We go outside, even in the winter
We are looking at A LOT OF snowy days coming up this winter!
And we cannot wait for all of our outdoor winter adventures.
We wanted to address some concerns about having kids outside during the colder, darker months. Please rest assured that we keep abreast of the weather constantly. We are always tuned into how the kids and adults are faring. We keep their safety and comfort in mind as well as all the safety and licensing regulations.
We will also not subject a child to outdoor play if they are not properly attired. We have worked to have a stock of jackets, mittens, hats, even boots so that a child who comes unprepared may still participate with their friends. That being said, visiting our Supply List and making sure that your child has everything they need for each season helps us and them each day!
There will be some days that are too wet or too cold! We will have little movie and popcorn parties and days where we do art while the weather outside is frightful. BUT barring exceptional highs and lows, most weather is perfectly fine for kids and adults of all ages, and we will be going outside as often as possible.
The Better Kid Care Program, the center of knowledge for all the best childcare curriculums and teacher programs, has an entire article on the importance of winter play for children. You can read it here.
The loss of consistent outdoor playtime is absolutely detrimental to the physical and emotional wellness of a child.
In this article from Tinkergarten, they talk about how children need several HOURS of play time a day to be healthy! Keeping them indoors may seem the best way to be safe, but really, we are hindering their growth.
Occupational therapists encourage parents to take children outside in all seasons. This helps brain development and to mitigate sensory issues that are on the rise in children.
Kids are meant to play. They are meant to get dirty and windswept. They are meant to eat snow, trip in their swishy snow-pants, to fall down and find they can get back up again.
According to Pediatric Occupational Therapist Angela Hanscom, not only are these things incredible for attention and sensory issues, they are a KEY ROLE in developing The Vestibular System. This is the system our bodies use to know where we are in space! It is even more important than it sounds. Without serious play, children are more frail, more clumsy, less able to pay attention, and much more likely to struggle with emotional regulation.
Our preschool teachers are especially focused on “Kindergarten-Readiness.” This involves working on letters and numbers and pre-writing skills, but it also involves physical health and social-emotional independence. Outdoor lessons and games help cement fine-motor and gross-motor work. Operating in varying weather helps develop their sensory resilience which is essential for increasing attention span inside and outside of the classroom.
For more on Angela Hanscom’s research and Timbernook Program, click here!
For more on outside play and holistic healthy development, check out this CoordiKids Article
Here are some totally normal, outside winter activities we do at Common Ground that actually promote Kindergarten Readiness.
1. Building an Igloo with Friends: Promotes core strength, cooperation, simple machines and tools usage, basic engineering, imaginative play, patience, sensory endurance
2. Snow Walking and Rolling down Hills: Inner Ear training, strength training, leg and inner core training, aerobic workout
3. Snow Writing: Using natural tools to promote fine-motor practice. You can also use markers to do color work.
4. Winter Walk: Aerobic Exercise, Seasonal Cycles and Lessons, basic biology flora/fauna studies
What do we always say? NO BAD WEATHER. ONLY BAD CLOTHES!
Is you child really set up for this winter? Here are items that we have on our student supply list that we highly recommend purchasing as soon as possible.
Please keep in mind that all the shopping links on our blog are Amazon affiliate links. If you shop with amazon through those links, you are also supporting Common Ground directly AND keeping your kiddos prepared for all seasons!
Check out our SUPPLY LIST for our recommendations for each season!
SNOW BOOTS — Snow comes in all different shapes and sizes, but it is always cold and always wet. An insulated, water resistant boot that goes high up a child’s leg will keep them warm and dry while they play. PLEASE NOTE: While rainbows will keep a child’s foot dry, they are not properly insulated and do not offer any protection against the cold. Snow boots are most appropriate in cold, wintry weather.
WATERPROOF GLOVES OR MITTENS — Snow gloves protect against the cold, but they are also water resistant. Cotton gloves, while warm, will become wet very quickly and will do more harm than good when trying to keep your child’s hands warm. Please make sure they have snow gloves available.
SNOW PANTS — Snow pants are key to making sure a child is warm and happy for a longer period of time. The water resistant fabric makes sure that the pants they wear to school stay as dry as possible so fewer clothing changes are required.
THERMAL UNDERWEAR — We recommend these over sweat suits because they keep a child warm without overheating them or keeping their sweat in. These are perfect for layering winter clothes and helping a child regulate their body temperature while they play rough outside.
We will keep you all posted on our winter lessons and activities! Stay safe!!
— LJ and the Common Ground Crew
Here are some other essential readings on the subject of being outside.
Safety Tips for Childcare Providers and Parents!
A Montessori Guide to Playing in Winter!
Athletes and Explorers discuss keeping your kids warm in winter!
September 13 - Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day
SEPTEMBER 13TH IS “KIDS TAKE OVER THE KITCHEN DAY”
In our Screenless Activities: Quick Recipes blog post, we discussed how beneficial it is to cook with your kids, and how uncomplicated it has to be. There are A TON of lovely children’s books that even have recipes! A good example is on the READ ALOUD section of our Common Ground Youtube Channel. Blue’s Clues Read Aloud: Blue Makes Breakfast. (We will have a list of Teacher Recommended books about food with recipes at the bottom of this blog! Don’t forget to scroll down!)
There is nothing more bolstering to a child, more comforting, more healthy, than quality time with you.
In our busy lives, this can feel hard to come by. We spend A LOT of time with our children! With school, extracurriculars, work, and finding time to breathe on our own, this can feel daunting. But Conscious Discipline says that even FIVE MINUTES of undivided attention a day can make all the difference in the world.
NAEYC has an incredible list of Quality Time Tips for Meaningful Days that basically boils down to: Noticing the positive, expressing affection, special rituals for daily quality time, letting them choose your activities, and putting technology away so your attention is only on each other. Utilize this CELLPHONE PARKING in your home for meals, games, books, walks with your family.
One of the tips is to take the time to EAT with your child! Does this sound stressful because of a picky-eater? You can give them some of the power they crave in that interaction by allowing them to COOK/PREPARE DINNER with you.
Provide them choices that give them power, but are within parameters you set. If they are not fans of vegetables, give them an option of vegetables to choose from and cook. “Would you like to cook broccoli, carrots, or snow peas tonight with dinner?” “Do you want to make the bbq chicken or the meatloaf?” “Which fruit from these options could go with what you have chosen?”
It is going to take them longer, and there will be more mess. We are constantly in the current of busy-ness. Cooking may feel like it takes forever already without a kid taking forever to break an egg (INTO the bowl… with the shells… and now it’s all over their fingers…) and spilling flour all over the place. This is how they learn. Think of every shaky letter and number they’ve ever drawn that you cheered over, and cheer over their stirring, their sifting, their pouring in the same way. Maybe they never develop a true passion for cooking… but they will learn to love learning. They will know that you are their champion, and that you support their process every step of the way. *Bonus* You can teach them how to clean up their messes, and give them more responsibility!!
They may not be interested, They may not want to try the food, et cetera. This is okay! Invite them to join you, allow them to “parallel play” if they want to be in the kitchen, but not engaging. Explain what you are doing step by step. These kinds of activities almost never go as planned, and sometimes do not go as well as you hope. The point is that quality time, that expression of patience. Still give them choices over what you make, still offer them the chance in the future. Teaching them that they have autonomy and how to express their choices with strength and kindness is also an incredible lesson.
