MARKING TIME

This is the time of year when milestones occur.  Graduation ceremonies take place, children advance to the next school grade and couples prepare for June weddings.  We mark time with these events, a moment to stop and marvel at how quickly we come to these milestones in life.

This photo shows Ceci at her end-of-year dance recital.  She received a trophy for completing three years of dance.

It’s necessary to fully take in these magical moments and treasure them.

Peter sang a song about a fish at his end-of-year program.  A large-screen photo album displayed images showing how small Peter looked at the beginning of the school year.

Please pardon me for being so sentimental today.

Katherine Generaux, Community Inclusion

It’s common knowledge that women outlive men, on average, by several years, but new information from the US Census indicates the gap is shrinking. During the years between 1989 and 2009, life expectancy for men in the United States grew by 4.6 years, while American women increased their longevity by 2.7 years. Life expectancy in 2009 ranged from 66.1 to 81.6 years for men and 73.5 to 86.0 years for women.


Some of the reasons offered for the narrowing gap are:

• Fewer men are smoking these days

• Women are more likely to become obese

• Men are more vigilant about seeking care for cardiovascular issues

• Women typically demonstrate fewer warning signs of cardiovascular distress

• Men are also more likely to seek treatment for high blood pressure and high cholesterol

The county in America that reports the highest longevity for men is Marin County, just north of San Francisco.

This is my dad on his 90^th birthday.  He lives in Sonoma County, just north of Marin.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/05/27/2330421/longevity-gender-gap-narrowing.html

Katherine Generaux, Community Inclusion Director

The magic of play dough

I often wonder what the magic of play dough is.  This little guy in the video has not yet began to use words.  However, by using play dough; we are unlocking his desire to speak.  I began my session by reading books, building blocks, playing with balls, singing, and generally performing, etc.  It was only when I gave him play dough and started describing what he was doing that he started saying words.  Works almost every time! 

           hmm.....  I wonder why? 

WHAT”S IN A NAME?

According to the Social Security Administration, the following were the most popular baby names in 2011.


Rank   Male name    Female name


1         Jacob               Sophia

2         Mason             Isabella

3         William             Emma

4         Jayde               Olivia

5        Noah                Ava

6        Michael            Emily

7        Ethan               Abigail

8        Alexander        Madison

9        Aiden               Mia

10      Daniel              Chloe

It’s interesting to note that four of the most popular boy’s names last year end in “n” and six of the most popular girl’s names end in “a”.

According to the same agency, the following names are rapidly gaining popularity and will probably be found on the preceding list in years to come:

Rank    Male name     Female name

1           Brantley             Briella

2           Iker                   Angelique

3           Maximiliano       Aria

4           Zaiden               Mila

5           Kamden            Elsie

6           Barrett              Nylah

7          Archer               Raelynn

8          Declan               Brynlee

9          Atticus               Olive

10        Nico                  June

The year I was born, the most popular names were: James, Robert, John, Linda Mary and Patricia. If you’d like to know the most popular names during the year you were born, go to:


http://www.babycenter.com/popularBabyNames.htm?year

Katherine Generaux, Community Inclusion Director

Independent Two Year Olds!!

Tanner is so proud of his independently built train station!

Cooper is having a blast scooping his own food!!

If a two year old can do it any age child can serve themselves!!

Deborah K. Howell, Assistant Director

WHAT THE CHILDREN LEARNED FROM A HORSE

One sporting event my entire family enjoys watching is the Kentucky Derby. We enjoy the 138-year-long tradition of the “run for the roses”, the background stories about the jockeys and the pageantry, but mostly what we love about the Kentucky Derby is watching those horses run.

We wagered a friendly family bet that whosevers horse finished first would have the first slice of the Derby pie I had baked earlier.

Some of us fell immediately in love with Hansen, the only white horse in the race, so we placed our hopes on him.

When the race started, everyone in our living room was on their feet, chanting for their choice to pull out in front. Hansen remained in the front group through the first three turns on the track. This made us so excited and LOUD that our Scottish terrier quietly retreated to the bedroom.

