Cheverly Parents Resource Group

NEWSLINE

October 2003

Dates for the Calendar

October 6 & 17: CPRC Playgroup @ Judith P. Hoyer

October 17: CPRC Playgroup Librarian Day @ the Community Center

October 27: CPRC Playgroup Librarian Day @ the Community Center

November 3 & 21: CPRC Playgroup @ Judith P. Hoyer

November 8: CPRC Potluck

November 24: CPRC Playgroup Librarian Day @ the Community Center

December 8 & 19: CPRC Playgroup @ Judith P. Hoyer

December 12: CPRC Playgroup Librarian Day @ the Community Center

Letter from the Coordinator

The Cheverly Parent Resource Committee is regrouping after being dormant during the wonderful summer vacation season and surviving the power of HURRICANE ISABELL. We had an enthusiastic first meeting in September and have begun planning terrific activities. Our next potluck is November 8th at 5:00pm at 5716 Lockwood Road in the town of Cheverly at Geneva and Leonard Harris's home. The CPRC newsletter, Newsline, will resume publication in October due to Hurricane Isabel and the major loss of power. To subscribe, send $10 to Lisa Lincoln, 2707 Cheverly Avenue. If you are already a CPRC member, please send your annual $10 dues to Lisa. To submit information or articles for the newsletter, send them to editor@cheverlyparent.org. Upcoming news items include hosting the caroling party. CPRC New lead Coordinator Geneva S. Harris, can be reached at coordinator@cheverlyparent.org or 301/772-3740.

CRPC Home and Garden Tour

Join us for an organizational meeting to kick off the Cheverly Home and Garden Tour planning. The meeting will be in the Town Hall Conference Room on Wednesday, September 17th from 7:30-9pm. Come share your input regarding the tour. Possible opportunities for volunteering include: Home and Garden selection, fundraising, closing reception, tour guides and more! Applications will be available if you would like to submit your Home or Garden for possible selection. Contact me for more information at hd.squared@verizon.net or

301/386-5387.

Thanks,

Melanie Hartwig-Davis

Kindermusik in Cheverly

Kindermusik is an international music and movement program focused on the development of the whole child. Studies have shown that musical exposure of this type aids in school preparedness, reading readiness and refinement of both large and small motor skills. All this, and lots of fun too! And best of all, Kindermusik is coming to Cheverly! Long-time Cheverly resident Nancy Wood is starting Kindermusik "Village" and "Our Time" classes at the Cheverly United Methodist Church. "Village" is for ages birth to 18 months; "Our Time" is for ages 18 months through 3 years. Both are for the child accompanied by caregiver, 40-minute classes, and 8-week semesters. For fee, dates and times, please call Nancy Wood. Classes forming now; if you call soon you can have some input into date and time selection. Please call 301/341-4020.

Newsline Bulletin Board

4-Sale

Sectional, neutral cloth upholstery, includes sleep sofa.

Good condition, $300. Scan leather "Stressless" recliner and ottoman, $125.

Please contact Sally Sullivan:

3022 Crest Ave.

Cheverly, MD 20785

301/341-5350

Mother’s Helpers

Stephen Sexton is available to be a "mother's helper". He is almost 11 years old and a very enthusiastic helper. Please call 301/341-4020 if you are interested.

Need a Notary Public?

Never fear, there's a Maryland certified Notary Public conveniently located in Cheverly to meeting your documentation needs. For more information or to set up an appointment please call Marisa A. Summers at 301/773-4489.

Family Contradance

Join us for a Family Contradance on Sunday, November 30th! Contradancing is dancing in circles or lines according to a design created by the dance caller. Julie James is organizing a family contradance for Sunday, November 30th from 3-5pm. We may or may not have a potluck during this time, depending on the interest of the dancing families. Steve Hickman, Mike James and (probably) John Divine will be playing the music. Delaura Padovan will call the dance. There will be special dances designed for very young dancers (ages 4-8) - this is one of Delaura's specialties! There will also be dances for all the other ages. If you have a child aged 8 or younger, we expect that an older sibling or adult will be dancing with that child. The cost is $5 per dancer with a $20 family maximum. The location will most likely be at Judith P. Hoyer Early Childhood Center in Cheverly, however the location may change. For more information and a definite location, please contact Julie James at 301/773-5530 or e-mail julieandmike@att.net to register by October 31st.