Mistakes are Science. Does your kid want to use baking powder instead of baking soda or vice versa? cut the batter in half and let them try both. Do they want to double the amount of sugar? Do they want to try to add something odd to the sauce? Our instincts are to immediately say no. Treat moments like this like improv: “Yes, and-” is your friend here. OBVIOUSLY keep them safe, don’t let them play with boiling water or eat raw chicken. But letting them have a little leeway for experimentation, especially if it’s just this one day, or once in awhile, is a positive experience.
Cooking is a chance to tell Family Stories. Family Recipes are often inextricably tied to Family Traditions and happy holiday memories. There are recipes with cultural and religious significances that tie important lessons to a tangible experience. Cooking can be a history lesson! Connect your digital-native child to their great-great-great grandfather who kept their master-chef recipes written in a water-logged journal. Humans have changed between generations… but everybody has to eat.
There are a ton of poignant children’s stories with recipes in them.
We use a lot of them in the Creative Curriculum too! See below:
Peeny Butter Fudge by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison. There is no one like Nana in the whole wide world. She is the best. Nana knows how to take an ordinary afternoon and make it extra special! Nap time, story time, and playtime are transformed by fairies, dragons, dancing, and pretending -- and then mixing and fixing yummy, yummy fudge just like Nana and Mommy did not so many years ago....
Every Color Soup by Jorey Hurley. All you need is a pot, a spoon, an adult helper, and vegetables of many colors to make a very special soup—Every Color Soup! Learn colors and vegetable names in this bright and colorful picture book with minimal text perfect for the beginning reader. Jorey Hurley’s bright, graphic art and simple text make this vibrant book a perfect read-aloud for budding cooks and their families. This lively picture book also comes with a recipe!
Apple Sauce Day by Lisa Amstutz. Applesauce Day is here! Maria and her family visit an apple orchard and pick apples. Then it's time to turn the apples into applesauce. Every year they use a special pot that has been in the family for generations. Follow along as everyone helps to make delicious applesauce.
Kalamata’s Kitchen by Sarah Thomas. This book does not have recipes, but encourages trying new things and experiencing foods from around the world! Tomorrow is Kalamata's first day at a new school, and she's nervous! What if the kids aren't friendly? Or worse, what if they don't like alligators!? If only Kalamata and Al Dente could go to back to the Indian spice market they visited this summer, then maybe she'd remember how to feel brave when new experiences seem scary.
The Empanadas that Abuela Made by Diane Gonzalez Bertrand. A whimsical look at the making of empanadas serves up the festive fun of a family’s effort to concoct the delicious pastries, with an easy empanada recipe included.
Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina Gilmore. Cora loves being in the kitchen, but she always gets stuck doing the kid jobs like licking the spoon. One day, however, when her older sisters and brother head out, Cora finally gets the chance to be Mama's assistant chef. And of all the delicious Filipino dishes that dance through Cora's head, she and Mama decide to make pancit, her favorite noodle dish.
Bee Bim Bop! by Linda Park. A Korean American girl celebrates food and family in this cheerful book about cooking a special meal by Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park.
Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story By Kevin Maillard. Fry Bread is elegantly written with lovingly rendered pictures that evoke family and love on every page. It’s all about cooking to be connected to the past while moving forward together.
Star Wars: Galactic Baking. These are NOT PICTURE BOOKS. They do not have a story! But any Star Wars Cookbooks that you can get your hands on are so fun, silly, weird, and worthwhile. Star Wars is loved by so many people young and old, and it is such a fun way to connect responsibility and learning to ADVENTURE and IMAGINATION STATION.
Sesame Street Let’s Cook! These are also not picture books, but they are an EXCELLENT introduction to cooking for young chefs.
PLEASE share your experiences, your stories, and, most importantly, YOUR RECIPES with us! We will share more recipes on our social media leading up to September 13th. We would love to someday build a Common Ground Cookbook from our BIG, SHARED COMMON GROUND FAMILY.
Love Love Love,
Your CG Chefs
FCPS Language Immersion Lottery Now Open
If you have rising Kindergarteners or first graders and are interested, the lottery for the language immersion programs in Fairfax County opened today. We have been really impressed with what we have seen from the Lake Anne Spanish Immersion Kindergarten Teachers. .
Below please find additional information.
For families wanting to apply for Lake Anne Dual Language Immersion, the lottery registration begins today. Here are the dates
Online registration will close March 3, 2022 at 4 p.m.
Status notification emails regarding lottery outcomes will be sent on March 16, 2022.
Parent online responses with school selection, signed disclosure statement and fee payment (if applicable) is due on March 30, 2022.
Late online registration will open March 16, 2022. Late applications will be added to the end of the generated waiting list according to the date received.
https://www.fcps.edu/registration/dual-language-immersion-programs-registration
In order for families to place their kids in the lottery, they need to register their rising kindergartener at their base elementary school and ask for an activated SIS Parent account.
https://www.fcps.edu/registration/kindergarten-registration
Then they go to this URL and log into their SIS account.
https://insys.fcps.edu/WLImmersion/login/ED/00
The Hunters Woods lottery is separate and has slightly different dates, beginning in March. Hunters Woods has an info session on 17 Feb. Hunters Woods Elementary School has a magnet program for the Arts and Sciences. Through Responsive Instruction, Responsive Classroom strategies, arts integration, STEAM and Project Based Learning (PBL) opportunities, we work to promote a collaborative family of learners, focusing on innovations in teaching and learning. The staff at Hunters Woods is committed to weaving the arts throughout the curriculum.
https://www.fcps.edu/academics/elementary-school-academics-k-6/elementary-magnet-schools
https://www.fcps.edu/registration/elementary-magnet-school-lottery
It is ok to go into both lotteries. It is also ok to accept a Lake Anne offer and then decline it if you get into Hunters Woods. You do not give up your spot at your neighborhood school or the other lottery by doing so.
Step into 2022
It’s been SO COLD this month!! Believe us when we say we understand the impulse to stay under a warm blanket, sip hot cocoa, and play wordle until Spring.
BUT we are holding a 6 week step challenge for our teachers and we will tell you why!
While we are staying outside as much as possible to maintain a firm “fresh-air” defense against the Covid-19 pandemic, there are so many health benefits to keeping outside and getting consistent movement.
Getting daily sunlight is essential for people of any age. Sunlight boosts mood, helps with sleep, increases Vitamin-D production, and helps you sleep! Balanced and Barefoot author Angela Hanscom also goes into detail about how outdoor activity boosts strength, reduces anxiety, helps with attention issues, sensory issues, and behavioral issues.
Consistent daily activity nourishes nearly every system in your body. A study published in the journal Comprehensive Physiology found that 35 different chronic health conditions are accelerated by physical inactivity. They range from heart disease and stroke to depression and constipation.
1. You could strengthen your heart.
Someone who gets 10,000 steps a day will have a bigger stroke volume—how much blood the heart pumps per beat—compared with someone who gets 1,000 steps a day. “A larger stroke volume is a sign of greater aerobic capacity,” says John Thyfault, PhD, associate professor of physiology at Kansas University Medical School in Kansas City, Kansas. “Aerobic capacity is arguably the best predictor of mortality and disease risk.”
2. You could store less body fat.
Calories eaten by someone who gets 10,000 steps a day do not travel the same path when they’re consumed by an inactive person. Thyfault has performed studies that shows when someone who exercises regularly eats that food is used differently by the body to fuel key systems compared with an inactive person. In someone who is habitually physically inactive, however, those calories are more likely to be stored as fat or in the muscle or liver. Evidence shows that habitual exercisers are also better able to handle those inevitable periods of excess—splurges like Thanksgiving Day, for example—without gaining as much weight.
