Summer Camp Information and Supplies
Hello Camp Parents!!
Summer is right around the corner, and we are so excited. We are going to go over some essentials now so that you can be ready when we start camp on June 14th:
FIRST UP:
There are TWO camp groups - The Rising K Camp (starts JUNE 1) and The Camp (starts JUNE 14). They will be following the same themes, but they will have different schedules. It’s pretty self explanatory, but if your child is a rising kindergartener, then they will be in the Rising K Camp, and if they have already completed kindergarten they will be in Camp.
SWIM DAYS:
Rising K Camp: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10am to 11am at Herndon Swim Club, bus departs at 9:30am. They will do sprinkler water play on the other days of the week!
Camp: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays! Mondays and Wednesdays will be from 10am to 11am at the Herndon Swim Club, bus departs at 9:30am. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be from 1pm to 2pm at Uplands Pool in Reston. They will do sprinkler water play as well, so they should still prepare to get wet on Fridays.
NEXT UP - WHAT THEY NEED:
Supply List: These are all the things we recommend for camp!
T-Shirt Size Sign up: We will provide (2) camp shirts for every kiddo enrolled in more than 3 weeks of camp! Campers should wear their camp shirts everyday. We know that they will get dirty and grubby, but that is OKAY! Dirt is a sign that they have had a fun time! You may purchase additional Camp shirts up front now on our form, but we may also provide extra shirts as needed (and if we have leftovers as the summer goes on!).
Supply List
Hard FLAT TOP Cooler: This will be WAY more than your kids’ lunch holder. It will be your camper’s on-the-go camp chair. And an extra container for water.
Outdoor Backpack: This needs to be large enough to hold what your kid needs all day long. We will be outside, so there will be no cubbies or hangers! Make sure it has a chest clip, a side pouch for a water bottle, and that it can stand up to the elements and hard, outdoor use!
Camp shirt - provided
Gallon Ziploc Bag: For wet swimsuit
Swimsuit: We will be going swimming most days all summer long! Send your kiddo in their swimsuit if possible.
Dry underwear and shorts to change into after pool time.
Towel: Small, lightweight towel. Your child will be carrying all of their own things, so make sure it can fit in their bag!
Goggles (these are not required but they are pretty awesome)
Tough, outdoor shoes with good support: Make sure they are breathable and good for wet weather. EXAMPLES: Keens, Crocs, Nortiv, among others
Water bottle: 12-16 oz maximum, we will have the ability to refill the bottle
Extra clothes: ONE complete set - this should be packed in a ziplock in their backpack, as they will be carrying all of their things with them all day!
Optional Items:
One Long-sleeved sun shirt if you want them to swim in it.
Optional: Hat (baseball, visor, sun hat) or Sunglasses
A book! Kids will have some down time, or may want to take a breather. Nothing is better than a book to read.
Snacks: Even if your kid isn’t bringing a full lunch we recommend having snacks. It is a long day and we are really moving out there!
ONE toy: one car, one stuffy, one action figure, etc. One toy from home to play with can be brought (but we are hoping the natural items they find will suffice!)
A deck of cards: we will have our own, but having one means that they never have to wait to check one out!
Unnecessary Items: Because of the interference with the flux-capacitor of our time machines, we ask that any ‘tech’ items be kept at home!
No tablets/ipads
No smartphones unless absolutely necessary. These will be kept with a counselor in a waterproof container
No gaming systems
No toys with a lot of small parts
Curious about t-shirt sizes?
Please fill out the form below so that we can begin to get your camper’s kit together for them!
And here’s Miss LJ in all of our sizes - from Youth Medium to Adult Medium!
New Playground Installation - begins May 24
We are super excited to announce that Common Ground’s playground will FINALLY be getting some updates!
The work begins Monday morning at 8am on May 24th. During the work, the following areas will be closed to classes:
the blacktop
the twos playground
the infant playground
The work should not impact:
morning car line
the grassy area
the swings area
the climbing structure
The work should take about a week, but it may spill over into the first week of June. During this time, we will be creative with our space to make sure the kids all have great places to play!
Here’s are the updates that we have planned:
INFANT PLAYGROUND:
Along the back wall, extending from the existing sidewalk all the way to the fence, there will be and 11 foot wide, poured rubber surface area. This are will allow our littlest a place to crawl around outdoors! The way that it will be installed, with a beveled edge, will also make it easy to sweep the mulch off and back into the play area.
We will then purchase a few new push toys, rockers, and slides for that section!
TWOS PLAYGROUND:
The small yellow climbing structure and slide will be removed and replaced with the new structure in the photos! We are so excited to have our logo colors incorporated in our new slide structure!
MAIN CLIMBING AREA:
A ‘landing mat’ will be installed under the slides to help keep mulch from wearing away in that area!