Crop ‘til You Drop Party

A chance to work on your scrapbooks or photo albums ALL DAY with no interruptions from kids, the phone, the to-do list. A dream? Make it a reality! Attend an all-day scrapbooking workshop right here in Cheverly (at CUMC): 10am-10pm on Saturday, November 1. If you want to learn more about scrapbooking, there will be a scrapbooking show (also right here in Cheverly) in mid-September. For more information about either event, call Tammie at 301/386-3782 or e-mail tammienelson@comcast.net.

Baby Sitting Co-Op

The town of Cheverly has had an organized babysitting co-op since May 2002. The co-op is comprised of approximately fifteen families who exchange babysitting services. This successful co-op has openings for prospective families from time to time. Is your family interested? If so, contact Suzy Rosen Singleton at suzyrs@yahoo.com.

To place an ad in Newsline, contact Jennifer Allegro at editor@cheverlyparent.org.

It’s FREE!

Climb on Board The Magic School Bus™

By Tammie Nelson-Stringer

A true multimedia science adventure, The Magic School Bus™ is a great way for your child to get excited about science. Ann Marie started watching The Magic School Bus at about age 5, and still loves it. Kimberly, at age 2, is already watching with big sis. Ms. Frizzle (voiced by Lily Tomlin) is the best teacher anyone can imagine, and she has a magic school bus that can transform into anything. A field trip with "the Friz" is always an adventure; traveling through the solar system, exploring a beehive, getting baked into a cake; there have been 52 different zany (and educational) adventures. Your child can enjoy The Magic School Bus through Scholastic books, available at the library or bookstore, an interactive web site (http://www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus), computer games, and there is of course the NSF-sponsored television series. The series used to be on PBS but is now on the Learning Channel at 6am and 8:30am. (We usually tape them to watch later, and then again and again.) A few videotapes are available for rent at Blockbuster, and most are available for purchase at amazon.com.

For a limited time, you can also experience The Magic School Bus through a special exhibit at Baltimore's Port Discovery Children's Museum. Scholastic's The Magic School Bus™ Kicks Up a Storm will be at Port Discovery starting September 26th. Visitors will be immersed in the weather exhibit in a uniquely Scholastic's The Magic School Bus™ way by visiting Ms. Frizzle's Classroom, climbing aboard the bus itself in The Weather Observatory, or visiting the Walkerville Weather Center. Through these three interactive areas, visitors will seek to understand the water cycle and its relation to weather, and how influences from air, heat, water and land combine to create weather.

For directions to Port Discovery (or for more info about this great museum), go to www.portdiscovery.org or call 410/727-8120.

Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex

The Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex in Landover has open gym time for tots on Tuesdays 11:30am-12:30pm and 12:45pm-1:45pm, Wednesdays 12:30 pm-1:30 pm, and Fridays 4:30pm-5:30pm. There is regular sized equipment plus really adorable tot-size gymnastics equipment. Registration starts 1/2 hour before the session, and is first-come first-served. It does get crowded on rainy days and during the winter. The fee is $4 per kid (adults are free), per session. This is for children ages 18 months - 14 years; there is a max of three children per adult.

See the Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex web site (http://www.pgsportsandlearn.com) or call 301/583-2400 for directions.

Mother’s Day Out

The Mother's Day Out Program at the Cheverly United Methodist Church has started classes for the 2003-2004 school year. Classes are held every Wednesday from 10am-2pm beginning September 17th through June, for children two to four years old. We provide a safe environment with caring teachers and a structured learning curriculum as the young child makes the first step from home to school. For information call Mrs. Tamai 301/350-1155 or Mrs. Woodworth at 301/322-5281.

Meals on Wheels

Meals on Wheels needs you !!!!!

Meals on Wheels needs volunteers to deliver meals to homebound neighbors. You can work two or four days a month; weekdays, approximately 10:30am-12:30pm. Please consider volunteering for this worthy cause. A few of your fellow CPRC moms drive for Meals on Wheels and find it very rewarding. If you'd like to talk about what's involved, feel free to call Tammie at 301/386-3782. To volunteer call 301/618-3930.

Renew Your Membership Today!

The Cheverly Parent Resource Center is collecting dues for September 2003 through August 2004. These dues will help us continue our regular activities such as the twice-weekly playgroups, educational seminars and new initiatives. To continue receiving Newsline and to support CPRC's efforts to make Cheverly a great place for children, please send your $10.00 check made payable to CPRC using the CPRC Membership Form. If you're not sure if you're paid up or not, check your label on the newsletter. The label will either say "2003 Dues Paid" or "Please Pay 2003 Dues". If you are receiving this electronically (and therefore have no label to check) e-mail database@cheverlyparent.org if you wish to check your payment status.

Birth Announcements

Angela and Scott Alkire had their new addition on June 29. Nicole, Natalie and Jack welcome their new brother John Paul to the family!