3. You could help stabilize your blood sugar.
“The person who gets 10,000 steps a day will have a much lower glucose and insulin response in their blood after a meal,” he says. “The inactive person will have a much bigger response. That surge of glucose and insulin after a meal is a predictor of who will develop diabetes down the road and also a predictor of cardiovascular disease risk.”
4. You could improve your brain's performance.
The ability to learn new tasks, grow new brain cells, and stave off cognitive decline are all aided by daily moderate exercise. A study in the journal Current Biology showed that just one bout of exercise enhanced the brain’s ability to reorganize, repair, and adapt to new situations. Aerobic exercise, such as walking, may also spur new cell growth in the hippocampus, the area of the brain that regulates emotion and memory, according to a study done on rats that was published in The Journal of Physiology.
5. You'll reinforce healthy habits.
There is one difference between a stepper and non-stepper that can’t be seen on a glucose monitor, brain scan, or electron microscope: strength of will. Small successes build upon themselves. If someone got 10,000 steps yesterday and the day before, they are more likely to hit that mark again the following day.
“The whole 10,000 steps model is based upon making movement part of a normal routine where it wasn’t there before. It facilitates behavioral change,” says Brian Richardson, MS, NASM-PES, co-owner of Dynamic Fitness in Murrieta, CA, and associate professor of exercise physiology at nearby PGCC junior college. “When it comes to weight loss, behavioral change is dependent upon creating habits.”
We are hoping that in the next six weeks, along with providing healthy competition and fabulous prizes, we help our teachers develop and maintain lifelong habits that will keep them healthy and happy for years to come! We invite you to join us. If this is something you’d like to do SCHOOL-WIDE, let us know in the comments! We would love to hear from you!
Your CG Family.
Friends of CG Fridays: Just Cats Clinic
Just Cats Clinic has been caring for our cats like they’re family since 2013. Now, when we need them the most, they have opened an Urgent Care clinic with extended hours.
Website I Contact Info and Hours I Directions
Dr. Elizabeth Chapmen started the Just Cats Clinic in order to offer your cat a personalized, comfortable experience for your cat in a stressful time.
Every person employed goes through cat-specific trainings so they are familiar with feline behaviors and handling. They are flexible and change their procedure based on each individual cats needs and temperament. From ample natural light, to windows with bird feeder views, to hiding places in every room… this will truly feel like a sanctuary for your cat.
Working with animals is a labor of love, and the veterinary community as a whole has been pushing itself to the brink to keep our animals safe.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic started, vets all over the country have suffered from staff shortages. Along with sickness and quarantines, the field is primarily women. When schools were closed or primarily online, many women left their careers to take care of their children.
For the first time in 20 years you can’t just go to an emergency vet. Imagine your animal is in trouble, you call their doctor, and they have to check to see which emergency vets might have space.
There are a lot of patients that NEED to be seen, but are not a life or death emergency. They are in pain, or vomiting, but would be turned away because the number of more urgent patients was just too high.
Dr. Elizabeth started an emergency clinic on January 1st to help mitigate this problem. Just Cats Clinic will do same day urgent care appointments for ANYone with a cat in need, whether or not they are a patient. They are not an emergency vet, but can help diagnose, stabilize, and take care of your beloved pet, and help you find a space in an emergency vet while they do so if it is necessary.
Help Common Ground Childcare show some love to our local heroes! If you or someone you know has a cat they adore, bring them to the place where you know their doctors will love them as much as you do.
Holidays in Covid: Keep The Spirit Despite Quarantine
*PLEASE NOTE: we will be adding more items all week long! Check for updates!*
Home for the Holidays is not such a jolly thought when it’s because of Quarantine.
That’s where so many of us find ourselves right now. With 569 new cases in Fairfax County just today (Fairfax County Health Dept. Dashboard), there are a ton of families in our community who will not be traveling to see loved ones for Christmas.
So what do you do to help maintain the Christmas Spirit if you are stuck in quarantine? Ms. Victoria and I (Ms. LJ) have been there before, and are in that situation now, and we thought we would help you get some good ideas.
Holiday Stories: You could go totally screen-less for most of our activity suggestions below, or you could have holiday specials playing in the background! But my personal recommendation will always be BOOKS AND STORIES.
Audible books has a ton of kid-friendly holiday audio dramas and read-alouds. It really puts me in a festive mood to share favorite stories with the littles.
Do you have family that you would like to visit, but you are playing it safe? You can read over zoom. Read stories to each other! Do this nightly! You could read a chapter book and parse them out chapter by chapter until the end of the year! During the day you could talk about what might happen next, send theories to each other, or just talk about your favorite part. We did this with my friend and her kids last year and the kids got to pick out picture books for each other. It was just one more gift they could give to their friends, and it made them feel like they were together even when they were apart.
We have a WHOLE SERIES of Read-Alouds! They are available HERE on our website and on our YouTube Channel! We also have a HOLIDAY PLAYLIST where we will be adding more videos!
Caroling: Spread is limited outdoors, and it is easy to socially distance. You can go to your friends’ and family’s houses and sing your favorite Christmas songs to them on your sidewalk! Sidebar: We do not advise singing together with a group that isn’t quarantined with you, even outside. You expectorate far more when singing! We advise singing to a group at least ten feet away.
CARDBOARD CRAFTS:
We know you’ve ordered just a ton of stuff from the internet for the holidays… right? No? Just us? Well if you’re like us, There’s definitely plenty of cardboard to go nuts with. When we were stuck in quarantine, we built a very interesting space ship… It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be jolly!
Do you not have enough to make a whole house? Make a mini gingerbread cardboard village! Everyone cuts and decorates their own house and can cut out little cardboard people, animals, furniture, space ships… this is something that could take up literal hours.
Holiday Recipes and Foodie Crafts:
Holiday Activities and Crafts:
Print-Outs: Sometimes a relaxing activity on a cold day can be as easy as coloring with hot cocoa. I’m serious! Sometimes we as parents think memories have to involve HUGE EVENTS. My daughter’s favorite thing is to color together with no distractions. Put on Christmas music, get out the colored pencils, make some hot cocoa, and just get goofy with it. Click the links we have to get print outs, or just google your own! Holiday Print Outs
Advanced: If your kid is a little older, use a little journal or even some stapled together pieces of paper to make your OWN. HOLIDAY. STORY. Write your family’s next classic! This activity is fun for the whole family, allows your school-ager to practice writing and drawing, and can be a real laugh riot.
CLICK HERE for a little book creation pdf!
Here’s a MINI BOOK creation PDF and instructions!
Holiday Themed Dance Party: I am so not kidding when I say that “dancing it out” helps drive away the darkness. Studies have shown that dancing helps with anxiety and depression. It boosts mood and memory, which is perfect for making new holiday traditions!
Maybe you feel like pretending you’re on stage during The Nutcracker.
Holiday Scavenger Hunts: Do you have local family that’s in the area that you can’t visit because one of you is in quarantine? That really stinks… and it’s hard. BUT there is something you can do to show that you’re around.
Chalk games:
Write loving messages on their walkway! Have them do the same for you
Write HOLIDAY RIDDLES THEY HAVE TO SOLVE BY THE END OF THE EVENING!
Draw a little game they have to play outside like hopscotch or floor is lava or dance party! If they’re little kids it doesn’t have to be too complicated, just have spaces where they HAVE to run like a reindeer or play “don’t see Santa!” freeze dance.
