May is for Mothers!

We are kicking off our 5th month of donations for Everyday Angels: Blessing Bags of Downriver! 

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Everyday Angels: BBofD we are a group of 75+ people who donate to different non-profit organizations each month. We usually get a list of items that are needed and either do a large group donation or make individual 'blessing bags'. We have made 'blessing bags' for our cars to hand out to people that are homeless, a women's & children violence shelter, 242 bags for a headstart, and an animal shelter. 

In May we are donating to The Pregnancy Crisis Center in Lincoln Park. This is a group that is staffed with trained and caring volunteers and operate on donations by individuals and organizations They help whether you are single or married regardless of age, race, gender, or religion. They serve Allen Park, Taylor, Dearborn, parts of Southeast Detroit, Melvindale, Wyandotte, and Southgate. 

I would LOVE to be able to give these people who are in need a BIG donation. What is nice is that they take gently used clothing and big ticket items (bouncers, walkers, etc.). Here is what they would like as donations:

**Diapers....all sizes, especially newborn

**Formula - Enfamil with iron

**Bottles...any kinds and nipples.
Baby food jars any stage and baby cereal.
Baby wipes...

Baby lotions, shampoos, ointments.
Breast pumps...nursing pads.
Cribs...new only.
Crib mattresses....new or used.
Strollers...swings...bouncer chairs...bathtubs
Crib sheets and bassinet sheets

Bassinets ..
Sleepers....from newborn to 2T
Onesies T-shirts all sizes
Outfits...0 to 6 months boy and girl.
Any size pajamas ...
Clothing for sizes 2T 3T 4T

**Urgent Material Need

Let's do all we can to make May a GREAT donation month. 

Donations can be dropped off at our home base at any time. I can meet you if you live far or even come to your house and pick it up if you are in the downriver area. If you even have a sleeper and a jar of food...that can help!

If you would like to join our group, here is a link!

Everyday Angels: BBofD

Understanding State Guidelines...and why not to get worked up

So, I was extremely pissed about the new changes in the guidelines of age requirements for kindergarten. It's funny that with being a kindergarten teacher for four years, I did not rally around this change. I was however, ignorant to the stipulations until today! The change in the law was that your child needed to be 5 by September 1st starting in 2014. (Me being a parent of 2 children that were born in November, and one soon to be in October; I found this incredibly unfair.) There is a wavier that can be signed that parents can sign, so I told myself that with my educational background, if I feel that our kids are ready - they are going.

I am guessing that the goal for this change was to get people to send their kids to preschool to get them ready for kindergarten. I found out today - after researching schools for my big girl, that the change was indeed to encourage parents to send their kids to preschool. *Children that were born by December 1st of that school year can be in kindergarten as long as they have had a least one year of preschool.* I understand. I taught kindergarten for 4 years in the inner-city. I know what it's like having kids come in that have had no school experience what-so-ever. I know that some of them were ready, regardless of prior school experience and others - even if they had preschool were still not ready.

I am a strong believer in giving some assessments to see if a child is ready for school or not. I do know that one assessment is not enough, and that if we want our educational system to rival other countries then we need to get serious about it. There needs to be many different assessments and show of growth from the age of 3 -5 to decide whether or not a child is ready for kindergarten. Here comes the preschool. Since preschool is not free and kindergarten is not even required in the state of Michigan how can we expect parents to take education seriously? Unless a parent is raised in a home where education was important to their parents they aren't going to understand the importance of preschool and early childhood education.

My birthday is Sept. 9, after 2 years of preschool I was more then ready for kindergarten. However, education was important in our home. I understand the changes in the guidelines now, early childhood education is very important...and if I can get this kid potty trained...her butt will be in preschool this fall!