Car Lane

Just a reminder that car lane begins Monday, October 1st.  Please do not park in the lot facing Murfreesboro Road in the mornings.  This lot will be used for car lane only.  Look for the orange cones and form one line on each side of the cones.

***If the cones are not out, we are unable to do car lane.  (They are planning to paint stripes soon, but I do not have a firm timetable on that work.)

To access the car lane you will have to use the Murfreesboro Road entrance NOT the Clovercroft entrance.

In the afternoons the car lane lot is open to all.

Thanks!

Amazon Vitamins

Franklin Christian Church will be sending a medical missions team to the Amazon in Brazil at the end of October.  They will travel down the Amazon River on a medical boat treating the sick and supplying medicines to the people who live in that area.

We always send children's vitamins along with our missions team.  They can be any kind of children's vitamins EXCEPT gummy vitamins (they melt in the extreme heat).

Shining Light will collect children's vitamins from October 1st through October 18th.  Just put them in your child's tote bag.  We will award the classroom who collects the most with a little celebration party and post their picture in the foyer!

When NO is a good thing...

I have been thinking about last Sunday's sermon all week.  Our senior minister, Zach Stewart, preached about raising children.  For those of you who know me, I have been blessed with three children.  Two are adults now and one is in first grade.  So my husband and I have spent 25 years raising children with about 12 more years to go!  Not for the faint of heart, for sure.

Zach spoke about the need for fear in raising children.  NOT that you fear your children but that your children need to fear you!  Some of you are going to stop reading right now because you are thinking, whaaaaaat?  I never want my children to fear me!

Do you know that you are supposed to fear God?  "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding." Psalm 111:10.  And yet we also learn in the Bible that God loves us more than we can possibly imagine.  He is always there to forgive us when we ask for forgiveness.  His love is so great that he sacrificed his only son.  Fear and Love.

Why wouldn't it be that way for parents and children?  We are made in his image.  I'm sure we think that we love our children every bit as much as God loves us.  And yet, we don't bother to teach our children to fear us.  Instead we are the ones who are fearful that if we tell our children "no" or give consequences for misbehavior that they will not love us anymore.

Here at Shining Light we have several goals.  One is to prepare children for school.  That means following rules in addition to the ABC's, counting, shapes, colors, using scissors, writing name, etc.  Once your child is in elementary school, it will not be twelve children and two teachers.  It may be 20 - 25 children with ONE teacher!  Being able to follow rules will be a huge part of their learning curve.  And that is where we hope to help out before they enter those schoolroom doors for twelve years.

So sometimes we tell your children "no".  No, you cannot scream in the hallway; the babies are sleeping.  No, you cannot head butt your classmate. No, you need to sit on the rug and listen.  No, you cannot take that toy away from your friend.  No, you cannot walk UP the slide.  No, you cannot call the teacher or your friends "stupid".  And no, you are not going to pitch a fit, scream and cry when you don't get your way.

I think you will agree that sometimes "no" is a good thing.  It prepares children for the realities of life.  Think about the times you've been told "no".  No, you didn't get the job you wanted or no, you can't keep the one you have.  No, that house already has a contract on it.  No, you didn't get into the grad school of your choice.  No, there isn't enough money to buy a new car this year.  No, it isn't the right time for another child or no, there won't be any more children.  

If you were never told "no" as a child, think about how much more difficult it is to accept "no" now as an adult.  If you were told "no", think about how much easier it is to accept that sometimes life is just that way, and we don't always get what we want.

Help us train your child in the way he should go.  Please be supportive of our teachers' efforts and understand that when we discipline, we do it for a greater good.

TUITION

Tuition for October will be past due tomorrow (Wednesday).  Please add $15 to your tuition payment.  Payments made on PayPal will have to be done by midnight tonight (25th) in order to avoid the late fee.  Please remember that we pay two weeks prior to the month attended (tuition is due on the 15th of each month - October was due September 15).

One child:  $175

Two children:  $315

Three children:  $425

Please make checks payable to FRANKLIN CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

If you have any questions about your payment, please contact Kely Fouraker at mdorecords@franklinchristianchurch.com.

Fire Drill

I forgot to mention how awesome our teachers and children did on our two fire drills last week!  We were out of the building and out to the field in 2 min 8 seconds.  That means we were actually out of the building in under 2 minutes.  The children were great (even though the whistle was loud and annoying), and our teachers are efficient.  I was so proud of everyone!

Upcoming Events

This will be a busy time for us over the next couple of weeks!