Write each other up a “holiday nature walk” scavenger hunt! Possible things that could go on your list:
A snowman light up structure
A unique/whacky inflatable
A singing house
A bit of frost on the ground
A wreath made of real foliage
A real Deer
A Santa Claus
People singing live music
Birdsong
A Winter Constellation, like Orion’s Belt
A moon in a particular phase
An Evergreen Tree
A squirrel/Chipmunk
Holiday Drive-Thru Lights: Ms. Victoria is a HOLIDAY LIGHT GURU. We are going to provide links for a couple of official set-ups you can buy tickets to, but we will also have QR codes available that will take you on an amazing round trip through some spectacular light shows in your area free of charge!! Make sure you go to the bathroom, pack your favorite snacks, and have some music queued up for the radio (scroll up for links to neat music playlists on spotify).
Friends of CG Fridays: Hero Pediatric Dentistry
If you participated in our THANKSGIVING STUFFY SLEEPOVER, then you got an incredibly thoughtful, thorough SWAG BAG from our personal dental heroes, HERO PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY!! They are thoughtful, warm, insightful, and amazingly CLEVER!
Check out this HILARIOUS and informative video they made where they show us how to take care of our stuffy friends’ teeth!
HERO PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY VIDEO
Our teeth are so very important, and developing good habits to take care of ourselves begins at birth like all learning!
Consider these brushing basics:
Brush your teeth twice a day.
Use the proper equipment. Use a fluoride toothpaste and a soft-bristled toothbrush that fits your mouth comfortably.
Practice good technique. Hold your toothbrush at a slight angle — aiming the bristles toward the area where your tooth meets your gum. Gently brush with circular short back-and-forth motions. Brushing too hard or with hard bristles can hurt your gums.
Brush your teeth for two minutes. Remember to brush the outside, inside and chewing surfaces of your teeth, as well as your tongue.
Keep your equipment clean. Always rinse your toothbrush with water after brushing. Store your toothbrush in an upright position and allow it to air-dry until using it again.
Know when to replace your toothbrush. At least every 3 months!
See the dentist twice a year. Start taking your kiddos to the dentist around age 1! A lot of people talk about “baby teeth” like they don’t matter, but oral health is KEY to a happy, healthy life!
Why Hero Pediatric Dentistry?
Hero Pediatric Dentistry has a new location in Herndon! You should always take your kid to a pediatric dentist because they are specialized in kid care! They know all about growing teeth and gums, and know just how to make sure the dentist is not only a healthy experience, but a FUN one. We trust our friends at Hero Pediatric Dentistry implicitly, and recommend them for our students!
Tell us about your experience with them in the comments! We only wish we were young enough to get our teeth cleaned next to a green dinosaur…
Your CG Family
The Season of Giving! Bleed Red or Give Green
We have another blood drive coming up on DECEMBER 10TH from 1:00PM-5:30PM
HERE IS THE SIGN UP LINK.
BLOOD DONATIONS ARE THE LOWEST THEY HAVE BEEN IN A DECADE. Please help us do our part to bolster our hospitals and protect our neighbors.
The holidays are a time of joy, family, and giving. If you give blood, you may just give the gift of a life this year.
Help us give back to our community in the most essential way.
Do you want to give back to your community but don’t qualify to give blood?
Make a pledge to our Teacher Fund for 2022
Put “Childcare Center of the Common Ground Foundation” as your Amazon Smile Charity! Don’t know how? CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS.
Do you want to give blood but have questions?
Check out these FAQs from INOVA Blood Donor Services!
Kids and Covid: Juliet gets her Covid Shot!
Our Immunized Schoolagers!!!!!
Every time a new vaccine comes out against Covid-19 it feels like the world is a little safer. When we found out our kindergarteners and school agers were eligible for this essential layer of safety against the pandemic, we were ECSTATIC.
We sent out this link so that we could help get as many of our students appointments as soon as possible.
Which is why on November 4th at 10:45AM, a day after the shot was approved, I got my daughter Juliet her first covid shot.
Was I worried? No. There had been more than enough research done on the vaccine so I knew it was safe for her. I am much more worried about the new variants of covid that are spreading.
Was she worried? A little! Juliet and her friends get each other really anxious about the shot itself. She really didn’t want to get stuck! But she was also SUPER excited and made sure to tell everyone she could that she was going to get it.
“Am I the first kid in America to get the shot?” She asked me as we walked toward the Covid-Shot clinic set up inside the mall. It was early morning and there were hardly any people around.
“No sweetie, but you’re probably one of the first thousand in Fairfax County!” I thought about it, smiled, and said “And you’re the first kid to get it at Common Ground, so make sure to let everyone know it’s not so scary, okay?”
Juliet gave me a thumbs up, because she’s cool like that, and we went into what used to be an old department store transformed into a vaccination center. All around the old “Diamonds for Her” and “Men’s Fragrances” counters there were colorful signs that said things like “Kids are Tough,” “Kids are Brave,” and “Kids are Super Heroes.” On the floor there were big stickers with pictures of a nasty looking coronavirus cell with the inviting slogan “Stamp the Virus OUT!”
We did. We stomped on every single one of them on our way. And let me tell you something… it felt really good.
There were kids everywhere. Older kids, younger kids, kids who looked nervous, kids who looked bored. Juliet was excited and scared and ready all at the same time.
All of them are my heroes. Their parents too. They are a part of getting a handle on this virus that has changed our lives forever.
When Juliet sat down she told her nurse she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up. She told her all about the cardboard doctor’s kit she had made all by herself, and how she was always taking our temperatures and taking care of us. The nurse smiled and told her all about what the shot was going to do, and why it was so important, that it would protect her from the virus, but also take care of us. “It’s what a doctor would do!” She said, high-fiving Juliet.
I still had to hold her down. That girl does NOT like shots. But she perked up pretty quickly when she realized everyone was cheering and clapping. Those medical professionals were ROCKSTARS.
Her symptoms lasted about 24 hours. They were arm pain, a little scratchy throat, and she had a low-grade fever in the night of about 99. We were told that since she’s had covid before her symptoms might be a little more severe, so we let her stay home from school on Friday… even though she didn’t NEED it, getting some extra cuddles from Daddy is never a bad thing.
Since then, so many of our kindergarteners and school-agers have come showing off their bandaid! When one of them leaves to go to their appointment, everyone else cheers and claps and tells them how brave they are. Kids are so ready to be wonderful to each other, it is such a moving display in a time we need Hope more than ever.
If you have any questions or need help getting your child’s covid vaccine scheduled, please contact us!
Ms. LJ - Our Family Experience with Covid-19
After a year and a half of masks, hand sanitizer, spontaneous quarantines, and vaccinations…
I came home from Summer Camp with the kiddos on a seemingly normal Wednesday August to find my husband masked indoors. He had lost his taste and smell.
A rapid test from the INOVA Urgent Care, of course, came back positive. John was vaccinated and worked from home, but he had a work meeting out in Tyson’s, a small gathering of vaccinated friends, a small outdoor birthday pool party for the kids. They were all activities we thought would be safe before Delta reared its head and dissipated any thoughts of normalcy.
Luckily our townhouse is almost perfectly designed for quarantine. My husband stayed in the basement with little need to come upstairs, and the kids and I spent time on the upper floors with the doors and windows open. We lysoled regularly, never ate in the same space at the same time, and communicated via text so that any travel between floors was telegraphed.
