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

Kindergarten Registration 2012-2013

Kindergarten Enrollment is for children who will be five (5) years of age – by August 31, 2012.

Where: Parent Information Center located in the main lobby at Medford High School (489 Winthrop Street).

When: Weeks of April 2nd, April 9th, and April 23rd, 2012 from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm or April 10th and 24th, 2011 from 2:30 pm to 7:00 pm

Parent or Legal Guardian must bring the following:

1. Registration Forms (Included in the Kindergarten Packet)
2. Proof of Residency
a. 2 current utility bills, water bill, mortgage statement or lease in Parent or Legal Guardian’s name or
b. Notarized Residency Affidavit and 2 current utility bills from the person you are living with. Home owner must also sign the affidavit.
3. Student’s Birth Certificate or Passport
4. Student’s Immunization Record, physical within 1 year and vision screening. (All incoming kindergarten students must be medically cleared before the start of school)
5. Photo Identification of Parent or Legal Guardian. Legal Guardians will have to provide a Caregiver Authorization Affidavit. (Available at the Parent Center)
6. Individual Educational Plan (IEP) if coming from another school district.

Registrations will not be processed unless all of the required documents (listed above) are received.

All students are assigned to their proximity zone/geographical zone school. The School Assignment by Street listing can be found on the Medford Public School’s website. Parents who wish to send their child to a school outside their proximity zone, may fill out a choice selection form at the time of registration. Choice assignments are granted based on space availability, sibling preference and diversity plan guidelines. Parents who are granted their choice are notified at the end of August.

Non-English or limited English speaking students will be assessed by the ELL staff.

Registration forms for After School Programs will be available at the time of registration. Space availability is on a first come, first serve basis.