Then, out of nowhere, a horse named I’ll Have Another overtakes the leaders and finishes first.

We watched the replay and saw that I’ll Have Another started out of the gate in the back of the pack but steadily worked his way to the front.

“He was so far back. Why didn’t just give up?” asked four-year-old Peter.

“He probably wasn’t paying that much attention to the other horses, Peter. He was probably just running his own race.”

“Yeah”, I heard Peter say under his breath as he turned to watch another replay of the race.

Katherine Generaux, Community Inclusion Director

What an Awesome Special Needs Mini-Conference!

Wow, what an awesome and busy weekend for PIL!

Partners In Learning was set up at the annual Relay for Life at the Rowan county Fairgrounds from Friday afternoon all the way until Saturday morning! Our team, "Partners For A Cure," walked 233 laps in 24 hours! One of our NC Pre-K parents, Nerissa, walked (and danced) 60 laps non-stop!!! Thank you to ALL who helped in any way! We couldn't have done it without you! Much love to Cindy, Laura, Beverly and Megan and many others.

Our very own Cindy Webb and little Miss. E!

Saturday morning we had our annual Special Needs Mini-Conference at Catawba College. 

We had lots of workshop sessions for parents and educators to come to! Some of the sessions included:
-  Beyond the ABCs and 123s: Effective Early Education for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Managing Mealtimes and Picky Eaters
- Sign Language 101
- Managing Stress in a Marriage When You Have a Child with Special Needs
- Sibling Affects
- Understanding the System
- Another Piece to the Puzzle
- Management of Tantrum Problems in All Children

We also had tons of local vendors and information booths. Some of these booths included:
- ECAC
- PBH
- EC Department for Rowan-Public Schools
- Smart Start Rowan
- Head Start
- Creative Teaching Aids
- Bayada Nursing
- Juice Plus
- Autism Society of NC and Cabarrus county
- Madison Post Jewelry
- Thirty One Gifts
- Scentsy
- Mary Kay
- Grace Farms
- One Step at a Time
- Family Support Network
- CDSA

Susan and Patrick King

And finally, we had an AMAZING keynote session! Susan King and her son, Patrick, spoke to an auditorium full of teary-eyed listeners. Their stories were incredible and gave everyone the inspiration to continue through with any difficult journies that they may be facing!

To read more about the King family, read their Salisbury Post article, http://www.salisburypost.com/News/042912-patrick-king-from-autism-to-happily-ever-after-qcd

This year was absolutely the best year yet with our mini-conference! Everyone involved did such a fantastic job! Thank you to all of the speakers, vendors, participants, and PIL staff members!

If you missed this year's conference, keep following us for next year's date! We hope to blow this year out of the water during our next mini-conference!

Katherine Zink
Community Inclusion Assistant

Bringing Books Alive!!

Partners In Learning hosted Milk and Bookies last Saturday. Milk and Bookies is a book donation program and the books received will go to families without many books in their home. Mrs. Jane from the Rowan Public Library wowed the children with her ability to bring a book alive.

She is building the story In The Deep Blue Sea by adding on props represented in the book. 

 

There were children present ages 3-12 and they all were participating and captivated by the "add on" story. Next time you read a book to your child, think of neat ways to make it memorable. My children are still able to recite the book because of it's repetitive nature and Ms. Jane's presentation!!

Deborah K. Howell, Assistant Director

NO MEDIA OR ELECTRONICS FOR A WEEK! WHAT! IMPOSSIBLE!

I was in Hendersonville this past weekend with the family, and my grandchildren insisted on spending their Saturday afternoon at Hands On, a child’s museum where play and discovery are the major objectives.  It was there that I learned about the challenge of putting away all electronics for an entire week. 

Apparently Dancing Bear Toys, another downtown Hendersonville merchant, was first to issue the challenge.

   

    

Would you be able to give up your reality shows, smart phones and computers for a week?  Just think how different your week would be-----reading,   playing cards or board games with the family or visiting a local park----.  I’m up for the challenge---anybody else?

Katherine Generaux, Community Inclusion Director