The kids and my first PCR tests were negative. John’s symptoms were really mild, mostly brain fog and the inability to taste. We all felt excellently, if a little stir crazy, and looked forward to the end of quarantine.
On August 10th the kids got their second PCR tests. It had been six days since they had last seen John, and they were totally restless and energized. We went home, played with the sprinkler, baked cookies. Juliet had a fever of 102 about 18 hours later.
Conrad’s 4th birthday was spent apart from his sister, opening gifts in the master bedroom. Juliet’s PCR test hadn’t come back yet, so we could not stick her with John just in case it WASN’T covid, but the pediatrician had told us to keep the kids apart in case it was. Schrodinger’s Covid kept us wearing masks inside, yelling across the hall to make sure everyone had gatorade and snacks. I would never have left Juliet alone, but I wore a mask, rationed my time in between them, and washed my hands. We sent songs and announcements to each other through Alexa and, despite everything, giggled a lot.
Conrad was positive by Friday the 13th, eight days after the last time he had seen John. You would think I would be terrified. Maybe I was. But when the rapid test came back positive, all Conrad did was rush to the bottom of the stairs and scream “JULIET! YOU CAN TOUCH ME NOW! I HAVE COVIC!” She came pelting down the stairs and they laughed and screamed. They both demanded to watch a movie, since it was movie night, and asked if Daddy could come upstairs. I was the last Donnell standing, but I had been cuddling and watching over these little covid kids for days, it was really only a matter of time. So we all went upstairs, put on a movie, and contact sat with each other.
Everyone has to decide for themselves how their family quarantines. For us, with the Delta Variant, I found that quarantine within the house was a total waste of time. I don’t think the kids gave it to each other, and I don’t think they got it through the vents. I think that my mostly asymptomatic husband infected them before we exiled him downstairs, and the rest was history. Would I have gotten a breakthrough infection had I not been breathed on by two sick kids for days? Probably not. Was it worth it to cuddle them and make sure they knew I was there? Absolutely.
We were very fortunate. Despite the Delta Variant being much harsher on kids, my two had mild cases. Fevers, some coughing, a little fatigue. We have been monitoring them for any signs of long covid, and will continue to do so, but we are hoping that really was the worst. Given how some of our symptoms still linger, John and I were especially fortunate to be vaccinated.
I am lucky I had so much support from my work crew, my coworkers, my family members. I had friends drop off things at the door and sing happy birthday to my kids while they stood on the balcony. I got sent pictures from the last few weeks of summer, presents shipped through amazon, and so many messages of love and comfort it chokes me up to think about it. We sang karaoke, ate a lot of icees for our sore throats, and passed the time just being grateful we were together.
What we learned.
YOU ARE CONTAGIOUS EVEN IF YOU AREN’T OBVIOUSLY SICK. We quarantined the second we saw any symptom from John, and the kids had already been infected.
YOU COULD STILL HAVE BEEN INFECTED EVEN IF YOUR FIRST TEST WAS NEGATIVE. My kids were active, happy, and totally separated from their dad. Their first PCR test was negative, but they were sick within the incubation period. TAKE. THE. INCUBATION. PERIOD. SERIOUSLY. Take the quarantine seriously. You don’t know who you’re risking even if you feel fine.
WEAR A MASK AND GET VACCINATED. Breakthrough cases, strong variants, long-term exposure to asymptomatic family members, COVID-19 is not over by a long shot, and you could get sick. Making sure you’re vaccinated so you can stay quarantined at home is best for you and anyone who needs a hospital bed. GET YOUR FLU SHOT TOO. It helps to mitigate flu AND Covid-19 symptoms.
PROTECT YOURSELF. PROTECT YOUR COMMUNITY. PROTECT YOUR FAMILY.
I love you all. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask me, I’ll tell you anything you want to know.
LJ and Fam
Save the Date: Flu Shot Clinic
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30TH: GET YOUR FLU SHOT AND PROTECT YOUR COMMUNITY!
We will be hosting a flu shot clinic right here in the Common Ground Parking Lot!
WE WILL BE SELLING LARGER PIECES OF LEDO’S PIZZA FOR $2.00 EACH FOR ALL FAMILIES WHO WANT TO GET THEIR SHOT AND REWARD THEMSELVES WITH DINNER! We take cash and venmo! Please do exact cash if possible.
SIGN UP TO LET US KNOW YOU'RE COMING, BUT WALK-INS ARE WELCOME. This does not promise you a specific time, this just allows us to know how many people might be coming and helps send you reminders.
Studies show that a flu shot helps prevent serious symptoms and hospitalization with Covid-19
With the Covid-19 pandemic, hospitals are struggling with capacity. With Flu season coming we need to do everything we can to keep our community safe and healthy. This is open to the public, so please encourage everyone you can to come out to get their shot! Even if you get the flu, with the shot the symptoms are mitigated. This clinic is open to everyone ages 4 and up.
The Flu Shots are free with insurance, incredibly cheap without, and you are not required to pay onsite! Just sign up, get the shot, and enjoy the food truck afterward!
HERE IS THE SIGN-UP. You can sign up for any of these:
- Influenza (Flu Shot)
- Shingles
- Pneumonia
- TDAP/Whooping Cough
You can also just show up on the day! Please encourage everyone you know to get the flu shot this year, whether or not they get it with us it is ESSENTIAL to keeping our community healthy!
Your CG Family
CG Life: Making Each Day a Loving One.
Not every day is a good day.
We want them to be. We want our children to be happy and our students to prosper. We want the worst things they experience to be skinned knees and hurt feelings that are forgotten in minutes.
But sometimes people get sick. Sometimes families don’t stay together. Sometimes terrible things happen that you just can’t fix.
When those times come, those days full of tears and uncertainty, we want you to know: You are not alone, and neither are your children.
There is an incredible story from the perspective of a childcare educator that was written a little while ago. The premise is that there is a disaster occurring while she’s with her students. You can read it HERE if you wish. In the story, the teacher was terrified, but she did everything she could to protect these children. She refused to leave them. She let them play outside, fed them a good lunch, let them spill glitter on the floor. She was not sure what was going to happen, but she was going to make sure that these kids spent the day knowing they were cared for, knowing they were loved.
Here at Common Ground, your teachers love your kids. We have known most of them since they were very small. We have hugged them when they cried and laughed ourselves silly watching them grow into little people we are so proud to know.
When the Covid-19 pandemic happened, our teachers did not have any more answers than anyone else. We were uncertain and frightened. Kids came to school asking why they couldn’t visit their families or why they had to wear masks. Even our younger students noticed the world was different, and felt the anxiety from their grown ups.
We didn’t pretend that everything was fine. We answered as honestly as we could and told them we were there for them. We kept their days structured and full of fun. In that way we honored their feelings and still offered the support they needed to feel safe.
Because when tragedy inevitably happens, they can’t be completely shielded from it. But they can be loved through it. They can depend on being cared for on all days, in any weather.
Kids deserve to know that all of their feelings matter. Teaching our children resilience, independence, and strength in the face of darkness requires an acknowledgement and honoring of their emotions. When we try to protect them from negative feelings and reactions, we make them feel as though they have to hide them, that they are somehow shameful. Kids are ALWAYS smarter than we give them credit for, they know when we feel anxious and upset, it’s our responsibility to own our feelings while supporting them. This does not mean relying on them for comfort (although everyone needs to know they have the power to make others feel better. Thanking them can go a long way.) This does not mean putting the responsibility of healing on a five year old’s shoulders or imposing frightening details on them. It’s simply saying that Truth is essential to teaching and adds a layer of trust and respect to the relationship.
