The Family Connection - Variety Child Learning Center

The Family Connection
Summer 2008
Thanks to Our VCLC Parents Who Shared Ideas for
Things To Do Over The Summer
Adventureland
Amish Country
Atlantis Marine World
Batterup Minigolf
Beach, Playground, Camp, BBQ
Bouncers & Slydos
Bronx Zoo
Cradle of Aviation Museum
(Cosmic Adventure: Simulated Space Ride
- safe & will stop if frightened by putting up
arms)
Eisenhower Park and Mini Golf
Firefighter’s Museum
Long Island Game Farm
Long Island Children’s Museum
Naiomi Village
(very quiet-cottages) - pond, swimming
pool, 2 swings, a fort, pizza delivery, in
town: restaurants, deli, supermarket)
New York Aquarium
Old Bethpage Village
Orly’s Tree Playhouse
Pump It Up
Sprinkler Playground
(rubber matting & heated water)
Staten Island Children’s Zoo
(free parking, pony rides, aquarium, pet
feed)
Sweetbriar Nature Center’s
Butterfly House
Wantagh Park
White Post Farms
Melville, N.Y.
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Riverhead, N.Y.
Bethpage, N.Y.
New Highway, Farmingdale,N.Y.
Bronx, N.Y.
Charles Lindberg Bl., Garden City,
N.Y.
East Meadow, N.Y.
Uniondale, N.Y.
Manorvile, N.Y.
11 Davis Avenue, Garden City, N.Y.
Pennsylvania
(call for scheduled events)
631-673-7333
516-541-0913
516-572-4111
516-572-0348
516-224-5823
570-595-2432
Coney Island, N.Y.
Old Bethpage, N.Y.
Westbury, N.Y.
Plainview, N.Y.
Venitan Shores Park, Lindenhurst, N.Y.
Staten Island, N.Y.
Smithtown
Wantagh, N.Y.
Melville, N.Y.
718-442-4308
516-571-7460
Dear Sunny,
On behalf of all of us at VCLC, I want to express my appreciation and admiration
for your work at VCLC and your contribution to the well-being of children who need
support the most. You have given parents hope, a method for their children to learn and
thrive, and our staff the training and skills needed to make all that happen. As a result,
you changed lives and created opportunities that were once thought impossible.
From all of us at VCLC, I say thank you again. Your understanding and talent
provided the tools needed to help staff and families appreciate the nature of the challenging work to be done
and a process to establish collaborative systems that today serve as a model for professionals in the field.
The strategies you put in place at VCLC promoted relationships between staff and parents.
With deepest respect and appreciation,
Judith S. Bloch, Founder/CEO
Best Wishes Sunny, for a Happy Retirement!
Judy Tabak, Assistant Principal
We have been
most fortunate to
have had Sunny Holmes
as the Principal
of Variety Child
Learning Center for the past
40 years. Her
knowledge and
skill in working with young children is recognized by
all in our professional and educational communities. Sunny was always the consummate teachertherapist. She modeled and practiced the art of listening to children and responding empathically to their
needs with unconditional acceptance and sensitivity.
Sunny always knew how to help a child understand
that although certain behaviors were not acceptable,
he/she was always valued. Sunny understood and
prioritized specific interventions that interfered with
a child’s ability to learn. She always encouraged the
teaching staff to think about the goal. We will never
forget Sunny’s words, “What is the goal?” Emotional
well being and relieving anxiety were always priorities.
Sunny also understood the needs of families,
and would often say, “sometimes we are child focused
and family friendly and, at other times, family focused
and child friendly.” This again, helped to prioritize
the goal and develop intervention. She values Variety’s
Home School Collaboration and modeled the concept
of parents as partners in their child’s education.
I know that
I speak on behalf of
countless children
and families, when I
say, “Sunny, you have
been an inspiration to
all of us. You have
truly made a difference!”
Dear Parents:
Thank you for your
many good wishes on my
upcoming retirement. Our collaboration over the years has
been a learning experience for
me. I am grateful for having had the opportunity
of knowing so many parents.
Together we have made a strong commitment to create a bright future for all our children.
It is with much pride that I say my friend
and colleague, Judy Tabak, will be Variety’s new principal. Her skill and talent will surely help
each child realize their full potential. The staff
join me in wishing Judy good luck in her new
role.
Sincerely,
Sunny Holmes
Meet Our New Principal - Judy Tabak
Judy Tabak
started her dedicated
career at Variety
Child Learning Center
twenty-eight years ago.