• Muffins with Mom (Toddler 1 - Pre-K) - Tuesday and Wednesday 9:00 - 9:45 AM.  Food and drink will be set up in the hallways.  Stop by your child's room first and then fill your plate and come back to visit with teachers, children, and other moms!  Please feel free to send another loved one if mom can't make it!
• We had about 14 to 15 book orders for Scholastic this month.  Thank you to all who ordered!  Those books should be arriving toward the end of this week.  We will send them home as soon as they come in.  October's orders will be due October 18.
• Car lane begins Monday, October 1st!  Directions will go home in folders.  Information will also be on the blog, and teachers will be sending e-mails about it.  If you still have questions, please ask!  We would like for everyone to consider trying car lane at least once.  It helps so much with your child's transition, and it just gets our day off to a great start!  Moms and Dads who use it regularly love the ease of not having to find a parking spot, unload everything (especially other siblings) and come inside.  Considering that each afternoon you will still come in and see the teachers, room and others, it makes sense to try car lane!  And have I mentioned how great it is for you on rainy days?  Our teachers...not so much :)
• And finally, please check out www.SpoiledRottenPhotography.com to schedule your child's portrait.  They will be here on site Thursday, October 4th, and Monday through Wednesday, October 8th, 9th, 10th.  A brochure went home on Thursday and Mon/Wed classes will get theirs on Monday.  Packages begin at $20, and this year's backdrop is called Masterpiece.

Portraits

This year we are excited to use SpoiledRottenPhotography to do our portraits.  This will be done differently than in years past.  You are able to set an appointment for your child's portrait to be taken.  It will be taken here while they are at school, but you will sign up online.  You even have the option of making suggestions to help the photographer in terms of type and style and you will be able to bring in siblings if you would like a picture of your whole crew!

The photographer will be here October 4, 8, 9, 10.  We were very impressed with the quality of the photography and think that you will be very pleased.  This is a completely optional event; however, this is a fundraiser for us as we receive a percentage of total sales.

Please take a moment and go to www.SpoiledRottenPhotography.com and take a look at their work.  More information will be coming home with your child on Wednesday and Thursday.

Hand, Foot and Mouth

We've had one known case of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease at Shining Light.  It is viral and is contagious.  Please check website for further information about it.
http://children.webmd.com/tc/hand-foot-and-mouth-disease-topic-overview.

Fire Drill

Fire Drill this week has been moved to Wednesday and Thursday due to weather!  We like to practice in the sunshine :)

FYI

I hope that all of you are now receiving blog posts if you subscribed to the Follow by E-mail.  There had been a few glitches, but I think we've got them fixed.  If you are checking this and DID NOT receive the e-mail post, please contact me.

Tuition is due on the 15th of each month.  I realize that that the 15th is Saturday.  Thanks to all who sent your tuition in this week.  If you did not, please just send on Monday or Tuesday.  You may place your tuition check in your child's folder located in his/her tote bag.  All checks need to be made payable to Franklin Christian Church.  You can also pay on PayPal if you prefer located on the right side of the blog.

Some of you received tote bag tags this week.  Tues/Thurs did not as we had to place another order.  They should be in next week sometime.

Next week is Fire Drill week.  We are planning a fire drill for Tuesday and Wednesday weather permitting.  It will take place in the morning before any naps.  We will not set the alarm, but I have this fancy whistle that Ms. Nancy gave me that I will use for the drill.  We make it very non-threatening and non-scary for the children.  Last year we managed to get everyone out of the building in less than two minutes.  We are extremely efficient!  You may want to prepare your child for the event but please emphasize obeying the teachers and not the scary aspect of the drill.

Upcoming events:  Muffins with Mom on September 25 and 26.  Moms, please join us from 9:00 - 9:45 that morning for some treats and fellowship.  If mom can't make it, please feel free to send another loved one such as a grandmother, aunt, or even dad!

Nursery - you are the exception to the rule for Muffins with Mom.  We would love to have you join us; however, your little ones are not ready for the trauma of you hanging around and then leaving.  We are still working on them becoming comfortable with us, and we do not want to lose the good work that we've done so far.  Next year when your child is in Toddler 1 or Toddler 2 will be a much more enjoyable experience for you and your child!

There are Scholastic catalogues on the front foyer desk if you would like to take one.  There are three different catalogues.  September 20 is our deadline for this month's order.  We have 8 orders so far and are shooting for 50 each month!  Please help us by purchasing $5 worth of books.  Shipping is always free for us because we are Red Apple members.  The scholastic website is www.scholastic.com/bookclubs.
Our school access code is GPTH7.

And finally, have a wonderful weekend!  

I'm off to see my Vols beat Florida (I hope!)

