November Parent Group

The Imprints parent group in November is:

Having Fun With My Family: It's More Important Than Ever

Please join us to explore ways to play and celebrate together in your busy family life.

When: Wednesdsay, November 17th, 11am to Noon

Where: Imprints at Augsburg Community  502 North Broad Street, Winston-Salem

Childcare and lunch will be provided.

Please RSVP to your parent educator or to Berta Andrade at 713-9743.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Imprints Parent Group - Who's the Boss?

Please join us on Tuesday, September 21st from 11am to noon for a lunch and learn about positive discipline and taking charge in your home.

The meeting will be at Imprints at Augsburg Community Center - 502 N Broad St, Winston-Salem, NC 27101.

Childcare and lunch are provided. Please call Berta Andrade at 713-9743 to RSVP.

I'm Bored!!!

We're about midway through the summer and I know that I'm starting to hear the "I'm bored!!" Are you? Too much free time can make it tough to come up with things to do. Here are a couple of ideas to fight midsummer boredom.


Go outside! There are tons of things to do outside but one less obvious thing may be to become explorers. It may seem like you know your neighborhood but try looking a little bit closer. 

• Pretend to be ants and look at things from the ground. Discuss what it would be like to be so small. If you don't know a lot about ants, look them up on the internet or in a book. You'll both learn something.
• Collect leaves or rocks and compare them. Try to find out which tree the leaves came from.
• Take an alphabet walk. Find something that starts with an A (ant), then a B (ball) and so on.
• Cut a paper towel tube in half and tape the two pieces together to make binoculars. Take them birdwatching and record what you find.

Another idea is to make an idea box. Give your kids an empty tissue or shoe box and ask them to decorate it. 

Then together, come up with ideas, write them on strips of paper and put them in the box. On days when they are having a tough time deciding what to do, they can draw an idea out of the box. 

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Have one person hide a kitchen timer. The others have to find it by listening to the ticking sound.
• Use sidewalk chalk to create a city with roads and stores. Use toy cars, animals and people to play with the city.
• Cut drinking straws apart and tape them into people and animals. You could even add them to your city.
• Read and act out out a favorite story.
• Create a fort by putting a blanket over a table and have a picnic lunch under there. 
• Spray shaving cream onto a cookie sheet and let the kids draw in it with their fingers.
• Make a treasure hunt. Use picture clues if your kids are too young to write.
• Bake cookies or make a snack together. Makinglearningfun.com has several kid friendly recipes.

Whenever you think of a new idea or come across one in a magazine, write it down and add it to your box. 

We would love to hear what your family does on "boring" days!

Please help!

Beginning tomorrow, April 6th at 9am, GoodSearch will donate $1 for each toolbar that is downloaded. The catch is that GoodSearch has a $5,000 limit, so Imprints supporters need to be some of the first 5,000 people to download it.

Starting at 9am, download this link onto every web browser that you can: http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/imprints

Please ask your friends and family to download this money saving toolbar so they can help us get as much of that $5,000 as we can. Thank you for your support!!!!

If you are unfamiliar with GoodSearch and how it helps Imprints, please read this to learn more.

Is your child ready for Kindergarten?

Come to a parent group and learn about 

what it means to be ready for Kindergarten 

beyond the ABC's & 123's.

When: Tuesday, April 13th from 6 to 7:30pm

Where: Imprints at Augsburg Community Center

502 N Broad St, Winston-Salem, NC

(corner of Broad St & 6th St;

parking lot off of Pilot View St)

RSVP to your Parent Educator or Trina Stephens at

722.6296 x211 or tstephens@imprintsforfamilies.org

Dinner and child care will be provided. You will also be eligible to win one $50 gift card.

This event is sponsored by Smart Start of Forsyth County & Kohl's

A Science Egg-speriment

It's Spring and that means Easter is almost here! Before you boil all of your eggs, try out this neat Egg-speriment. It's fun, easy and only a tiny bit smelly.

You will need:
3 large eggs (you can use as many as you want but I would suggest at least 3, in case one breaks)
3 small tupperware containers and covers (you can use 1 large container just make sure the eggs won't touch)
White vinegar

Directions:
1) Discuss how the egg looks now. Is it hard or soft? What color is it? Record everyone's answers.
2) Put each egg in a container and add the vinegar until it is covering the entire egg. Place the cover on the container and place it in the refrigerator.
3) Ask your children to predict what they think will happen. Will it get bigger or smaller? Will the egg stay white? Is the egg going to stay hard or become soft? Again, record the answers.
4) Leave the egg in the container for 3 days.
5) Take the egg out of the vinegar and pass it around (CAREFULLY!!) for everyone to feel. Discuss what happened to the egg. Whose prediction was correct?
6) If one of the eggs has not already broken, gently break the egg and see what is inside.*
7) Let us know about your Egg-speriment and share any others you might have.

The acid in the vinegar eats away the calcium in the shell, leaving the translucent membrane. The membrane keeps the egg's shape.

To extend the activity, add a few drops of food coloring to the containers after the shell has dissolved and see if the egg changes color.

*Remember to thoroughly clean all of the surfaces and hands that have touched the egg.

Used Book Sale

Calling all readers!!!

Our Used Book Sale is this weekend, Saturday from 9 to 4 and Sunday from 12 to 5. We have over 5,000 books for you to choose from and they are priced from 50 cents to $5. On Sunday from 4 to 5pm, we are having a Bag Sale for $5 per bag.  Bags are provided.