She joined the staff
as an assistant teacher
while working on her
MS in Special Education from C.W. Post. She came to Variety with several years of experience
as an elementary school teacher in the public school
system and in nursery schools.
After earning her MS, Judy decided not to go
back to the public school system. Judy believes that
the best way to educate the child is with the support of the family. She’d had just a small taste of the
important work with children and families that was
being done at Variety and wanted
to remain a part of that mission,
so she stayed on as a teacher.
Approximately five years
after Judy began teaching, Sunny
Holmes was appointed principal
and, in recognition of Judy’s talent, asked her to take on the role
of educational supervisor. Judy reluctantly left the classroom she loved so
much to start another exciting chapter of her extended career at Variety. Shortly thereafter, Judy went back to C.W.
Post for her School Administration and Supervisor
certificate and assumed the position of Assistant
Principal of the school, a role she is now leaving to
stand at the helm of our Center.
It is well known that Judy Tabak loves
working with the children and staff at Variety, and
that fondness is equally returned. She stills finds a
sense of nourishment in taking “a break” from the
activities of the day and spending a few minutes in
one of the classrooms. Her satisfaction comes from
watching the continuous growth of both the children
and staff and she is excited to be able to continue
responding to their needs in a new capacity.
In addition to her credentials from C.W. Post,
Judy also holds a BA in Education
from Brooklyn College. She has
also led a number of training seminars and professional workshops
over the years. As Variety enters into this exciting new phase, we are fortunate
and grateful to have Judy Tabak
serve as the leader of our team.
Change is in the Air Joan Weinstein LCSW
As you can see from the preceeding pages, change is in the air at VCLC. Changes are taking place inside
and outside, in school and at home. We all know that change is challenging, both at home and at school.
Sunny has made enormous efforts to help us have a smooth transition. While we will miss her tremendously, this program has been shaped by Sunny and she has been active in ensuring that her supervisory staff
are well trained. Sunny knows (as do we all) that Judy Tabak is prepared to carry forth the mission with children and families to which Sunny has been so committed .
So many families have joined forces with us this year in the service of your children. So many of you
have been so responsive to the many offerings of the Social Work Department. Many families have participated in parent counseling/training efforts, joined parent groups or our many parent seminars, and have been active
in the parent organization. We are so respectful of your hard work and look forward to our continuing work
together. For those of you who are moving on to other programs, we send our good wishes with you.
Changes are taking place in and outside of our building. As time passes, we are aware of the need for
continual updating of the building and equipment. We have redone our gym floor and will be replacing our hallway carpeting with tiles. Please read more detailed information in the Building Updates column on page 8. As the summer is arriving, change is in the air. Sometimes it means more opportunities for family time,
which can be both positive and challenging. Hopefully some of the ideas that parents shared on our first page
can help you with your family plans. Please know that our staff can help you in preparing children for summer
changes, and vacations. As Sunny has taught us, preparation makes us all work better together. Reading Through the Seasons at VCLC
Caryn Manske, Ed. Supervisor
As an enhancement to our literacy program,
VCLC has partnered with the federal literacy program, Reading is Fundamental (RIF) Family of Readers. This program is designed to help parents develop
the skills and self-assurance to take a leading role in
supporting their children’s reading and learning while
their children learn to love books. It consists of four
key components; providing books for ownership to
children; providing books for a children’s lending
library; running skill-building workshops for parents
and staging a two-week long Reading Challenge. Whether it was picking pumpkins in the fall,
skating with mittens this winter or planting imaginary
seeds in the spring, our children and families have
been busy participating in many literacy activities
during this years Reading Is Fundamental program.
