Dear Families and Friends of the Medford Family Network (MFN),
Here is your weekly list of events for the week beginning February 3. We still have openings for all of our Parent Education Workshops. Registration is required and limited child care is available. Please see the Parent Education programs below for more information!
If you have any other upcoming family events you would like us to consider that begin the week of Friday, February 10, please let us know by 5 o’clock on Wednesday, February 8. We are looking for events that are low cost or free, and local.
Sincerely,
Marie Cassidy
Family Support Coordinator
Valentine FUN’raiser!
Saturday, February 11, 2012
1:00 – 3:00 pm
McGlynn Middle School
Ice Cream Social Valentine FUN’raiser to support the Medford Family Network!
$5/person or $20/family
Get tickets at the door or online at www.medfordfamilies.org where you can also become a Friends of the MFN member.
* Ice cream, frozen custard and sorbet by Chilly Cow!
* Cookie decorating by Whole Foods Market!
* Coffee donated by Mystic Coffee Roasters!
Karen K & the Jitterbugs Performance!
Spotlight Productions – school-based dramatic program!
African Dance with Alice Heller!
Valentine Making and Face Painting!
Games and baked goods!
Drop-in Playtime Schedule at the Family Center
Parents, Caregivers, Guardians are welcome!
February 2012
Monday
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm (closed 2/21)
Tuesday
No Drop-ins (see below for 2/22)
Wednesday
9:00 am – 5:00 pm (2/1 only)
12:00 pm – 5:00 pm (see below for 2/23)
Thursday
9:00 am – 5:00 pm (2/2 only)
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm (see below for 2/24)
Friday
9:00 am – 5:00 pm (2/3 only)
11:30 am – 5:00 pm (see below for 2/25)
February Vacation
Monday, February 21
Closed
Tuesday, February 22
9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Wednesday, February 23
9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Thursday, February 24
9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Friday, February 25
9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Drop-in playtime at the Family Center is a wonderful opportunity to play and interact with your child. Come down and enjoy the company of other families with young children while playing in our large playroom. Books, puzzles, toys, blocks, and more await you and your child!
Every family is expected to clean up and put away what they used before they leave. Make it a game for the children. They love special jobs! You are welcome to take a book from the “Clean Up Kids” crate before you leave.
MFN Family Center, 489 Winthrop Street, Medford, MA 02155. Contact us at (781) 393-2106 with any questions!
Super Saturdays in January at the Medford Family Network
Play with a Purpose with Bernadette!
(for ages 3 to 6)
Facilitated by Bernadette Kennedy
5 Saturdays;
February 4, 18; March 3, 17, 31
9:30 – 11:30 am
Join Bernadette for a hands-on parent/child interactive Play and Learn playgroup that includes stories, fun, free play, circle time, music, gross motor play, and more! Each week, we will offer a new set of learning experiences and literacy-based activities for children who are able to be part of and interact with the group for at least 15 minutes during circle time. Sign up for as many Saturdays as you can attend.
Registration is required! Please call the Medford Family Network at (781) 393-2106 to register and for transportation options.
Parent Engagement Opportunities!
Looking for any easy way to volunteer?
Be a sweetheart and cook up a treat for our Cake Walk at the Valentine FUN’raiser on Saturday, February 11, 2012. Please call the Friends of the MFN’s President, Debbie Steiner-Hayes at (781) 395-8624 or via email at debbie@medfordfamilies.org
The Friends of the MFN are looking for a few good men and women to serve on the Board for 2012-13.
Do you love the Medford Family Network? Are you full of good ideas and enthusiasm? Do you have marketing, sales, accounting, writing, graphic arts, or administrative skills? Then, we want you! Don’t have those skills, but have the desire to give back and community spirit, then we absolutely want you, too!
MFN is looking for a few sweethearts to join us and visit our Legislators!
State House Advocacy Day for Early Education & Care and School-Age Programs on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at the Great Hall, State House, Boston. Please call the MFN at (781) 393-2106 for more information.
Want to get involved with the Medford Farmers’ Market?
We are actively searching for members to strengthen the 2012 market season. Some examples of the work we do includes working with partnerships and sponsors, fundraising, marketing, special events, coordinating performers, social media, coordinating volunteers, EBT transactions, educational programming, sustainability, coordinating with vendors, accounting, and community outreach. Please send letter of interest to medfordfarmersmarket@gmail.com
Upcoming Parenting Education Programs!
Registration Required! Limited Child Care Available!
Please Call (781) 393-2106 to register and for transportation options
All programs at the MFN Family Center
Turning Stress into Strength!
Facilitated by Judy Scribner-Moore
7 Wednesday’s:
February 1, 8, 15, 29; March 7, 14, 28
10:00 – 11:30 am
MFN Family Center
In this program, we will identify and discuss major stressors in our parenting lives. When we respond quickly and skillfully to stresses that arise in our busy, complicated lives, we diminish the negative effects of stress on mind, body and emotions. In this way, we model for our children resourcefulness, cooperation and resilience. Selected readings from parenting literature.