SWINGS AREA:
Mats will be installed under all four of the swings to keep the mulch from wearing away. This will keep our swings safer, and make it easier for our kids to reach the swings!
ENTIRE PLAYGROUND:
Once the installation is completed, we will have new wood carpeting installed in the entire playground area. Certified, engineered wood carpeting is the safest material to have on playground to protect children from falling from play structures!
Friends of CG Fridays!: Dryer Vent Wizard and Mr. Appliance
Hello Everyone!
It’s been awhile, so for this FRIENDS OF CG FRIDAY we are featuring TWO of our best company friends as a special treat!
DRYER VENT WIZARD and MR. APPLIANCE came to save the day for us a few weeks ago and we wanted to brag on them.
Do you remember a few months ago when we wrote about how to vacuum out your dryer vent? Ms. Liz is very handy in a pinch! While this was a good temporary fix, you really should make sure that you hire a professional to completely clean our your dryer.
A few weeks ago we had a little snafu with both our washer and our dryer simultaneously. We wanted to make sure our littles’ linens were getting the best care possible as QUICKLY as possible, so we shopped around and found Dryer Vent Wizard and Mr. Appliance.
Dryer Vent Wizard came in and took extra care to assess the situation! While we had cleared out all the dryer lint for aways down the vent, we didn’t realize how far it extended! Especially with the vaulted church roof. Our technician gave it a full examination, explained the issues, and gave us a fair price. He also got the job done super quickly, and we haven’t had issues since!
Mr. Appliance helped us diagnose our washer! Full disclosure… we were overloading it with items and soap. Our technician let us know that, since that was our primary issue, he would just give it a good examination and tune up, no reason to get too expensive. We appreciate honesty! (and guidance from a pro)
YES! This recommendation isn’t glamorous! But since most of us deal with laundry every single day, we thought this one was helpful, ESPECIALLY since summer is right around the corner… stay tuned for our TEACHER TIPS on grass stains and other pesky clothing ailments!
Love, Love, Love,
LJ and your CG Family!
De-Clutter and Support Your School!
Spring Cleaning is such a transformative experience.
Who knew that thinning a bookshelf or tackling that front hall closet you avoid could feel so powerful? At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic I channeled my anxiety into cleaning and reorganizing the house. I set out to conquer “the creep” that tends to take over corners and closets during the daily bustle of kids and jobs. I wanted my home office back! I wanted to not feel guilty about buying new workout clothes! I wanted to feel like we were moving forward in an uncertain time.
The world is opening again, and rather than “going back to normal,” most of us have embraced the fact that it will be a WHOLE NEW ERA. A totally new definition of normal.
The best way to make that “new normal” a WAY BETTER normal than to start out with an old favorite, Spring Cleaning.
Here at Common Ground, we are doing just that! We are emptying our old storage units and thinning out our book collections (have no fear! We support child literacy more than ever before, we just don’t need 18 copies of “The Foot Book” floating around in the back of our closets).
What will we do with all this STUFF? Some of it is quite beloved and well taken care of, some of it is barely used but we certainly do not need it taking up space.
On our quest to REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE, we found a company called FUNDrive. Their incredible business model encourages groups of people and schools like us to get together and collect gently used items to donate!
Our drop-off date is not until June 5th, but ‘Spring Cleaning’ is happening as we speak! Save up those donation items and you will only have to do one drop-off.
Instead of trying to find different places to donate all of your myriad items, just bring them straight to us.
1. The donations will cost you nothing!
2. You are giving your house a spruce up!
3. You are helping your community recycle perfectly fine items instead of creating waste, and offering quality goods to people at more affordable prices.
4. You are helping your school by helping us raise funds through no cost to you.
We are looking to raise $1000 by cleaning out your closets and cabinets of GENTLY USED items. Help us get to our goal by helping us collect AT LEAST 120 full 33 gallon size bags and 100 small boxes. (there is no limit! I think we can blast through that number, but let's have a baseline) Ask your friends, neighbors and coworkers to do the same and make your pledge today!
DATES TO DROP OFF ITEMS:
Friday, June 4th from 7:45 AM-6:00 PM
Saturday, June 5th from 8:00AM-12:00PM
Drop off will be at Common Ground Childcare: 1700 Wainwright Drive, Ste 2, Reston VA 20190.
ITEM PICK UP DATES:
TBD: If there are enough people interested in this, we may schedule a “pick up” for items before our time slot on June 5th.
If you need help with lifting bags/boxes, please let us know: lj@commongroundchildcare.org
**IF NONE OF THE ABOVE DATES WORK FOR YOU: Please contact LJ Donnell: 703.498.9073/lj@commongroundchildcare.org. We will find a way to help you, store your things, et cetera.