We won’t let them wallow either! Positivity and encouragement, a promise that happy days will come, guidance toward healing, that’s all part of it. On days that are hard for you too? Know that your village is there so you can honor your feelings.
The end of that story is fantastic. Just when all hope seems lost, Super Heroes come to save the day! These children in the teacher’s care are their children, and it meant the world to these heroes that they could count on their babies to be safe and loved while they were out there saving the city. YOU ARE YOUR KIDS’ SUPER HEROES. You are their comfort and love, their guide through the world. We are honored that you entrust them to us on all days, good and bad.
From the bottom of our hearts, you are loved.
Your CG Family
Earth Hour: A Moment to Pause and Reflect
Saturday, March 27th at 8:30 PM local time is Earth Hour.
What is Earth Hour?
Traditionally, global skylines have gone dark and millions of individuals have turned off their lights for Earth Hour as a symbolic gesture to their commitment to preserving our planet.
EarthHour.Org encourages people to participate in the hopes to keep nature loss and climate change top of mind. It is that mindfulness and reflection that will encourage people of every generation to stop and reflect on the lovely fragility of this earth that holds the entirety of our past, our present, and our future.
The World Wildlife Post is hosting a meditative hour for peace and mindfulness Here. You can sign up for text reminders Here.
Reflection may be an important step, but it’s just the FIRST step. There are so many things you can do, even as an individual, to change the world for the better.
Educate Yourself
Earth Hour has links on Nature Loss and Biodiversity, Climate Change, and Potential Solutions Here
World Wildlife Fund has several excellent links on what’s at stake, what needs to change, and how we can help Here
Nasa talks about the proof of Climate Change Here
COTAP.org talks about several ways to reduce your Carbon Footprint Here
The Rainforest Alliance offers tips on how to teach your kids about Climate Change Here
One Planet One Future has a video lesson series coming out that you can watch Here
SCRAWL BOOKS has a whole section on Science and Nature for Kids Here
Sign Petitions and Donate
Earth Hour has its pledge for educating others and finding greener ways to live Here
World Wildlife Fund has a ton of excellent petitions to go through Here and several ways to donate Here
GLOBAL DEAL FOR NATURE PETITION HERE
TWENTY GLOBAL NON-PROFITS PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT YOU CAN DONATE TO HERE
#GiveFundsGiveTime is a motto we came up with during our Giving Tuesday event last year, but we find that the concept behind it is one we want to keep top of mind ALL year long. If you don’t have the funds to donate, spend time educating yourself and others! Every time you pass on knowledge to someone, they pass it on to someone else. These good deeds ripple out. You may be one person, but one person spreading their love can change the world.
With Love,
Ms. LJ and your Common Ground Family
Covid-19 Vaccine: First Two Days
Hurray! It’s Vaccine Day!
What to Expect — Vaccine Reactions
That’s what we (Ms. Liz and Ms. LJ) have been cheering all day!
When we saw that Preschool Teachers would be eligible for the vaccine starting this week, we decided we wanted to be leading the pack and documenting our journey all the way. We talk a lot about this in our live video right after our first vaccination, but here is a quick overview.
We hope that by getting the vaccine as soon as we could, being open and honest about our experiences, providing peer reviewed research, and encouraging everyone to talk to their PERSONAL physician, we can help alleviate any fears and dispel any misinformation relating to the Covid-19 vaccine.
When we arrived at INOVA Fairfax at 8:38 AM there was a long, appropriately spaced line! It wound all the way to the parking-lot. But the weather was good and spirits were high!
One of the things LJ was anxious about was not the vaccine at all, but the fact that we had to go to a hospital. We were concerned about being contacts of all of those people, masks or no. But the line moved at an even clip and, in no time at all, we were waiting with our little registration clip boards for a nurse.
Some quick thoughts before THE BIG MOMENT:
Everyone on the staff was excited we were there. They were encouraging and helpful. We had our IDs, proof that we worked at a school and weren’t “jumping the line,” and our appointment confirmation sheets, but they took us at our word. We honestly think that they are just trying to make sure everyone gets it as easily and painlessly as possible, which was encouraging. This is something that should be available to as many people as possible as quickly as possible, and Fairfax County is a medical powerhouse.
There were at least fifty stations with health professionals standing by. Our nurses were friendly, warm, ready to answer any questions.
WE BOTH GOT THE PFIZER VACCINE. Fact Sheet for Pfizer Vaccine
The stick was surprisingly not painful! Giving blood, the TDAP, Flu shots, PNEUMAVAX, there have been far worse shots in our experience. They gave us a card so that we could schedule our second vaccination in within 21 days. We were moved into an area stationed with health professionals where we could sit between 15-30 minutes to see if we had any immediate reactions, either from the vaccine or, more likely, a Vasovagle Syncope reaction from being stuck with a needle.
(What is Vasovagle Syncope? READ MORE HERE)
In the afternoon, Ms. Victoria, our fantastic OWLS teacher, also got her vaccine! Hurray! We felt empowered, like we could finally, FINALLY do something about this pandemic. This was a concrete step in the right direction, a small action to say “we are here to support our health, our families, and our community!” We finished up the day with a Kindergarten Interest Meeting all about our beliefs in play-based curriculums and what our Common Ground Kindergarten would look like this coming September!
Whether it was the excitement, the long day, or the vaccine, all of us went to bed early, feeling quite tired and a little warm.
Ms. LJ felt a bit itchy around the site, and an immediate tightness in the shoulder that lasted until Saturday. It was never any worse than what you would experience with the TDAP shot. She also went to bed early both Thursday and Friday night.
Ms. Liz was dizzy at first, a regular reaction for her to most vaccines, and her shoulder also felt tight as the day went on.
Ms. Victoria had pain in her shoulder, and for the first three days she had fatigue, flu-like symptoms, and occasional hot flashes.
Mr. Josh had the shoulder pain and flu like symptoms the next day, but two days out already feels better.
We are excited to announce that Ms. Adella, Ms. Mimi, Ms. Simi, Ms. Pinky, Ms. Vanessa, Ms. Petty, Ms. Janette, and Ms. Kisha will all be getting their first doses over the next two weeks as well!
Common Ground: Winter Activities and Winter Attire
We are looking at A LOT OF snowy days coming up this winter!!
And we cannot wait for all of our outdoor winter adventures. There will be some days that are too wet or too cold! We will have little movie and popcorn parties and days where we do art while the weather outside is frightful.
But more and more studies are coming out showing how essential outdoor play is to our kids, and how the loss of consistent outdoor playtime is absolutely detrimental to their holistic well being. Kids are meant to play. They are meant to get dirty and windswept. They are meant to eat snow, trip in their swishy snow-pants, to fall down and find they can get back up again.
Play to Learn, Learn to Play Examples:
1. Building an Igloo with Friends: Promotes core strength, cooperation, simple machines and tools usage, basic engineering, imaginative play, patience, sensory endurance
2. Snow Walking and Rolling down Hills: Inner Ear training, strength training, leg and inner core training, aerobic workout
3. Snow Writing: Using natural tools to promote fine-motor practice. You can also use markers to do color work.
4. Winter Walk: Aerobic Exercise, Seasonal Cycles and Lessons, basic biology flora/fauna studies
Our preschool teachers are especially focused on “Kindergarten-Readiness.” This involves working on letters and numbers and pre-writing skills, but it also involves physical health and social-emotional independence. Outdoor lessons and games help cement fine-motor and gross-motor work. Operating in varying weather helps develop their sensory resilience which is essential for increasing attention span inside and outside of the classroom.
