ECFE Beach Party

Get out of the cold and warm up at the ECFE Beach Party. Games, activities, crafts, snacks, and fun!

Time:9:00AM Saturday, January 9th

Location:CPS Cafeteria

Pancakes with Santa

When: Saturday, December 5th. 7:30am to 10:30am
Where: Applebee's in Cambridge, MN
Why: FUNDRAISER to benefit Family Pathway's D.R.E.A.M. Girls Program.
Cost: $6 per ticket.

Price includes: pancake breakfast, free photo with Santa, and a treat bag.

There will also be face painting, a ...silent auction, and a giving tree.TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR! D.R.E.A.M. stands for Determined, Responsible, Educated, Achieving and Motivated. It is a group that meets with middle and high school age girls to build self esteem and help them determine their futures by making good choices, not by chance or circumstance. Your support is very much appreciated! Please pass this on and share the spirit of the season.

Weekly Recipe

Pumpkin Crunch Dessert

Ingredients:
1 package
1 package yellow cake mix
1 can (16oz)
solid pack pack pumpkin
1 can (12oz)
evaporated milk
3
eggs
1 1/2 cups
sugar
4 teaspoons
pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon
salt
1 cup
chopped pecans
1 cup
melted butter
whipped topping

Preparation Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease bottom of 9x13 pan.
Combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in large bowl.
Pour into pan.
Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture.
Top with pecans.
Drizzle with melted butter.
Bake for 50-55 minutes or until golden.
Cool completely.
Serve with whipped topping.
Refrigerate leftovers. If you have any leftover, that is!!!

Weekly Recipe

Texas Caviar

1 can of garbanzo beans
1 can of black beans
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of corn
2 avocados
1 small yellow onion
a bunch of cilantro
Italian dressing
sugar
lime juice
salt

To make:Drain the beans and corn well. Put them in a bowl. Chop up the onion into very small pieces. Add them. Add about 1/3 bottle of Italian dressing to the mixture. Squirt in a whole buncha lime juice. Add some sugar. Like a 1/2 cup or something. And then add some salt. I love salt. Stir well. Cover. Chill overnight in the refrigerator.Before serving, drain the Texas Caviar quickly in a colander. Cube up the avocado and add it. Rip up as much cilantro as you want and add it too. Toss together. Serve with blue corn chips. Or Fritos. Or do what I did when I had guests last week and add some shredded smoked chicken breast and eat it with a fork as a salad.

Language & Literacy

As parents of little ones we are always trying to help our children learn and grow in some way. One of the most important ways that we can help our children succeed in life is through language and literacy skills. Think about your own life; is there an area of your life in which you never use these skills? Not likely! We use these skills at home with our family, with our friends, at work, and out and about in our community. They are essential...ask anyone who struggles with these skills.

Here are some tips from the website: www.zerotothree.org

Children Birth-12 mos

• Describe her feelings and experiences. For example, when you see that she is hungry, you can say: You are nuzzling at my shirt. You’re telling me you’re hungry. Okay, your milk is coming right up! Although your baby won’t understand your words right away, your caring, loving tone of voice and actions will make her feel understood. And hearing these words over and over again will help her come to understand them over time.
  
• Copy your baby’s sounds and encourage him to imitate you.
  
• Put words to her sounds: I think you want to tell me about the doggy over there. Look at that doggy. Hi, doggy!
  
• Sing songs you know, or make up songs about your baby (Happy bathtime to you, happy bathtime to you, happy bathtime, sweet baby, happy bathtime to you.) You don’t have to be on key or be good at carrying a tune. Babies don’t judge—they love hearing your voice.

Children 12-24 mos:

• Chat with your child. Research has found that the more parents talk with their children, the larger vocabularies those children develop. These children also use more advanced sentence structures. So chatting with your toddler—in the car, at the playground, during bath time—is very important.
  
• Notice and build on your child’s interests. Your child will let you know what interests and excites him by using his actions, facial expressions and speech. When he points out the window or gives you a questioning look, put his actions into words: Yes, that’s a squirrel. Look at him running along the fence.
  
• Use new words when you talk with your toddler. A snack can be many things: good, healthy, yummy, crunchy, round, etc. Talk about what you are doing (I have to wipe the crumbs off the table) and about what you see your child doing (You are knocking down your block tower. Watch it go boom!).

Children 24 to 36 mos:

• Talk together. Talking with your toddler helps her expand her vocabulary and learn more complex sentence structures. Talking together also develops her literacy skills as she is more comfortable and confident with language. Talk as you: ride in the car, do errands together, make a meal, take a walk. Research shows that talking with children during everyday routines increases their vocabularies.
  
• Ask open-ended questions that don’t have a yes/no answer. This helps your child develop her own ideas and opinions. If you see some ants in a line, you might say, “What tiny little ants! Where do you think they are going?”
  
• Notice the number, size, shape and color of the things around you. If you are at the supermarket, you can talk about the colors of different fruits, count out the apples as you put them in a bag, and notice that there are big fruits (like pineapple) and little fruits (like grapes).

Weekly Recipe

Creamy Wildrice Soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can Cream of Celery soup
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 small container 1/2 & 1/2 (or heavy whipping cream)
1 box chicken stock
1 cup wild rice
Carrots (I used 2 large carrots)
Celery (I used 2 stalks)
1 large onion
Garlic (as much as you like!!)

Chop up and saute the carrots, celery, and onion in butter & garlic
In large pot, add together the rest of the ingredients, add saute mixture when partially cooked.
Simmer for at least 2 hours to ensure the carrots & wild rice are cooked & tender

Tip: I also threw in a handful of marble jack cheese while it was simmering...yum!

Serve with a loaf of Take & Bake bread, breadsticks, or biscuits.
Top with cheese!

ECFE Halloween Bash!!

CI~Preschool & ECFE Halloween Bash Friday!!!! (That's today!)

10/23/2009 6:00-7:30pm Cambridge Site at CIS

All Camrbidge-Isanti Children ages Birth-5 and their families are invited to the Preschool and ECFE Halloween Party at the Cambridge Preschool and Early Childhood Rooms on Friday October 23rd from 6-7:30pm! *

Come dressed in your Halloween Costume and play games, make Halloween crafts, eat some yummy snacks and celebrate the upcoming holiday with your friends and family!

It is sure to be a fun night... Cost: FREE Just register at the door! Ages: Birth to 5 AND their Families!

Hope to See you there!

Sponsored by the Cambridge Isanti Early Childhood Advisory Council