Note from the Director
We hope everyone had a nice time off. The children are doing a great job of getting back into the routine. Thanks for all of the lovely gifts and all of your support! We appreciate you all.
Remember that parent teacher conferences will be coming soon! Your child’s teacher will be letting you know in advance when this will be happening or please feel free to ask questions about your child’s development at any time.
Friendly reminders: PLEASE bring back bedding that has been borrowed from KTK after washing on Fridays, so others have something available when they forget their bed sheets. Thank you! Also, although it doesn’t look like we’re getting snow any time soon, please bring winter clothing for outside. Especially boots!
Don’t forget to take advantage of our $25 reimbursement on tuition when you refer a friend or family member to Koala-T-Kare. Also, remember to check the back of the newsletter for specials up in New Self Renewal Center! Have a great January!
Sue Schneider
Koala-T-Kare Director
Feathered Friends Update
Baby Chicks
Welcome to 2012! Our Baby Chicks are growing so much. Ella is so close to crawling, and it is such a joy watching her practice. Will and Jamie are both starting to really enjoy “playing” with each other and their other friends. Zoe is starting to sit up unassisted. We are going to be learning more about each individual “chick” by doing an “All About Me” month, where they can share pictures of family, and their favorite books or songs.
Penguins
Hello Penguin parents, Welcome to 2012. We would like to take the time to thank you all for your kindness and generosity at Christmas. We appreciate all the gifts, goodies and (of course) pictures of the kiddos.The calendar says it’s January but we have definitely been spoiled so far. I’m sure we are in for some snow and frigid cold Wisconsin weather soon. This means we will need warm coats and especially boots. The playground gets quite wet and we have been getting outside as much as possible .The new table and chairs are a hit with our older penguins. They are enjoying the independence it gives them to be at their level and to eat with utensils and dishes.
Parrots
Welcome 2012. We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We would like to say thank you for all of the great gifts. This month our themes will be hibernation, mittens, teddy bears, snow, and Groundhog’s Day. We would also like to start trying the big kid potties. We are working on putting together pictures for the kids to look at during the day, so if you could please bring in a couple of pictures of your family that would be great. Let’s hope it stays nice enough to keep going outside, so keep sending in your child’s warm clothes.
Peacocks
Happy New Year from the Peacocks! We have really been enjoying getting to play outside a lot this winter, though some of are hoping for snow soon so we can get to work on a snowman. We are all getting really good at putting on our own snowpants and coats, too. Please remember to make sure we have all of our winter gear at school, since we do get outside every day that the windchill is above zero degrees. It is also really helpful to our teachers if our outside stuff (especially boots) is labeled with our names or initials, since we are still working on getting our stuff back to our own cubbies. If your child is missing any articles of clothing, please check the area above our cubbies. We’re getting quite the collection up there. Miss Sara and Connor have been starting to work with the Owlets a lot lately so that Connor can start facing new challenges and so Miss Linda can help out in Preschool more. Our themes for January include dinosaurs, winter, The Three Bears, and The Three Pigs.
Owlets
Happy New Year from the Owlets! We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed spending time with their families. This month the Owlets will be learning all about winter, weather, Eric Carle, and the five senses. Ms. Linda has also joined the Owls this month in preparation for Caren’s maternity leave. We will be visiting her as we proceed to do different activities with them. The Owlets are continuing to get used to the Owls’ routine as they join them next month. As the weather continues getting colder, remember to keep bringing those snow pants and boots (even if there is no snow yet) to stay warm outside!
Owls
With all of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season now behind us, we are getting back to a more “normal” routine in our classroom. The Owls have been enjoying more opportunities for Center Time and choosing activities to engage in with another child. We are continuing to work on being kind to others and making sure no one feels excluded or left out. The children have been really having fun in our special daily classes (ie., Spanish, Fitness, Cooking). We will soon have a new and exciting KTK website, on which we will be able to post pictures and blurbs about the happenings of the day! Watch for further information and updates! While Ms. Caren is out on maternity leave, Ms. Linda will be co-teaching with Ms. Becky. She has been working with us in the preschool room for the past week or so in order to ease the kids into the switch. We would like to re-wish Mitchell and Sean a Happy Birthday! They both turned 4 this month! Our upcoming themes are Weather, Eric Carle and 5 Senses.
Out of the Mouths of Babes
Miss Sara asked Mr. Charley if there was anything he needed before she was about to go on break. One of the little boys sitting at the table said to Mr. Charley, “What did Miss Sara break?”
One of the little boys in the Peacock room was playing with boxes shortly before his mom came to pick him up. When she arrived he said to his mom, “We have to go to the box store to get some boxes because we don’t have any at home.”
Four of the children were in the rocking boat when one of the little girls stated, “My mom will be right here. I just texted her.”
Mr. Charley asked one of the boys in his class where he was going for vacation and he replied, “The mall.”
When eating dinosaur themed cupcakes for a child’s birthday, the kids were all talking about what they know about dinosaurs. “Dinosaurs are gone now because they stink.”
More than a quarter of the kids who are allergic to peanuts are also allergic to tree nuts, such as almonds and walnuts, according to a study by researchers at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.
The study, perhaps the most comprehensive concerning the rising incidence of peanut and tree nut allergies, also found that the average age of initial discovery for the allergies is age two for peanuts and age five for tree nuts. And the study, which was published in the July electronic edition of the journal Pediatrics, shows that 89% of the allergic reactions occur on the skin, 52% occur in the respiratory system and 32% occur in the gastrointestinal tract.
Of the 122 children who were studied by the research team, 68 reacted only to peanuts – which are legumes and not nuts – and 20 only to the tree nuts. And while only about a quarter of the kids were allergic to both, doctors believe parents should play it safe – the allergies can, in extreme cases, result in death.
“Although it may be overly restrictive, we and others advise complete avoidance of TN (tree nuts) by PN (peanut)-allergic children, except for any particular TN that was tolerated previously,” the researchers write. “Reasons for this recommendation include the concern that TN sensitivity appears to be severe and lifelong, that there is a potential for cross-contamination of TN products with PN and, finally, that it often is difficult to identify specific nuts in various processed foods.”
Indeed, about 55% of the kids allergic to peanuts and 30% of those allergic to tree nuts experienced accidental exposure to them. Most commonly, those accidents occurred at schools, and were a result of either sharing food with friends, hidden ingredients in their own food, cross-contamination with food products containing the allergen, and school craft projects using peanut butter. The researchers say accidental exposure also occurs at home and in restaurants – particularly Asian restaurants in which peanut oil is sometimes used as a frying agent.
About 83% of the kids with either peanut or tree nut allergies were breastfed – above the average of about two-thirds of children. The researchers also found that more than 90% of the breastfeeding mothers ate either peanuts or tree nuts during the lactation process.
So far, there is little medical science has been able to do for the people with the allergies; immunizations developed thus far have side effects more dangerous than the allergies themselves. “The only current treatment for these allergies is strict avoidance of the offending food and prompt recognition and treatment of reactions,” the researchers write. “These findings emphasize the need for education of families, patients, caregivers and health care workers in PN and TN avoidance and treatment of reactions.”