Sales will provide scholarships for Imprints Cares, our Before & After Care program.

We hope to see you there!!

Coping with Seasonal Allergies

The topic for our parent group in March is "Coping with Seasonal Allergies."

Imprints is excited to welcome Dr. Becky Ball of Kernersville Pediatrics. Dr. Ball will lead us in a discussion exploring the causes, symptoms, prevention, and treatment of seasonal allergies in children.

When: Thursday, March 11th from 6 to 7:15pm

Where: Imprints at Augsburg Community Center
            502 N Broad St, Winston-Salem
            Corner of Broad and 6th St, Parking lot off of Pilot View St.

Please RSVP to your Parent Educator or to Trina Stephens @ 722.6296 x211 or tstephens@imprintsforfamilies.org.

Childcare and refreshments are provided. A $50 gift card will be handed out as a door prize. Join us and you might be the lucky winner!

This event is sponsored by Smart Start of Forsyth County & Kohl's.

THANK YOU!

A huge THANK YOU to all of the parents who participated in our "Power of Love" group meeting. We had such a great turn out and loved seeing you. We hope you will join us in March for our next meeting. See you soon!

"Power of Love" Group Meeting

As previously posted, Imprints is having a group meeting on the Power of Love tomorrow, February 9th. We still have room available and would love for you to attend. Please contact Trina Stephens at 722-6296 x211 or tstephens@imprintsforfamilies.org to RSVP. Childcare and refreshments will be provided.

In case of inclement weather:
If school is delayed tomorrow, the 10am meeting will be cancelled. Please check back at our blog or call 722.6296 x207 to confirm if the 6pm meeting will still go on as planned. Unfortunately, both meetings will be cancelled if the WSFCS are closed tomorrow. Stay tuned for information on the make-up date if this occurs.

Will your child be 5 years old on or before Aug. 31st, 2010?

If your child will be 5 years old on or before August 31st, 2010, they may enroll in Kindergarten for the 2010-2011 school year. 

Kindergarten registration is being held from February 22nd to March 5th. During this period, parents should go to their residential school with: 

-Your child's birth certificate - This is used to verify your child's age as well as proof that you are the parent. If you are not the parent, you must provide a court-ordered document that shows you have legal custody of the child.

-Proof of your address - This can be a utility statement, lease, or property closing document.

-Immunization records for your child - An immunization record is required for all children beginning Kindergarten.

To find out what your residential school is, use the School Locator. This website will tell you your residential school as well as other schools to choose from in your zone. Regardless of which school in the zone you choose, you must register at your residential school. If you are choosing a non-residential school, you will be given a Choice card to write down your top three choices.

Parents are encouraged to visit any school they are considering for a tour and to meet the staff. Please contact the school first as they may have designated days for tours.

Additional Information: 

-Parents can apply to schools outside of their residential zones in late March but you should still register in-zone, in case there is not space available at the out-of-zone choice.

-All students are guaranteed a spot in their residential schools.

-All students are guaranteed a spot in one of their top three choices.

-Transportation is provided to every school in a student's residential zone.

The information from this post was obtained from the Winston-Salem / Forsyth County Schools Website. For further information or for for specific questions, please call 748-3302 or visit the website.

Are you a book worm?

Save the Date!!

Imprints Cares About Literacy

Used Book Sale

February 27th & 28th

To donate your gently used books or for more information, please contact

Betty West

@ 336.722.6296 x206 or bwest@imprintsforfamilies.org

All books are welcome!!

Sales will supplement our Before & After Care Scholarship Fund for students attending Imprints Cares.

February's Parent Group topic is.....

.....The Power of Love.

Through discussion, parent-child activities, and play time, we will learn about wonderful ways to love your child by listening with your heart.

The Power of Love will be presented twice at Imprints on Tuesday, February 9th. The morning session will be from 10 to 11:15am and the evening session will be from 6 to 7:15pm. Please choose the session that works best for you and RSVP to Trina Stephens at 722-6296 x211 or tstephens@imprintsforfamilies.org. You may also RSVP to your Parent Educator if you have one.

Imprints is located in the Augsburg Community Center at 502 N Broad St in Winston-Salem (corner of 6th & Broad). Parking is available in the lot off of Pilot View Street.

Child care and refreshments will be provided. Hope to see you there!

What's on our bookshelf....

Over the holidays, I was in the very cold and snowy state of Minnesota visiting my family. One day, I was looking out the window debating on whether I should risk frostbite to enjoy the beautiful, sunny day and discovered that my old childhood friend, Jack Frost, had visited us. As a child, I loved to wake up and rush to the window to see if any icy artwork had been left for us overnight.

While examining my discovery, I realized that I had not been visited by Jack Frost in the 2 years that I have lived in the warm (except for this week) climate of North Carolina. So, I did some digging and found a beautiful book that will help you and your child see the beauty of Jack Frost.

Here Comes Jack Frost - Written and Illustrated by Kazuno Kohara

This short, easy read is wonderfully illustrated with crisp, white drawings on a beautiful blue background. The main character is a lonely boy who is looking for some winter fun when he comes across an unusual friend that teaches him about the enchantments of winter.

So, if one good thing comes out of the bitter cold weather this week - maybe Jack Frost will visit!