Falling in love again

Falling in love again...
Autumn's Magical Spell: Happy New Pooh Year
something magical about
Our Winter Three for All
Pooh Corner, the season
There's
Autumn. At
begins its slow and steady migration from
summer's lazy hibernation in late August.
Autumn arrives, bringing with it an air of
novelty and excitement not on any specific
date, but just in time to fill the void left by
our graduating class and to help
encourage our younger children as they
realign to new teachers, new friends, new
dynamics and new challenges. For
parents, teachers and staff this is equally
so, which is one of the reasons fall is such
a busy time at Pooh Corner - so many new
faces, names and personalities.
Across the vistas of so many falls here at
Pooh Corner, we've learned that picnics
and parent nights go a long way towards
heading off the inevitable parent traps like
jitters and separation anxiety, while
pumpkin patches, socials and feasts are
virtually foolproof
ways to
ensure a
Happy Pooh Year. In order to make room
for all our extra events and activities, we
decided it would be best for everyone
involved to simply extend Autumn from
the end of August until January 1st, since
we've got so much planned to keep
everyone happily busy throughout this
Pooh Year and into the next.
Dylan
Johnston
Isaiah
Gian-Grasso
Isaac
Marone
Please join us as we welcome the latest additions to
our Infant/Toddler Room, Dylan Johnson, Isaiah
Gian-Grasso and Isaac Marone.
Isaiah and Isaac will be joining their big sisters, Iris
and Harper, bestowing membership to our elite
Pooh Sibling Society upon all four, and thereby
boosting the current roster to an even dozen.
Esteemed Members of
The Pooh Corner
Sibling Society
Ryan and Dylan Byrd; Kayla and Malia Cobin; Iris
and Isaiah Gian-Grasso; Adeline and Mina Hoekema;
Henry and Eleanor Iott; Quill and Armando Keating;
Harper and Isaac Marone; Lana and Sabina
Krivitsky; Chloe and Jane Mainwaring; River and
Raine Neely; Elijah and Magdalena Winney-Bowen.
INSIDE OUT
Every September, to kick off the Pooh
Year, we hold our Annual Pot Luck Picnic,
so that families starting at Pooh can
mingle with members of their new
community, returning families can catch
up, and everyone gets to spend some time
together in a relaxed, off campus setting.
Isaac Marone left,
may have been
wishing for
a
"womb with a view"
at
this
year's
picnic, while his
mother,
Lisa
Richman shared a
laugh with new
Pooh
parent
Jameelah
Hairston.
Their
children
Harper Marone and Jayden Watson are
in Preschool together, and Isaac is now
out and about, a Pooh Corner kid in his
own right.
Parent Teacher Night also provides an
opportunity for parents, guardians and
grandparents to interact with teachers and
Pooh Staff, but in the more formal setting
of their children's classrooms. There's
some time to mix and munch before
teachers segue into the icebreakers they've
prepared for their groups, and share the
information they've designed to give
parents deeper insight into Pooh's
educational philosophy, goals, activities,
special events, classes and trips - all to
help them gain a feel for their children’s
daily experiences at the Corner.
Circle Time
shaped up
just fine at
Parent
Teacher
Night, left,
Pooh Corner Productions
Proudly Presents
YOUR ROOM PARENTS
Starring (in alphabetical order)
Dave "Lucy" Bauer Transition
Marla "Kayla" Cobin Preschool
Sarah "Asher" Green and Kim "Brody" Hark Infant/Toddler
Keisha "Maya" Hudson and Carrie "Clare" Lowe Preschool
Nikki "Noelle" McCrea Pre-K
Anne "Isaiah" Montgomery Infant Toddler
Candice "Ryan" Prendergast Transition
Room Parents play many important roles
at Pooh Corner, and these roles are
important to many. Made up of
representatives from each Program, they
meet on a monthly basis with Teri and the
Head Teachers to address policy and
program issues. As liaisons between
parents and teachers, they help rally
parents, solve problems, disseminate
communications,
organize
events,
brainstorm, and are often called
upon to act as fundraisers and
party planners as well..
