community...and beyond!

*Some* of the goods donated
at January's Preschool Expo.

Following the successful collections that took place at the North Penn Under Ten Preschool Expo in January (for Stepping Stones Nursery School and the Stories for Seniors program), it was our desire to, once again, see how we might come together as a community to do something more this Saturday at the Summer Fun Fair.

After contacting the North Penn United Way, we learned about three terrific opportunities to help others that all seemed like a great fit for our event. One of these became our North Penn Under Ten Adopted Family project (see below) and the other two will likely be supported via the next big event in June (No spoiler here! You'll have to wait to find out what that is!).

Without further ado, we hope that you will be able to help us support these two wonderful groups of people...

THE GIVING TREE
Is your family's book collection in need of some pruning or purging? Bring your books to the Summer Fun Fair!

The Giving Tree is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization that was founded in 2009 by Bridget Leary, a North Wales mother of three, with the goal of "teaching our children the spirit of giving through charitable projects and hands-on helping." Volunteers from The Giving Tree promote children's literacy through events such as used book drives and read-a-thons and also organize hands-on service projects for children to assemble snacks and gifts for those in need.

It is our great pleasure to provide The Giving Tree with a table at the Summer Fun Fair so that they may collect donations of new or used books for children in grades K through 12. (Preschool books can also be put to good use, but are in lesser demand.) The books collected at the Summer Fun Fair will be distributed to two elementary schools in Center City Philadelphia so that teachers may send the books home with students to encourage at-home reading.

The Giving Tree will also have some crafting materials available for children to create bookmarks to be donated along with the books!



Children helping other children. What a wonderful program!


NORTH PENN UNDER TEN ADOPTED FAMILY
This past December, a hard-working North Penn area husband and father suffered serious injuries after falling into a holding tank on which he was working. He was flown by MedEvac helicopter to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where he spent about a month undergoing treatment for his injuries. Recently, he was released to the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program at Bryn Mawr Hospital, where he will continue to be treated for his injuries.

With two broken arms and a brain injury that necessitates four to five trips to Bryn Mawr Brain Rehab every week, this local father is a walking, talking miracle and his family is beyond grateful that his life was not taken that on that crisp winter day.

As you might imagine, brain injuries affect not only the patient's life, but also the lives of the people who love and support that person. This local couple has a one-year-old daughter and another baby, a boy, on the way, plus two elementary-aged daughters. Because of the accident, neither mom nor dad is able to work and, given the circumstances at hand, it is likely that it will be some time before this couple can return to their normal way of life.

When I first learned about this family and their story, there was no question in my mind that other North Penn families would want to help support them, to offer them some sunshine in this trying time.

*Some* of the "Stories for Seniors" donations.
Think we can out-do ourselves??

Would you like to help?

Practical gifts such as diapers, wipes, formula, grocery store or gas gift cards to ease the strain of multiple trips to Bryn Mawr each week will be put to good use. Maybe a gift certificate for a restaurant that offers takeout or even an encouraging handwritten note would help give them strength for this difficult time.

A collection area will be designated for the North Penn Under Ten Adopted Family at the Summer Fun Fair and we invite you to join us in bringing some sunlight into this family's life.

Anyone wishing to make a monetary donation to the family may do so through family friend, Chari Richardson. You may reach her at 215.799.1300 or you may email Chari directly.


We look forward to a terrific, community-building event! See you soon!