What do we always say? NO BAD WEATHER. ONLY BAD CLOTHES!
Is you child really set up for this winter? Here are items that we have on our student supply list that we highly recommend purchasing as soon as possible:
Kids Snow Boots — Snow comes in all different shapes and sizes, but it is always cold and always wet. An insulated, water resistant boot that goes high up a child’s leg will keep them warm and dry while they play. PLEASE NOTE: While rainbows will keep a child’s foot dry, they are not properly insulated and do not offer any protection against the cold. Snow boots are most appropriate in cold, wintry weather.
Snow Gloves — Snow gloves protect against the cold, but they are also water resistant. Cotton gloves, while warm, will become wet very quickly and will do more harm than good when trying to keep your child’s hands warm. Please make sure they have snow gloves available.
Snow Pants — Snow pants are key to making sure a child is warm and happy for a longer period of time. The water resistant fabric makes sure that the pants they wear to school stay as dry as possible so fewer clothing changes are required.
Thermal Underwear — We recommend these over sweat suits because they keep a child warm without overheating them or keeping their sweat in. These are perfect for layering winter clothes and helping a child regulate their body temperature while they play rough outside.
We will keep you all posted on our winter lessons and activities! Stay safe!!
— LJ and the Common Ground Crew
Holiday Events: Creative Tradition Twists and New Classics
The holidays are a time of giving. It is a time when we reflect on other’s needs, how we can show them we value their happiness over our own.
This holiday season we are encouraging you to find creative and lovely ways to celebrate that protects the health and happiness of those around you.
Is it hard? Absolutely. When we are tired and overstressed from a long and anxiety-inducing year, it can be hard to be creative and come up with new and exciting traditions.
Is it disappointing? In some very real ways! Not being able to see our grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. all around the same table is disappointing. I miss the big family rip-a-thon where we all pass over presents, knocking over each others’ hot ciders and laughing at “A Christmas Story” for the 100th time. I miss being crammed on Grandma’s old brown couch, that same green, orange, and brown quilt that is in every grandma’s house thrown over our legs. We all have dinners we are trying to justify, trips we are trying to make work, events that seem un-skippable.
Is it worth it? Yes.
Yes it is. It is worth protecting your loved ones every time. It is worth losing one year to have another decade or three of holidays ahead of you.
On December 9th the governor of Virginia implored his citizens to “use common sense” when considering any activity outside of the house.
While we do not have a policy, the health department recommends that you quarantine for 14 days both before and after travel.
That is Five Weeks away from daycare for your kids for one week of travel. There are much better ways to celebrate!
Need some ideas?
We are happy to share, and we ask that you share your ideas too! But here are some suggestions we have come up with here at Common Ground.
1. Ugly Ornament Exchange — Ship the silliest, whackiest, ugliest ornament to each other you can find. Make them personal, make them heartwarming, make them ridiculous. Then pick a day when you all sign onto Zoom and share them with each other! Vote on the absolute winner of the contest, and then the giver can REVEAL themselves the victor!
2. Group Decoration — If you’re local, pick someone’s front yard to have a tree. bring ornaments to decorate that tree together. Have the person who’s house it is post up photos as more and more ornaments get added.
3. Hanukkah Lights — Each night have someone else light the candles and lead the prayer over zoom! If you live close by you can also have one person each night make a dish for everyone and drop it off. If you don’t, or if this isn’t practical, you can also just show what you’re eating.
4. Dreidel Games — you can definitely play dreidel over zoom, discord, or anything where you can see each other!
5. Disney + has a feature where you can watch together called GroupWatch where you can all stream together at the same time! Watch your favorite holiday movies together.
6. Drive Through Holiday light shows have always been a huge tradition in my family. Check out THIS LINK for all of the safe drive-through light shows near you! You can also drive through your neighborhood with popcorn, a happy audiobook, or holiday music playing while you admire the lights.
7. Writing Letters — Let’s revive an old tradition as a new tradition. Handwriting Letters with drawings and words of affirmation has always been a way to show love from far away. There has never been a more appropriate time to do this. Make sure to pick up unique and lovely address labels from our MABELS LABELS fundraiser!!
8. Group Activity — My friends and I do the same themed party every year. This year we prepared goodie bags with paper plates and cups, stickers, party snacks, and party drinks all on theme for that party, dropped them off at everyone’s houses, and we will all be signing into discord together to be “together” anyway! It took a couple of hours of driving, but it is worth it to see everyone’s smiles.
9. Group Album — Create an online album where you all share your pictures and videos with each other. You can send each other video notes, share your #BakingFails, show off your decorations, and sing carols at various volumes. At the end of the year you can make a montage to show how you were all really together, even apart.
PLEASE share some of your new traditions and twists on old favorites! We are happy to post them all. Any way we can help make this holiday season amazing, we are willing to try!
Much Much Love,
LJ and the Common Ground Family
SAVE THE DATE: Stay Home with Santa!
Santa Claus has spoken!
He wants all of the good girls and boys around the globe to stay home and protect their families!
MALLS ARE OUT. SOCIAL DISTANCING IS IN.
You are in luck though, because ol' Saint Nick has been working with us here at Common Ground. With a lot of magic and a little technology, we have created our Zoom-hosted holiday event:
STAY HOME WITH SANTA! Register here: https://www.commongroundchildcare.org/santa
What: A half hour event where kids will get to meet Santa with ten other families! While the kids in the main room get to build a craft, sing holiday songs, and hear updates from the North Pole, kids will go into a break out room one at a time to get a little chat with Santa by themselves.
When: December 12th, starting at 8:30 AM (half hour increments)
Where: YOUR LIVING ROOM! Once you are signed up, we will send you a ZOOM link for your reservation!
How: Santa's Elves will do drop offs of a goodie bag with treats, a craft, and a SPECIAL COMMON GROUND LIMITED EDITION HOLIDAY ORNAMENT. Once you are in the zoom room, your kids will be able to interact with everyone and do the craft together. We will explain it all day of as well!
THIS IS A COMMUNITY-WIDE EVENT! We encourage you to invite your family, friends, and neighbors to join us. We want as many families as we can to help flatten the curve and protect our loved ones.
Tickets will go on sale December 2nd, add this to your calendar so you don’t miss out!
If there are two or more children in one household: Sign up for one zoom ticket and do add-ons for the rest of them! That way everyone gets a goodie bag.
Tickets: $25.00 +$10.00 for each additional bag in the household
Ornaments: $10.00 a piece
We know traditions are kind of out the window this year. But that doesn't mean that this Holiday season can't be just as special, just as wonderful, just as miraculous.
See you on the big screen!
LJ
Thanksgiving, a kids perspective
As an adult, it’s easy to get caught up in the ideas we have about holidays. But what do the kids think?
We asked a few of our school aged kids to weigh in on Thanksgiving.
What is Thanksgiving?
D: Giving thanks about all the things. Being kind to your teacher and your family.
J: Is a time of year where you tell everyone what you’re thankful for.
C: To give you something that you give to other people
H: It’s a weekend.
E: It’s a holiday to celebrate thanks.
What should you do on Thanksgiving?
D: Go to sleep for the whole entire day, except for the Thanksgiving part - giving thanks to all your family and friends, except in the coronavirus, not your friends.
J: Eat turkey and sing songs.
C: Eat turkey.