So, when it comes to putting
together the Socials, (which
are sort of like Parent
Teacher Night, but more,
well, social). Room Parents
need to muster all their skills
to coordinate an event that not
only works in the where, when and who
categories, but one which also meets the
needs and moods of their constituents.
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Sure, everyone's feeling more relaxed by
the time the Socials roll around. They've
had some time to get to know one another
through
various
Pooh
events,
the
whirlwind of children's parties, and the
comfort level cultivated by daily contact;
nevertheless, planning the Socials is a
huge job, and this year's. Room Parents
rose to the occasion with flying colors,
pulling off three fabulous Socials, each
totally different and each perfectly suited
to the individual group it represented.
The Infant Toddler Group, opted for a
Sunday Brunch Family Affair, held at the
home of Room Parent Sarah Green, and
her husband Zack David, parents of
Infant/Toddler's Asher, and Grace, who
graduated from Pooh Corner last August.
Baby
Talk
From Left to
right, Sean
with Gabe
Lieber,
Brooke
Willmes
with
Sabina
Krivitsky
and
Courtney
with Isaiah
Gian-Grasso
settle in for some
face time at the Infant/Toddler Social.
The Transition Group, opted to go adults only,
and out on the town, meeting for drinks
and early dinner at the popular local
eatery, Earth, Bread, Brewery, while
availing themselves of Pooh Corner's
popular babysitting service.
Selfie Shtick
Resident Selfie Maven, and Head Teacher,
Halimah
AbdulHaqq
captured
the
festivities.
From left to right: Jeff Millman, Mike and
Jennifer Mitloff; Jason von Steenburgh,
Lauren Milman
and Tamatha von
Steenburgh.
The Joint Preschool/PreK
Social, was a
Childfree Pot Luck Dinner, hosted by
Diana and Daniel Snyder, parents of
preschooler
Oliver.
Babysitting
was
provided at Pooh Corner by staff not
attending socials, so parents were able to
practice that relatively rare Art of Adult
Conversation.
Social Butterflies
Preschool
Parents
Alison
Gerig and
Marla
Cobin are
all smiles
at the PreK
Pot Luck with
teachers Wendy Wong, and Samantha
Green - could it have something to do with
the fact that the PreK Social was a kid-free
event?
ALL FIRED UP
Whenever
a
parent,
grandparent,
guardian, aunt, uncle, or older sibling
visits Pooh Corner it's a always special
occasion for the children and teachers
alike, and we encourage you to get
involved on whatever level you can. So,
please consider coming in to read a book,
draw a picture, or sing a song - just
remember that however you come in,
you'll leave with
rock star status.
When
Amelia's
father,
Dave
Schoener,
(in
action left, and
with Amelia and
Preschool Teacher
Wendy Wong, below), brought his Engine
mates to vist, they
not only made a
splash, they made
Pooh
Corner
history as well;
Halloween 2015 of
saw no fewer than
three of our own
firefighters
following in their
fearless foosteps.
Come on Baby, Fight My Fire
We proudly present Ladder #311 E Walnut
Lane, with Firefghters River Neely,Lucy
Bauer and Miles Foster on board.
OFF WITH THEIR
BEDS
Each year our gardens seem to be more
impressive. than the last, producing
higher yields of better crops, and this year
was no exception. It wasn't until late
November that the children plucked the
last tomato from its vine and finally put to
bed the vegetable garden they'd enjoyed
for so many months,
A true group effort, the garden's success
was due to the careful tending and efforts
of all Pooh students, from the youngest
waterers to the eldest weeders - all
working as a team under the direction of
our science teacher, Dottie Baumgarten.
Last May our constant gardeners planted
a slew of crops, including a handful of
magic beans, shown
in terra firma, right.
Across the spring
and
summer
the
seedlings grew into
lush and luxurious
beanstalks
laden
with legumes, which
the children feasted
upon throughout the
summer and into
November.
