December Fun Club

Fun Club will be at the Bloomington Library on Thursday, December 6th. 

Families may choose the time slot they would like to attend to complete games and crafts about mice and rhyming fun. 

Activity Stations:  5:30-6:10 or 6:50-7:30 
Story time:  6:15-6:45

Each Head Start child attending will be getting the book, Mice are Nice.  It is a book with rhyming text.  Parents will be talking about playing with language to help their child become ready to be a reader while children are at story time.

Christmas Parade

Please come out and support Heartland Head Start Saturday Dec 1, 2012 during the annual Jaycee's Christmas Parade.  The parade begins at 10:00 AM.  The parade route is Kingsley Jr. High School to downtown Bloomington.  Head Start staff will be passing out boxes of crayons to the children along the parade route.

Fun Club

 Join us for one of our November Fun Club nights.  Each Head Start child attending will receive a free book.  The book for November is, Smelly Socks.  Families will have fun playing games and making crafts all related to socks and smells! 

Pontiac - First Presbyterian Church      

Monday, November 12      

6:00 PM - 7:15 PM

Normal Public Library                

Tuesday, November 13               

5:30 PM - 7:00 PM                      

Bloomington Public Library

Thursday, November 15

5:30 PM - 6:45 PM OR  6:15 PM - 7:30 PM

ABC Team's Fall Olympics

Sugar Creek Elementary School
200 N. Towanda Ave., Normal
Friday, November 2nd
Come anytime from 5:30 -7:00 PM

Each child attending will be given a free book

Families will have an opportunity to play together at several activity stations

Story time for families to enjoy.

October Fun Club

The book children will be getting at Fun Club in October is,

More Spaghetti I Say. 

Plan to attend one of the Fun Club nights to enjoy our many

Playful Pasta activities. 

Fun Club dates for October:

Tuesday, October 9           Normal Library                    
Thursday, October 11        Bloomington Library            
                                          5:30-6:45 PM     or     6:10-7:30 PM

Monday, October 15         First Presbyterian Church, Pontiac                          
                                         6:00- 7:15 PM

Buggy for Books!

Heartland Head Start families have begun the Read At Home program for this year.  This year's theme is "Buggy for Books." 

Each family should have recieved a calendar and a book,
I'm a Little Caterpillar.  Families write the number of books they are reading at home with their child each day on the calendar and return it in their child's book bag the first week of the following month.  Each class will be using a poster to track the number of books they are reading.

Last year families read 26,000 books. 

 Let's read even more this year.

Food Distribution Days

Heartland Head Start, United Way of McLean County and Midwest Food Bank partner to provide our families one food distribution day each month.  The scheduled dates for the next few months are:

Thursday, October 4, 2012,    Thrusday, November 8, 2012,  Thrusday, Decemebt 6, 2012

The food distribution takes place between 3 and 5 PM in the lower level of Mid-Central Community Action.  Enter the building from the back parking lot off of Stillwell St.

We not only distribute free food, we also may have other activities such as food tastings, cooking demonstrations, or cooking related items to give-away. 

If you have a food emergency or need trasportation assistance to the food distribution, contact your FRA. 

Parent and Child Connection Meetings

All centers will have a Parent and Child Connection meeting the week of November 5th. 
Different Centers are scheduled on different days of the week.
Please check your child's book bag for information concerning the meeting at your center.

Policy Council

  Please join us at the October meeting scheduled for Wednesday, October 10, 2012.

This meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 10, 2012 at Stillwell West. The address is 1407 W. Washington Street in Bloomington. There will be a light meal and social time at 5:30 with the meeting starting at 6:00PM. Policy Council is an important decision-making group made up primarily of parents of enrolled Head Start children who are elected by their peers. There are also Community Representatives serving on the Policy Council. The October meeting will be the final meeting for our outgoing council and the first meeting for our incoming group. Thank you to all who have served this program so well!

Let's Get "Buggy for Books!"

This year we will be kicking off our Read At Home program with a theme of "Buggy for Books!" 

Last year families read 26,000 books and we are sure you can read even more!

Make sure you attend the first Parent Child Connection (PCC) meeting to learn more about how your family can join in the reading fun. The PCC meetings will be held the week of Sept. 17th.  You will be getting specific information about your classroom's meeting in early Sept.

First Book and Parent Packets

Heartland Head Start is very fortunate to have a First Book grant.  We are able to purchase books for the parent packets in McLean County with this grant money.  These books go home with children in their book bags as part of their monthly Parent Packet. 

Money from Pontiac United Way allows us to purchase books to include in Parent Packets in Pontiac. 

 Having books in the home plays a key role in helping children become readers.  Thank you so much to both of these organizations for helping families build home libraries.

Last year Heartland Head Start Families were given over 8,000 books.   

Join us for our first Fun Club

Ready for some fun with books?  Join us at the first Fun Club of the year.  Your Head Start child will recieve a book to keep and you and your child will complete many fun activities based on the theme of the book.  In September we will be making cat masks, mixing colors, and getting library cards.  Children will  attend a storytime.  If you don't already have a library card, please bring proof of address (a piece of mail can work) and a form of ID with you.  Your child can get a library card too.

Fun Club in September:

• Mon., Sept. 10       Pontiac Public Library             
• 6:00-7:00 PM
• Tues., Sept. 11       Normal Public Library            
• 5:30-6:45 or 6:10-7:30 PM
• Thurs., Sept. 13      Bloomington Public LIbrary    
• 5:30-6:45 or 6:10-7:30 PM

Choose the night, time and library that work best for your family.

SEE YOU AT FUN CLUB!

Heartland Head Start families are raising readers!  Last school year families were challenged to read 25,000 books. They read 26,000 books to their children during our Read At Home program.   Reading aloud with a child has been called the most important thing to do to help a child be ready to become a reader.  Let's continue the reading challenge and read more than 26,000 this year!