Once again all the children in our program were
eligible to select three books through RIF’s federally
funded literacy program. Our VCLC families and classrooms also participated in a two week
school-wide literacy challenge. Families and classrooms were encouraged
to engage in a literacy
activity for approximately
20 minutes daily over
the course of a two-week period. The classes with the
highest responses were eligible to win a prize from the
RIF committee. Congratulations to all our winning
classes: N5 Sheila Ach, N8 Barbara Dicken, N20 Jill
Marks and K2 Linda Ivans. Parents were also busy taking part in our RIF
workshop series. This series addressed topics such as
how literacy develops, strategies for promoting listening, speaking, writing and reading skills selecting
books. Several VCLC classes recently displayed their
art work at Syosset Library’s show
of local nursery schools:
The Many Skills of Our Speech Therapists Lenore Kahne MS, CCC/SLP
Whether a child has word retrieval difficulties, articulatory/phonological
problems, fluency issues or have not yet begun to use verbal language,
the speech/language pathologists at VCLC are trained to use many
different strategies to improve many different types of communication deficits. “Variety” Child Learning Center captures the essence of
who we are and what we do. Children at Variety present with many
different types of communication disorders. Therapists are required
to
accrue “CEU’S”(Continuing Education Units) in order to keep up with the
most
current trends in diagnosis and treatment. Typically, seasonal themes serve as vehicles to address targeted receptive/expressive language and
communicative competence goals. Treatment sessions are geared toward the individual communication needs
of each student; communication being the operative word!!! Speech/Language Pathologists work very closely
with classroom staff as well as other team members to facilitate carryover of newly acquired skills. Additionally, therapists use communication notebooks to keep parents informed about goals being addressed and how
they can work with their child at home.
“Variety” truly is the spice of life. The diversity of the students at the school enables the therapists to
employ an comprehensive mix of techniques and strategies to remediate and enhance language development. We invite all parents and prospective families to observe the important work that we do.
“Fun”draising Corner
LAUGHTER FOR A GOOD CAUSE
Variety Child Learning Center (VCLC)
held its annual “Laughter for Children’s Sake”
fundraising event at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, NY on April 4th. The
evening raised $94,000 which will benefit all of
VCLC’s special education programs for children
with developmental disabilities, including autism;
support services for their families; and training for
professionals in the field. Everyone who attended had a great time! Comedy committee member Donna Gerzof celebrated a special birthday with friends and family
at the event and, Steve Wangel, a current dad,
gave a moving speech about his family’s experience at VCLC.
“Once again, the support of our friends,
families and the surrounding community has
yielded another great success,” said Judith S.
Bloch, Founder/CEO of VCLC. Thank you to our Laughter for Children’s Sake Committee: Charles F. Peitz, Chair;
Lisa Friedman Clark, Dr. Kenneth Wong, Danielle Espinosa, Arnie Greenberg, Donna Cantrell Gerzof,
Susanne Leviton, Antonella Menuti, & Larry Scheinthal.
Thank you, also, to our many sponsors and supporters who helped to make this event another huge success!
PARENT ORGANIZATION
As this school year is coming to a close,
we look back on the wonderful events that took
place at Variety. The Parent Organization had
great success with the Wrapping Paper Sales,
Book Fair and Photo Day. Our last event until
September is Staff Appreciation Day which so
many VCLC moms and dads support so generously.
For the Fall, we are exploring the possibility of a special “Ladies Night Out” event with
dinner, music and shopping! Please check
your children’s lunch boxes soon for information
about this event!
Again, I want to thank everyone who
participated in our Parent Organization. We
could not have had so much success without you! I look forward to another wonderful year with
some new events. Please call me with any ideas or
suggestions.
With much appreciation,
Joan Padron, LCSW
A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU To:
Senator Carl Marcellino ... for your
generous grant in support of our Sunday Family
Center Program.
Senator Kemp Hannon ... for your generous grant in support of our Winthrop University Hospital Pediatric Resident Training Program. Paula Sayage ... for your tireless efforts in support of the Laughter for Children’s Sake
comedy event!
Diane Scherillo & Dina Lazarou ...
for coordinating VCLC’s exciting Parent Organization Summer Raffle!
Suzanne Reek... for your continued support
and generous donation of goods to help with future
VCLC raffles!
We Keep Growing...We’ve Expanded Our
Related Service Program
Marsha Weitzman, LCSW
In addition to our school program, VCLC
also provides related services such as speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy, play therapy,
parent counseling and group workshops.
It has been an exciting year launching
our Parent University which has provided group
discussions on various child development topics
ranging from Behavior Management Strategies to
Play Skill Development. We also are planning new parent education
workshops for the coming year.
I look forward to an exciting and enriching
year ahead.
Early Intervention (EI) Department
Judi Zipkin LMSW, Supervisor
What a busy time it is now in the Variety EI
Department! Parents of EI children with ‘05 birthdays
are making plans for next year. They are comparing notes, touring schools and making their choices. Their children will either be entering the mainstream, possibly with a SEIT, or attending a special
education preschool program. Many of the Variety EI children will be
staying on and attending our preschool, either in a
half day or full day class. Two of the children in
our 5 day class will be attending regular
nursery school. It is exciting to see how much progress has
been made this year by the children and how much
their parents have changed also. Our EI Parent
Support Group is a small but very committed group
that have become a wonderful support system for
each other. Our meetings over the summer will
conclude a full year of parent-to-parent mutual aid,
support and education.