The magical properties of these beans are
evident in the photo below, which shows
some of the same children who planted
them when mere River Neely and Miles
Foster Transitioners, somehow suddenly
and
mysteriously
transformed
into
Preschoolers
On the Street Where You Live
Can You guess which Street has been home
to the most Pooh Corner families?
One of the most exciting things about
meeting new Pooh parents is watching
their reactions when they realize how
many other families live on the same block
or street as they do. It's one of the
wonderful
coincidences
that
helps
strengthen the threads of our community
We thought it would be interesting to take
a look at Pooh Corner's statistics to
determine just which blocks hold the
honor of having been home to the most
Pooh Corner families in our history.
There were many streets between
Chestnut Hill and Germantown that
deserve Honorable Mentions, for having
housed anywhere from six to ten families.
These include Harvey with six, and Mt.
Pleasant and Creisheim, tied at an
impressive eight each, with Creisheim
gaining a bonus point for being home to a
current Pooh Corner family.
These are followed by Boyer, and
Durham, which are tied with ten families
apiece. However, where Boyer's count
includes one current family, Durham
gains the edge with a total of three current
families living on that block..
And now to our top place winners:
In Fourth Place is Mt. Airy with eleven
families, followed by Wadsworth, in Third
Place with twelve families.
Second Place is shared by Haines and
Walnut Lane, each with a total of fifteen
families, two currently living on Haines
and one on Walnut Lane.
And, in First Place is:
which has been home to a grand total of
SEVENTEEN
Pooh Corner Families including four
current families!
Have you ever wondered whether you
might be living next door to a former Pooh
family? You'll never know unless you come
in and ask us to check our archives, a
searchable database covering over 35
years of Pooh Corner who, what, where
and when.
If you're more of a look-at-the-pictures,
do-it-yourself sort, we have well over
39,500 photographs on Flick'r. and are
planning to crack the 40,000 mark to ring
in 2016. If you haven't already begun
looking through the pictures of your
child's engaged in the activities that make
up a day at Pooh Corner, send us a
request via Flickr and you can start
enjoying them right away.
SPARE SOME CHANGE?
Over the Thanksgiving Holidays we had
much of the building's interior painted, a
subtle prequel to the more major
renovations that will be taking place
during the week between Christmas and
New Year's, when The Transition progran
will
be
expanding
lengthwise
and
sideways, losing walls and gaining space
to become a more open area with an easier
flow through the program.
And who better to design a project like this
than our own double-Pooh Parent, Alex
Keating, founder (and K) of the consulting
firm The K Group? Not only is
Alex intimately acquainted with
the ebb and flow of the room from
the time his son Quill (left), now in
Pre-K, spent in Transition, he also has a
vested interest is solving any extant
limitations before his son Armando
(right)
graduates
from
the
Infant/Toddler Program. This is clearly
a case of the right job for the man. And
vice versa. (See the next page for a sneak
peek of Transition's sleek new digs!)
TRANSITION in TRANSITION
The best way to appreciate the upcoming
improvements to the Transition Room, is
to look at the floor plans presented below.
On the left is a rendering of the current
Transition space, with a plan reflecting the
alterations that will be implemented
between Christmas and New Year's on the
right. As you compare the two, please bear
in mind that not all the improvements will
be visible.
For example, insulated walls will provide
invisible warmth, the new diapering
station will improve ventilation and the
creation of open spaces will greatly reduce
the noise level.
We've moved the coat racks and cubbies to
the back of the building, by the rear entry,
thereby creating a space to make drop-off
CHANGING TABLE
OUT TO
PLAY YARD
SINK
and pick-up easier and less obtrusive.
This "station" will also allow us to keep the
rest of our area cleaner and dryer, as
boots and shoes can stay in the "mud
room" section and not track their dirt,
snow and chips inside.
Attendance is expected to be light during
the week of renovations, and we've made
schedule and group adjustments so that
things will be as easy as possible for the
children who will be here.
So, despite some juggling and adjusting,
we're confident the remodeling will be as
painless as possible, and that we will be
ringing in 2016 with a fabulous new space
for the Transition Program, and a
wonderful way to say, "Happy Pooh Year"