Registration is required! Limited child care available! Please call the Medford Family Network at (781) 393-2106 to register and for transportation options.
Parenting with Style
Facilitated by Debbie Weinstock-Savoy
5 Tuesday’s:
February 7, 14, 21, 28; March 6
12:30 – 2:00 pm
MFN Family Center
This program is a study of different qualities that make up an individual’s type and temperament, affording us a window into the triggers and motivators that make each of us “tick”. How do you view the world? Interpret information? Relate to others? Communication, parenting, giving and receiving love, self-esteem, the development of values, and how learning occurs are all shaped by these qualities. Learn about your “style”. Includes handouts created for this program.
Registration is required! Limited child care available! Please call the Medford Family Network at (781) 393-2106 to register and for transportation options.
How to Talk So Kids will Listen…and Listen so Kids will Talk
Facilitated by Valerie DeGeorge
5 Tuesday’s:
February 7, 14, 21, 28; March 6
7:00 – 8:30 pm
MFN Family Center
Principles and skills promoted in this workshop offer a consistent and positive approach for you to consider as you develop effective communication skills with your children. Our goal in this series is to explore and discuss ways that result in confident, cooperative, and responsible parent/child interactions.
Registration is required! Limited child care available! Please call the Medford Family Network at (781) 393-2106 to register and for transportation options.
Mad…Sad…Glad
Facilitated by Debbie Weinstock-Savoy
3 Wednesday’s:
February 29; March 7, 14
3:00 – 4:30 pm
MFN Family Center
Join us for a round table discussion focusing on children’s feelings and how they affect their behavior: anger, frustration, temper tantrums and meltdowns, confidence, sadness, fears, worries, and happiness.
Registration is required! Limited child care available! Please call the Medford Family Network at (781) 393-2106 to register and for transportation options.
STEP/Tween Program
Facilitated by Howard Wolfe, LMFT
7 Wednesday’s:
February 29; March 7, 14, 21, 28; April 4, 11
7:00 – 8:30 pm
MFN Family Center
Parenting middle school-aged youth is one of the most challenging tasks today. Join this series of discussions about healthy adolescent development and building resistance to harmful activities. We will focus on understanding yourself and your tween, communicating respect and encouragement, promoting social and emotional well-being, changing your response to your tween, encouraging cooperation, solving problems, using consequences to build responsibility and deciding what to do. Ideally, participants will need to attend all sessions.
Registration is required! Limited child care available! Please call the Medford Family Network at (781) 393-2106 to register and for transportation options.
Family Support Programs
Help Me Grow Program
Presented by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care
Do you have questions or concerns about how your child is developing? Do you wonder if there are ways you can help your child learn the best s/he can? The Medford Family Network offers FREE developmental screenings to children between 1 month and 5 years old. We will work with you to determine if your child is learning and gaining skills well; share ideas to help you be your child’s first teacher; and connect you with programs and resources if your child needs extra help. Call today (781) 393-2106!
Attention:
Seeking “Parent Cafe” Attendees!
MFN is seeking between 25 and 30 parents to attend this conversation to help us answer questions that focus on co-parenting. Our goal is to develop resources and/or programs that address the needs that result from this Cafe with a focus on co-parenting and the father (and those in a fathering role). For more information and to register, please call the MFN at (781) 393-2106 or via email at mcassidy@medford.k12.ma.us.
Dinner and child care included!
Community Resources
McGlynn Preschool Opening
Mon/Tue/Thr/Fri, 8:30 am – 2:30 pm (Wed, 8:30 am – 1:30 pm)
McGlynn Elementary School
Medford, MA
For more information, call Shelley Gross (781) 393-2211
FREE Public Skating (FREE)
LoConte Rink ($5.00 skate rental)
97 Locust Street
Medford, MA
www.medfordpublicschools.org
Kids Night! All Ages! (Kids Activities are FREE)
Every Tuesday in Medford (5 pm to 8 pm; January 10 to May 8 )
Kelly’s Roast Beef
Medford, MA
www.kellysroastbeef.com
Karen K & the Jitterbugs Concert (FREE)
Saturday, February 4 (4:00 pm to 5:00 pm)
Chenery Middle School
Belmont, MA
www.jitterbugsnyc.com
Kids Hands-on Workshops for Ages 5 to 12! (FREE)
Saturday, February 4, 2012 (9:00 am to 12:00 pm)
The Home Depot
Everett, MA
www.homeimproverclub.com
Crafts for Kids! Ages 3 and Up (FREE)
Every Saturday (11 am to 3 pm)
Lakeshore Learning Center
Saugus, MA
www.lakeshorelearning.com