H: Eat nothing and have dessert and have pickled pie.
E: Be thankful for things, instead of buying more things. Like be thankful for the stuff that you already have - that you have family members, especially when they bring you candy and stuffies.
What do you eat on Thanksgiving?
D: Turkey and pie and nothing else.
J: Turkey!
C: Turkey, but I don’t wanna eat turkey, I want blueberries and strawberries.
H: I eat turkey and mashed potatoes, but no gravy.
E: Turkey and mashed potatoes, I think my family makes pie, maybe?
Thanksgiving, Keep it Small
Yesterday, I found myself listening to “The Daily'“ podcast from The New York Times during my lunch break.
I’ve been a daily listener to “The Daily” since the beginning of February. I had just purchased my new car, and with Apple CarPlay on board, I traded in my usual pop music for a Spotify curated playlist called “Your Daily Drive” that included music, a one minute stock market podcast, “The Daily”, “The Journal”, and “NPR News Now.”
Call it luck or coincidence, or maybe ‘the universe’ just had my back, or possibly the fact that its linked to my Facebook account means that they’re privy to my usage data - but it was just at that time that I was becoming more interested in what was happening in the world, reading more news stories and paying more attention to current events that Spotify suggested I trade my running podcasts for current event ones.
Yesterday’s episode was a good one! Michael had on reporter, Carl Zimmer, to talk about the Pfizer Vaccine breakthrough (you can take a listen here). But it wasn’t the vaccine mechanism and preparations, which frankly, “The Journal” - another podcast that I enjoy daily, had filled me in on the day before that struck me as so interesting. It was the conversation between Michael and Carl about Thanksgiving.
It starts with Michael saying “…I have to imagine this is an especially dangerous moment in the pandemic.”
Carl’s response begins with the word “Absolutely.” He goes on to share that he is worried about all the travel that could happen, the mixing of households, and the sinister mechanism of the virus itself - that you can feel well, attend a family event, and then discover that you were the person who infected your entire family.
Michael goes on to ask a very tough question, joking that Carl should channel is inner Donald G. McNeil Jr.:
Should people avoid traveling to see their families for Thanksgiving…all the big holidays that are happening this fall and winter?
Carl side steps giving a ‘McNeil’ answer and just says:
I’m not taking my family to see my parents for Thanksgiving.
Michael and Carl are in agreement on that - neither is going to travel the 2 and 3 hours to see their parents this holiday. They both agreed that neither feel that it is safe, but neither came out and told listeners that they shouldn’t travel this holiday season themselves.
This is what resonated with me - I know, it’s a pretty long background to get to this point. While I know that each family has their own risk tolerance, and I respect that there are differing opinions on what is viewed as ‘safe’ - I’m certain that every health expert would agree that traveling to or hosting a family gathering this holiday with people who you do not interact with regularly, is a bad idea.
Health experts are dancing around the issue because they know it’s a hard pill to swallow. They are offering advice for people who plan on ignoring the advice to stay home this Thanksgiving holiday:practice social distancing, wear masks, and move festivities outdoors.
But let’s face it - when you’re celebrating and enjoying time with people, especially if there is alcohol involved, you forget to be as strict as you’d like to be. Just look at how well we have been able to enforce social distance at Common Ground. Yes, each class is able to distance from one another, but within the classes - it’s almost impossible. In my opinion, if they’re outside and with their own pods, the kids are safe enough. It takes something away from the social value of being at the center if we are too hard on them when they are being so careful.
So, while we don’t have a policy on travel like some private schools/centers (yes, there is a school in Reston that requires a 14 day quarantine if you travel 2 hours away from the Northern Virginia area!), I’d like to point to our Community Pledge. Having your child in any center or school, or wanting them to return to school in person, is strongly in “Medium Risk” category. Everything else you do should fall to the left of that orange dot. This virus is not taking a break for Thanksgiving.
That doesn’t mean that this Holiday season can’t be fun! I think there are a lot of us out there focused on what we are “missing out on” this year. Certainly, things are not the same as they have been in years past, but it doesn’t mean that new traditions can’t be just as special. How many times, after spending the bulk of your holiday season traveling, have you wished for a fun weekend at home? Here’s your year to do it!
Have a ‘Staycation’ and treat the long holiday weekend as a trip! Only this time, you don’t waste any of your vacation hours on travel.
If you still want to get away, book a cabin or airbnb for just your family. Long story long, there are a lot of ways that we can celebrate the holidays and keep our community (and your families!) safe from COVID.
With that, I’ll leave you with a quote from Carl at the end of the podcast episode:
what we do now, will make a big difference in who lives and dies this winter
Stay home. Stay safe.
-Miss Liz
Unplugged Life: No Bad Weather, Only Bad Clothes
Our Rising Stars this week took a nature walk and, under the cloudless blue November sky, they read “Corduroy” in an open field. Our teachers Ms. Petty and Ms. Vanessa heavily utilize the outdoors in their carefully constructed curriculum (this week’s theme is Friendship!) to ensure that the children are free to learn and play while adhering to our COVID-19 safety measures.
While we have been adhering to health code, however, we find that children who get plenty of sunshine and activity are also better listeners with longer attention-spans. We are encouraging our teachers and our parents to utilize the outdoors as much as possible in all of their activities year-round, whether or not there is a pandemic.
“But Ms. LJ, the weather has been fabulous!” you say, “How can we take our children out all the time when it gets cold and dark and wet?”
Repeat after me, because I forget too: THERE’S NO BAD WEATHER, ONLY BAD CLOTHES!
There’s no bad weather! Okay, watch out for tornadoes and hurricanes… and if there is lightning RIGHT next to you definitely find a safe space ( Go HERE For instructions on how to calculate the distance between you and a lightning strike) but barring exceptional highs and lows, most weather is perfectly fine for kids and adults of all ages!
In fact, occupational therapists encourage parents to take children outside in all seasons to help brain development and mitigate sensory issues that are on the rise in children.
For more on outside play and holistic healthy development, check out this CoordiKids Article
Need some tips for Good “Bad Weather” Gear?
Our Supply Lists include clothing pieces suitable for battling the elements.
TIPS
When it comes to jackets, make sure you have a LIGHT JACKET , a HEAVY JACKET, and a RAIN JACKET. We recommend with any raincoats you buy that they are knee-length! The bigger, the better, to protect them when they splash.
Crocs make excellent shoes, especially if you are planning to get wet or muddy. They are “feet-shaped” which provides extra comfort to growing kids. Here are some RAIN BOOTS they make, along with their classic style.
Extremities get cold first! Make sure you have appropriate gloves for the weather. If they are too heavy or unwieldy, your child may not want to use them and it makes outside a frustrating experience. If it is snowing or wet outside than cloth gloves may not be enough, and the adventure will be short and painful on little fingers! Check the weather, and tuck the right pair in your kids’ coat pockets!
When it is really hot and bright outside, make sure your kids clothes are lightweight and UV-protected! SUNHATS are perfect for littles to protect their sensitive eyes while outside so that they stay focused and happy! SUNSHIRTS and SUNSUITS are key for needed extra (and adorable) protection.
OUR BIGGEST, MOST IMPORTANT TIP!!!
All of our teachers dress for the weather. It helps them stay comfortable and fun and safe. Kids can tell what their adults are feeling, and if you are excited and ready for adventure, no matter what the weather report says? They will be too. SO PUT ON YOUR RAINBOOTS AND GO STOMP IN SOME PUDDLES!! The mud washes away. Memories build a bright future.
— MS LJ