Mariann Lemke and David Anthony are the proud parents of our newest member of the CPRC! Their son Samuel was born at the beginning of September.

CPRC welcomes these little one and wishes a good night's rest to his parents!

Please send all baby announcements and information on new families in Cheverly to Sue McElroy at welcome@cheverlyparent.org.

In the true "Cheverly Spirit" we have started delivering a baked good with the Welcome Basket. If you would like to be on the list to bake something a couple times a year and deliver the baked goods with me, please e-mail Sue at the above address.

Boosters Are for Big Kids

Maryland's new child safety seat law went into effect October 1, 2003. This law says that all children younger than six years old and weighing 40 pounds or less must ride in a correctly used child restraint system. Children who outgrow their car seat at around 40 pounds need to ride in a booster seat because the car's seat belt will not fit them well. The law requires that children ride in booster seats up to age six. However, most children should ride in booster seats until about age eight, when they are big enough for lap and shoulder belts to fit properly.

The 5-Step Test

If your child isn't using a booster, try this simple test the next time you ride together in the car:

1. Does the child sit all the way back against the auto seat?

2. Do the child's knees bend comfortably at the edge of the auto seat?

3. Does the belt cross the shoulder between the neck and arm?

4. Is the lap belt as low as possible, touching the thighs?

5. Can the child stay seated like this for the whole trip?

If you answered "no" to any of these questions, your child needs a booster seat to ride safely in the car. Kids like boosters because they are more comfortable, too!

For more information go to the web site www.carseat.org or call Maryland Kids in Safety Seats at 800/370-SEAT.

CPRC Playgroup

By Cindy Popol

Well, an exciting new year of playgroup is now underway. We resumed our regular Monday and Friday schedule on September 5th and the kids were thrilled to gallivant once again with their playgroup friends (at least the kids who are old enough to remember their playgroup friends). We have enjoyed catching up with friends we didn't see much over the summer, as well as welcoming some new friends, who we are happy to have join in the fun. Attendance has been great, in fact on our first rainy day in the Community Center we had 20 children - one of the largest playgroups I have seen. We also had a nice big group at our welcome back potluck lunch on the 15th.

We have various activities planned for the upcoming year. Several parents have already accepted my invitation to plan special activities such as crafts, theme days or games. If you would like to plan a simple activity, please let me know. We will also have our story time days once a month, when a librarian comes to read stories and sing songs. This is always a popular day for all ages. The fall story time dates are: 10/27, 11/24 and 12/12.

We will also meet at the Judith P. Hoyer School starting in October. However due to scheduling conflicts, we have to change the playgroup time those days to 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. The fall Hoyer dates are: 10/6, 10/17, 11/3, 11/21, 12/8 and 12/19.

We are continuing to use the valuable designated parent (DP) system, which ensures that there is a parent at playgroup from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each day. We currently have seven DPs, but we need two or three more so that no one has to volunteer more than once each month. DP responsibilities barely require more than simply coming to playgroup on your assigned day. So please let me know if you would like to become a DP, we would certainly appreciate your help. I can be contacted at home at 301/559-3254 or by e-mail at lcpopol@mdonline.net.

Hope to see you all at playgroup!!!

2003-2004 CPRC Officers

Geneva Harris, Coordinator, (301)772-3740, coordinator@cheverlyparent.org

Lisa Lincoln, Treasurer, (301)773-4844, treasurer@cheverlyparent.org

Kathryn Andrews, Web Page Coordinator, (301)386-3852, webmaster@cheverlyparent.org

Tammie Nelson-Stringer, Acting Membership Database Coordinator, database@cheverlyparent.org

Susan McElroy, Welcome Coordinators, (301)341-3497, welcome@cheverlyparent.org

Marisa Summers, Newsline Editor, (301)773-4489, editor@cheverlyparent.org

Ann Caldwell, Newsline Distribution, (301)386-5613

Cindy Popol, Playgroup Coordinator, (301)559-3254, playgroup@cheverlyparent.org

Melanie Hartwig-Davis, House Tour Chairperson, (301)386-5387

About Newsline

Newsline is the quarterly publication of the Cheverly Parents Resource Group (CPRC). The next Newsline will be mailed in December 2003. Send your copy to Marisa Summers at editor@cheverlyparent.org.

Visit Our Web Site

Check out the CPRC web site at http://www.cheverlyparent.org! It includes a schedule of CPRC events, summaries of CPRC parenting workshops, a list of area libraries with links to story time schedules, information on schools, ideas for kids’ outings and much more.