At the same time, parents of children with
‘06 birthdays are touring the school and next year’s
class is already more than half full. While it is hard to say goodbye to this
year’s children and families, it is also exciting to
meet the new toddlers and their parents, and to
know that we will be able to provide them with the
services they require in order to meet their needs.
If you have any questions about our program, please call Judi Zipkin at 921-7171 ext. 2105.
We Are Expanding Our SCIS Classes!
Jan Friedman, COO
Special Classes in Integrated Settings
(SCIS) provide opportunities for children who are
ready for an inclusive experience to transition from
a special education class to a class where there is less intensive support.
It enables children to have the role models
and social opportunities with children who do not
have special needs. This year VCLC has 2 classes in the Westbury School District and 2 classes on site at VCLC. Next year, we plan to have 1 class at Westbury and 3 classes on site at VCLC.
Congratulations!!
Variety Child Learning Center
and CEO/Founder Judith S. Bloch
have been selected by
the Community Advisory Board of
Thirteen/WNET New York and WLIW21
to be inducted into the Community Hall of Fame.
Ms. Bloch will be presented with the award
at a ceremony on July 9.
Our Kids’ Artwork
SAVE THE DATE!
Brother & Sister Day
Thursday July 24, 2008
Morning: 9:30am
Afternoon: 1:30pm
We’re Learning and Making New Friends at VCLC!
Check Out What’s New at VCLC!!
Building Updates
Alumni Eagle Scout Gives Back
•
Beautiful new tile will replace all of the carpet
in the first floor hallway in June.
•
The basement will be completely renovated and
beautified by the end of August.
•
The gym floor is a
sight to behold, having
been re-finished and
furnished with colorful
new mats & equipment
to develop gross motor
skills.
•
The OT room has gotten brand new mats & tiles
to replace the carpet.
On April 27, 2008 local
troop 170 of the Eagle Scouts,
along with their friends, family
and other scout troops, came
to VCLC to help revitalize the
Center’s outdoor play area. VCLC alumni student,
Jeffrey Dumbauld, led the
troop. Jeffrey, who is set to graduate high school in
June and attend Misericordia University in Dallas, PA
next fall, wanted to repay the Center for the positive
impact it had on his early childhood. The Scouts raised
money and built a shed, repaired benches, planted
flowers and painted.
VCLC is grateful to
Jeffrey and his fellow Scouts for
all their time and effort. Their thoughtfulness and hardwork
have really made a difference.
Green Committee at VCLC
Do you have any idea how many sheets of
paper we go through at VCLC? - 110,000 every 3 weeks!
And how many Styrofoam cups, paper
plates, and paper cups we go through?
One of our classes has already gone green
(Yea Kisha’s team!) where parents send in their
own plastic containers, and a plastic place setting
that children use during the week. That staff (and
other staff here) are bringing in their own mugs
and silverware. Our office staff is giving consideration as
to which information can be emailed rather than
printed.
Those of us who care so much about children are thinking about the earth they inherit.
Let’s all think about how we can help. Recycling in Kisha’s Class
See what VCLC has to offer at www.vclc.org
VCLC’s website is a major source of information to
current and prospective families,
professionals, donors and
anyone interested in our Center.
Celebrating Diversity at Variety:
A Place to Begin
Judith Musaro Lichter Ph.D., LCSW
Children grow within a culturally shaped
environment in their families and communities. Building positive identities, an understanding of the world
around them and respect for differences means weaving diversity awareness and understanding into the
fabric of children’s everyday lives. This school year, the Variety community has
had a spotlight on our cultural and linguistic diversity
and focused on the richness and knowledge we all gain
in a multicultural world. The Committee on Cultural Diversity and
Multiculturalism has installed wall displays focusing
on differences and similarities and provided a series
of staff development workshops to increase awareness
and understanding. The planning of future workshops,
and adding toys and materials to enrich each classroom
are a few of the tasks that the committee has been focusing on. We will continue to keep focused on bridging
differences as we strive to provide services that are
sensitive and responsive to the cultural differences
of our families and children. In this way, we can help
each child reach for their dreams, celebrate and value
diversity and be proud of themselves and their family
traditions.