The earlier we “pay attention” and serve the needs of our youngest children,the better their future and ours is going to be! Please join us to find out how businessesare directly influenced by Early Childhood Education and how you can make a difference.

Early Childhood. What’s it to you? Luncheon

Friday, September 24, 201011:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

$15 at the door. Please make checks payable to Char-Em Great Start.

RSVP to Sommer Poquette at 231.582.8070

Stafford’s Perry Hotel100 Lewis Street, Petoskey, MI

Featured Speaker:  Charlie MacInnis – North Central Michigan College

Director of Public Relations

Click here for a downloadable flyer to invite friends, legislators and businesses or send them an email including this link:

http://greatstartforkids.com/early-childhood-luncheon/

It is that time of year, back to school time! Bins and bins of sale items can be found at local stores, classroom welcome notes from teachers with long lists and children needing new coats, shoes and more! It adds up and the more children the more money it costs so how can a family save money when it comes to heading back to school? Is it possible to not break the bank?

Yes.

Here are 5 Simple Back to School Money Saving Tips:

1. Buy Used. Hit the local resale shops, eBay Classifieds or even eBay! There are fabulous buys at your local resale and Good Will shops that are new or like new. From back packs to shoes and jeans you’ll find some major bargains and save money!

2.  Reuse. Why do you need a new back pack or lunch box when last year’s looks like new? Your child could make their old back pack or lunch bag look new by sewing on patches or using stickers to decorate their bag and make it unique. Try having clothing or back to school swap with friends and what is old to one child is new to another!

3.  Shop Sales. Buy in Bulk. Back to school season means you can find crayons for $.50 per box, buy one get one free items, etc. but one month from now the items are marked up again. So stock up, put the items away and you’ll find yourself not having to buy more crayons, pencils, paper and rules in January!

4.  Waste Free Lunch. Skip the juice boxes, baggies and throw away items if you pack lunch. Consider a waste free lunch system like the FUEL and you’ll over time find you’ll save money and help the environment.

5.  Coupons. Start clipping coupons or printing them from sites like Coupon Mountain, My Coupons, Retail Me Not, Moms Need to Know, or Bargain Briana and you’ll save year around!

What back to school savings and tips do you have?

Conscious Discipline

Positive Parenting / Care giving

FREE Training!  Date/time: Sept. 21, 2010 from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

NO Child Care

RSVP to Aimee by Sept. 13th @ NMCAA 1-800-632-7334

Who may attend?

* NMCAA Head Start / EHS parents and care givers

* parents and care givers from local schools and community agencies *

* Professionals new to Conscious Discipline *

What will you learn?

* Learn to practice composure & teach children coping skills *

* How to be less stressed in parenting /care giving

* How to maintain positive relationships with your children

* How to help children do what is expected

NMCAA Teacher & Coach – Lesa Rice, CCDI presents to parents @ TBA ISD

TBA ISD @ 1101 Red Dr. Traverse City, Mi 49684 – Conference Room:  A & B

Training will be an interactive distance learning experience and broadcasted for parents at the following remote locations:

Wex/Miss ISD @ 9905 East 13th St. Cadillac, Mi 49601 – Conference Room: 517

Char-Em ISD @ 08568 Mercer Blvd. Charlevoix, Mi 49720

Conference Room:  Large

COOR ISD @ 11051 North Cut Rd. Roscommon, Mi 48653

Conference room:  Board Room @ Central Office

For a printable flyer click here.

It will only take one minute to run into the store and grab a gallon of milk.

It will only take one minute to grab some stamps at the post office.

It will only take one minute to run into a friend’s house and grab something you forgot yesterday.

It only takes one minute for you to make the biggest mistake of your life.

It is easy to do. It is easy to make excuses for. Many of us are guilty of leaving a child in the car for just one short minute.  It just is not worth it! Besides it being illegal to leave a child in a car unattended it isn’t fair and can kill a child. Nobody wants this!

“Every year, more than 30 children die because they are alone in a car. In just 10 minutes a car’s temperature can increase by 19 degrees – and it continues to rise.”

Grab this quick flyer.  Link to this article on your Facebook page, share the YouTube Video and visit Safe Kids for other ways to spread this important message.

1.  Snacks. Packing healthy snacks will save you money from stopping to eat and will be healthier.  Nick Jr. offers some easy to make snacks that can be packed and stored in a lunch box or cooler.

2.  Road Games. Easy and fun games like traveling Bingo will keep the kids busy and Nick Jr. offers free printables for families to create the Bingo game or coloring sheets. All you’ll need is a clipboard and crayons!

