Community Connections: August - September 2005 newsletter

The Community Connections Communicator August-September 2005

In this Issue:

The theme of this month’s issue is Childhood Transitions. You will find information on how to help children make smooth transitions from home to preschool, elementary to middle school, and middle school to high school. Ideas for helping children enter into new community activities are also included in this issue. The tip sheets in this issue address ways to assist children with completing their homework and how to keep them safe during a new school year. The articles are pretty in depth including ideas on transition for all major school years as well as ideas for getting children involved in after school activities. The spotlights of the month are two workshops presented by the Arc of Prince George’s County regarding “IEP and Inclusion” and “Planning for the Future”. Transition can be difficult for children, parents, educators, and community providers. However, if you want to be armed with the right information, take a look inside this newsletter and become better prepared for life’s transitions.

	Tip Sheet: Ten Ways to Help Your Child Tackle His Homework
	Check out this tip sheet, which gives 10 great ideas on what parents can do to assist their children in completing their daily homework. Click on the link below to view the tip sheet in full. http://familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,66-21258,00.html
	Additional Tip Sheet:
	Top 10 Simple Tips to Help Keep Children Safe When They Go Back To School http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content4/b2s.child.safety.html
	Article:Transition is a Journey
	Check out this article, which gives insight on looking at transition as an overall journey, not just one event. This will enlighten you and give you information to help your children look forward to changes in their lives. To view the entire article click on the link below. http://www.kidsource.com/education/transition.journey.html
	Additional articles:
	Preschool http://familyeducation.com/subchannel/0,2794,63-176,00.html
	The Kindergarten Kickoff http://familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,2-16525,00.html
	Moving Up to Middle School http://familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,2-16526,00.html
	Coping with Back-to-School Anxiety for High Schoolers http://familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,1-8858,00.html
	Preparing Children with Disabilities for School http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/learning/school_LD_students.shtml
	School Spirit Can Boost Kids’ Health http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/news2/schoolspirit9_3_96.html
	Spotlights of the Month:
	Two workshops sponsored by the Arc of Prince George’s County Education Committee entitled “Let’s Learn Together…..To Live Together” and “IEP and Inclusion”. If you would like information on either of these workshops, please click on the following link: http://www.thearcofpgc.org/events.htm
	Recommended Websites:
	http://familyfunabilities.com/children-with-disabilities/
	Spotlight a Welcoming Business:
	Community Connections would like to “Spotlight” businesses who are welcoming to children with disabilities and their families. If you would like to spotlight a business, please click on this link and we will post it free of charge on our website. Thank you.

Tip Sheet: Ten Ways to Help Your Child Tackle His Homework

This tip sheet provides 10 great ideas on helping parents work closely with their children in helping them tackle their daily homework tasks. Such ideas as creating a planning notebook, keeping a calendar, as well as motivating the child to be independent are discussed. Click on the link below to view the tip sheet in full.
http://familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,66-21258,00.html

Additional Tip Sheet: Top 10 Simple Tips to Help Keep Children Safe When They Go Back To School

Starting a new school year can be exciting yet scary for children. This tip sheet provides information on how to keep children safe during this time of transition. To view this important tip sheet in full, please click on the following link.
http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content4/b2s.child.safety.html

Articles: Transition is a Journey

This tip sheet provides 10 great ideas on helping parents work closely with their children in helping them tackle their daily homework tasks. Such ideas as creating a planning notebook, keeping a calendar, as well as motivating the child to be independent are discussed. Click on the link below to view the tip sheet in full. http://familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,66-21258,00.html

Additional articles:
The following articles are for each transitional stage. Please take a look at the age range which applies to your situation. These articles are good for both parents and teachers. Enjoy!

Preschool
http://familyeducation.com/subchannel/0,2794,63-176,00.html

The Kindergarten Kickoff
http://familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,2-16525,00.html

Moving Up to Middle School
http://familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,2-16526,00.html

Coping with Back-to-School Anxiety for High Schoolers
http://familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,1-8858,00.html

Preparing Children with Disabilities for School
http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/learning/school_LD_students.shtml

School Spirit Can Boost Kids’ Health
http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/news2/schoolspirit9_3_96.html

Spotlights of the Month!

The Arc of Prince George’s County
1401 McCormick Drive
Largo, Maryland
(301) 925-7050
http://www.thearcofpgc.org/events.htm

This month’s spotlights include two workshops sponsored by the Arc of Prince George’s County focusing on IEP and Inclusion, and Future Planning for Families with Children with Disabilities. The workshops’ information is as follows:

“Let's Learn Together...To Live Together”

A Workshop Sponsored by: The Arc of Prince George's County Education Committee; Special Education Citizen's Advisory Committee (SECAC); Prince George's County Least Restrictive Environment Committee; Special Education Department, Prince George's County Public School.

What: IEP and Inclusion. This parent & teacher workshop will explore: Goals and Objectives that support Inclusion, laws which related IEP development and requirements, and the 2004 IDEA regulation.
When: Saturday, September 17, 2005 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: The Arc of Prince George's County; 1401 McCormick Drive, Largo, MD 20774

For any questions or to RSVP: Required by Friday, Sept 9. E-mail Melonee Clark at mclark@thearcofpgc.org or Fax: 301.925.4387

"Planning For the Future of Your Child with Special Needs"

Important issues that need to be addressed: Government benefit eligibility, guardianship and conservatorship/guardian ad litem, financial security and funding options

What: This workshop will be presented by Met DESK Specialists Alan Becke, CFP; Lou Doroba, CPA; and James Allotey, CLU. Lite refreshments will be served.
When: Thursday, October 6 at 6:30 pm. The presentation will run approximately 90 minutes and there will be plenty of time afterwards to answer your questions.
Cost: Free to Arc members, $5.00 non-members
RSVP: to Bola at 301.925.7050, ext 260

For further information about each of these workshops, please click the following link: http://www.thearcofpgc.org/events.htm

Recommended Websites

Family Fun Abilities has a great list of books and resources available. To view the website, click on the following link.
http://familyfunabilities.com/children-with-disabilities/

We currently offer training and technical consultation to businesses, churches, and other community organizations to help make them more welcoming to families and children with special needs. If you know of a business or other organization that would like to take advantage of these services, please e-mail us at: communityconnections@umd.edu
OR
If you know of a business that is already welcoming to children with special needs and their families and you would like to share this information with other families and professionals, please send us your name as well as the name and contact information for the business with a brief description of why you believe they are welcoming to families. If appropriate, we will post the business on our website and we may even feature it as a 'Spotlight if the Month'. E-mail your submissions to: communityconnections@umd.edu

*Questions or Suggestions about our newsletter? Have an idea you would like to submit? Please feel free to contact us at communityconnections@umd.edu

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Disclaimer
Unless otherwise noted, all referenced articles are available at no charge to you. Community Connections provides this for informational purposes only and cannot attest to the accuracy of information provided by linked sites. The opinions and views expressed at these web sites do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of Community Connections. Any personal information requested by any of the web sites will be governed by the privacy policy at the site, and any questions you have related to the sites' use of information should be directed there. The information contained in this newsletter is not intended to make any offer or commitment to purchase, subscribe to, provide or sell any service or product or to provide any recommendations on which readers should rely.

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