JANUARY NEWS - 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all! Hope everyone had a great holiday and now a new beginning and a new journey.

SCHOLASTIC BOOKS
Please check out the new books for 2012. Reading is a good way to start up the
NEW YEAR. Orders are due on Friday, January 13.

MARTIN LUTHER KING Jr.
A friendly reminder that we will be CLOSED on MONDAY, 1/16/12 for MLK.

YEAR OF THE DRAGON
Chinese new year will begin on Monday, 1/23 and we are having a small celebration on FRIDAY, 1/27. Details to follow.


Last November, a complimentary Speech Screening was offered to all of you. For the the New year, a complimentary BEHAVIOR SCREENING from "RACING AHEAD" will be offered towards the end of this month. Here is a gist of what they are all about.

RACING AHEAD
Accelerating Child Development
The Racing Ahead program helps your child's early development. Programs focus on language / communication, social / emotional, cognitive and motor skills for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and Kindergartners. The methods used in all Racing Ahead programs are research based, with many hundreds of published articles supporting their effectiveness.

Working with a play-based and motivating environment, Racing Ahead is both fun and clinically proven way to enhance your child's development from infancy to age six. Every teaching routine from Racing Ahead's program can be easily assimilated into your family's routines at home, such as bath time and feedings and will teach pivotal skills to enhance your child's development.

How Racing Ahead works

• Racing Ahead works 2:1 with child(ren) up to age 6 with mild deficits in the areas of cognition, social emotional development, adaptive functioning, speech and language, or motor development. The goal is to provide parents with an affordable option for treatment (ABA, OT, SLP) should deficits not warrant intensive intervention or not qualify under current eligibility guidelines. Families can turn to us should Regional Center determine a child's deficits do not meet (or no longer meet!) eligibility criteria (something that is happening far more in recent months).
• Racing ahead is also approporate for children struggling with attention, compliance, transitions, and following group directions.
• The initial 2 hour screening and consultation are complimentary- and incorporate clinical observation in an interactive-interview format using the ASQ-3. Our developmental tutors provide support to the identified areas of need under the supervision of an OT, SLP, and/or behavior specialist. Supervisory responsibility is dependent upon the child's needs and can come from one or more members of our clinical staff.
• Racing Ahead sessions are 2:1 (parent/caregiver and developmental tutor with the child) and aim to equip parents with tools to target specific deficit areas at home during natural family routines. The hourly rate is $45 per hour (provided by a tutor) and includes consultation with an Occupational Therapist and/or Speech and Language Pathologist at no additional charge.
• We also provide private OT and SLP services at our clinic- at the standard rate (which I believe is $100 per hour and comparable to other agencies). We do take insurance for private OT and SLP; however, Racing Ahead tutorial services are private pay only.
• Presentations are complimentary and include Q and A with a behavior specialist
• Seminars and workshops are fee based and hourly (up to 4 hours) there is a flat rate for half and full day trainings.

PROGRESS REPORTS
Progress Reports for Jellyfish & Seahorse will be given out on the last week of January / beginning of February. There are no progress reports for the Goldfish class and the Seastars class will receive them at the time of their conference.

PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE (Seastars Only)
There will be a mandatory Parent-Teacher conference scheduled during the last full week of January for the Seastars class only. More details to follow soon.


JANUARY BIRTHDAYS:

15 Colton (Seahorse)
16 Harper (Jellyfish)
18 Sophie (Jellyfish)
20 Gareth (Seahorse)
25 Ethan (Seahorse)
30 Brandon (Seahorse)

Wishing everyone a Prosperous New Year!