3.  Safety. Keep kids safe while traveling and everyone will be happier. Make sure your child is in their booster or car seat correctly. Make no excuses allowing children to unbuckle or not sit in their booster or car seat.

4.  Hydration. Keep everyone happy with water in reusable water bottles. For a great selection try The Soft Landing.

The Sandbox Party Convention (click here for the flyer) will be a first of a kind event that will highlight gubernatorial candidates whom we will ask to share their platform and how they view early childhood investment in Michigan.  There will also be other short speeches broken up by performances, interactive crowd activities, bands, etc.  We have just confirmed The Verve Pipe to perform at Convention and will have many more exciting announcements as we approach our August 26^th event.

As Star Power focused on the State’s budget, The Sandbox Party Convention will focus on the importance of this year’s election in regards to early childhood. Many of us know that Michigan is currently in deep financial crisis and many programs and services are on the verge of being cut. The responsibility of restoring Michigan will fall to a new Governor and a new crop of legislators. We need to educate these new legislators about the positive economic impact of investing in early childhood programs in an effort to rebuild our state.

The Sandbox Party was created with the notion that no matter where you live, how much money you make, whatorganization you belong to, if you have a child, if you are familiar with early childhood programs or not – as a citizen of Michigan, investment in early childhood is the key to rebuilding our state.

Registration (Registration website will re-open on Thursday, July 1^st)

We encourage you to register online at www.greatstartforkids.org/convention-2010 so we can get a feel for how many people will be attending.  Please help us save money by registering each individual member of your group attending Convention.  This money can then be used to make future events even better.

This event is open to anyone who would like to come.  Even if someone hasn’t registered, this event will be a family friendly with an open door policy.  The Breslin Center has a capacity of 15,085 seats so unless we go over that number, we will not turn anyone away from the door.

Food

The Convention will take place from 1-4 so it will not be during any standard meal times.  Snacks will be available to purchase from a few open vendor booths at the Convention. Please check the website for updates about food at the Convention.

Signs/Noisemakers/Etc.

You will be allowed to bring in your own signage and noisemakers.  Please do not bring signs that are inappropriate for a family environment, have sharp ends or are so large that they would disturb other attendees.  We also ask that air horns and bullhorns be left at home.  Items that are disturbing to others, offensive or dangerous will be confiscated.

Parking

Please check website for parking information and updates.

Strollers

Strollers are welcome but as a majority of the seating will be stadium seating, strollers do not maneuver well down sets of stairs.  Therefore, we will have designated “stroller” parking so you can bring your stroller, and park it nearby while you and your family are seated.

Live Michigan Gubernatorial Candidate Twitter Forum Focusing on Early Childhood

Monday, June 21^st from 12p-1p EST

It’s FREE!  Here’s how to attend…

1. Join our discussion by using the #greatstart hashtag in each of your tweets so we can all follow the conversation during the party.

2. 
Follow the Gubernatorial Candidates (@Mike_Cox @george4govenor @Dillon4MI @bouchardforgov)  @greatstart the host so we can respond to the discussion and answer questions.

3.  Click here to use a special Tweet Grid link that has been specifically created for this forum to make following the conversation easier.

4.  If you don’t have a Twitter account, sign up here.

For a free flyer to share or link to click here.

Who can apply for the training? Any parent in Michigan who has a child age birth to 18 years old and has received specialty public services in Michigan for their child. How long is the training session? On day one the training will be held from 1pm – 8pm. On day 2 the training will be held from 9am – 4pm. Parents need to attend both days. Where is the training located? Marquette is July 12-13, 2010 and Oakland County is July 20-21, 2010. Is there childcare provided during the training? No, however we provide reimbursement for money you spend on childcare while at the training. Who pays for the training? There is no cost to parents to attend. Parents also receive a honoraria for their time, mileage reimbursement, and hotel (if they are traveling over 50 miles each way). Meals during the training are provided.

Please apply online using the link on the attached flyer.  For more information contact Sarah Wedepohl at swedepohl@me.com or 248.761.2553.

A Grate Gift for Dad. This clever trio is a tasty way to honor the King of the Grill on Father’s Day. And who doesn’t love dessert (they’re cupcakes!)?

Formal Greetings. Even if the dad in your house isn’t a shirt-and-tie kind of guy, he’s sure to love this stylish Father’s Day card.

Crafty Computer Frame. We’ve all seen decorative mouse pads, but what about the computer itself? This monitor frame, made from craft foam and dotted with photos of your family, will turn Dad’s home or office computer into a much more colorful — and endearing — place.

For more Father’s Day fun and fare, visit http://familyfun.go.com/fathers-day/ or check out the latest issue of Disney FamilyFun – on newsstands now.