I hope that the "Follow by Email" is now working.  I knew it had something to do with something called FeedBurner, but for the life of me, I couldn't fix the problem.  Our wonderful Chapel teacher, Ms. Jeanette, hopefully fixed the glitch this morning!  If you are checking this but did not receive an e-mail of the posting, please contact me again, and we will start over.

For those of you who want the details of the problem - FeedBurner had all the e-mails set for CritterBuzz.  CritterBuzz wasn't doing posts anymore, so no e-mails were showing up in your box.  Ms. Jeanette re-routed everything to Shining Light, so CritterBuzz subscribers as well as our new subscribers should now receive e-mail postings.

I have just enough computer skills to be dangerous.... :)

Miscellaneous

• Please make sure that your child is here no later than 9:10 unless you have an appointment somewhere.  Our teachers like to get started right on time, and it can cause a disruption when one or two enter late consistently.  We appreciate you helping us get our day started off promptly!  We have a lot to do in our classrooms!
• Some of you are not getting e-mailed posts even though you did for CritterBuzz.  I have been trying to determine the problem and not having much success.  One thing to try is to deactivate your account completely.  I believe that you can go in and say that you no longer want to receive any e-mails.  Then I would wait 24 hours and sign up again.  That's the best advice I have right now.  If this does work for someone, would you shoot me a quick e-mail and let me know that it worked?
• Finally, don't forget to order Scholastic this month!  Our cut-off date will be September 20, so we can get all the books in by the end of the month.  Thank you to those parents who have already placed an order.  If you are new to scholastic, you will need to set up an account.  Our school number is located on the right hand side of this blog. The website is:  www.scholastic.com/bookclubs.
• And don't forget to bring in your used inkjet and toner cartridges!  We recycle them!

Invitation

I know many of you have church homes, but I also know that many of you are still searching for a church family.  I would like to invite you to Franklin Christian Church any Sunday to check us out.

We have two services:  9:15 AM and 10:45 AM.  Both services have children's classes in the downstairs area.  Many of the classrooms are the same as where your child's classroom is at Shining Light.

Our senior minister, Zach Stewart, begins a new sermon series tomorrow "Jesus Home Construction".  It's all about families and building a strong home life.  We would love to see you there!

NAEYC

I mentioned in the Parent Meeting that we have joined NAEYC this year (National Association for the Education of Young Children).  They send us several publications throughout the year with various articles.  There is also an online website for parents:  www.families.naeyc.org.  I noticed an article about potty training (for those of you working on it!) - and one on temper tantrums (in case they occur at your house!)

FYI

If your child is in a class that naps, and you would like to purchase a nap mat cover for him/her, check out Little Star Kids Gear located behind PF Changs in Cool Springs.  771-9915 or www.littlestarkidsgear.com

If the 1,2,3 Magic Parenting book appealed to you at our Parent Meeting, they are currently offering a 20% discount when you purchase from their website.
Go to www.123Magic.com and enter code ABC2012 for the discount.

And finally, hang in there all you new moms and dads!  Your little ones take awhile to adjust to the new routine.  So expect a few tears and uncertainty.  I promise that once they get into the routine, the tears will disappear!

Calendar Revision

Apparently, I made a few mistakes on the calendar located in your Parent Handbook.  I'll blame the six year old who keeps a steady conversation going while I work on my computer...

Easter Egg Hunt:  March 20, 21
Spring Break:  March 25 - 29

Spring Program/Pre-K Graduation:  May 14, 15
Field Day:  May 20, 21

Last Day Shining Light:  May 22 (half day 9:00 - 12:00)

I THINK that's all of them!

First Week

We are excited to begin our first full days at Shining Light this week!  

Remember that Monday is Labor Day so no school!

Our tote bags came in, so we will hand those out Tuesday and Wednesday.  Please just pack your child's belongings in something simple that day.  We also have ordered new name tags for the bags, and they will be here at some point next week, so you do not need to monogram or purchase any kind of special tag for the bag either.

You cannot leave your child Tuesday or Wednesday unless you have filled out a Medical Release Form and Permission to Pick-Up Form.  The vast majority of you have already done that, but there are just a few who missed those days and the meetings last week and did not mail their forms in.  For those in that situation we cannot allow you to leave your child until all of that is taken care of.

Teachers will be sending class e-mails out in the next day or two.  If you do not receive an e-mail from your child's teachers, please let them know sometime this week, so they can make sure that they have the correct address.

And last, but certainly not least, our staff has announcements and prayer time each morning from 8:30 to 8:55.  We pray for all our families at Shining Light as well as other concerns that someone may have.  We often do not unlock the doors until 8:55, so if you should arrive early and the doors are locked, you know that we are still in prayer time.  We appreciate your understanding in this.  We will be ready to go at 8:55 though!

HAVE A RESTFUL LABOR DAY!