THE FAIRMONT FIVE toys with staying power

Goodie, goodie, gumdrops...these toy picks bring me back to my childhood holidays when Christmas morning was a magical, mind-blowing occasion for me and my three siblings.  There were the toys we asked for (thanks to the brainwashing effects of Saturday morning cartoon commercials) and the true surprises--gifts we hadn't circled in catalogues or ogled on superstore shelves.  Most of the time, these were the toys that stood the test of time and logged hours of playtime well into the New Year.  

The best toys, I think, are the ones that encourage a dynamic play experience.  So, with this in mind, here are a few suggestions for your family:

Giant Archiquest Cardboard Blocks
Ages 3 and up
These oversized blocks offer kids the opportunity to interact with their biggest construction projects. Giant blocks are made of cardboard so they're lightweight but extremely durable to hold up to years of play. Each is printed with detailed architectural designs of European castles and buildings. Includes 48 blocks.

Wok and Roll Stir Fry Set

Ages 3 and up

This wooden Wok and Roll stir fry set includes 3 shrimps, 3 mushrooms, meat, onions, pea pods, 1 pepper, 2 skewers, tongs, a dull wood knife and a spoon. It's bound to create quite a stir for the budding chef in your family.

Tin Can Robot
Ages 8 and up
It's amazing what you can build with common items found around the house and a little imagination. This kit turns an aluminum can into a walking, wobbling, googly-eyed robot. A fun project for parents and kids to create together.

Kids City Walks

All ages

Modeled after the popular city maps for adults and adapted for kids, each City Walk set includes 50 colorful map cards and a tri-fold intro card. Perfect for discovering the cities (choose from New York, San Francisco, London, Paris and Washington D.C.) while walking the real thing or recreating a cosmopolitian tour around the house.

Snap Circuits Extreme 750-in-1 with Computer Interface

Ages 10 and up
 A Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products Winner.  With over 750 Projects, this set includes special software that allows you to "see" the electrical signals in the circuits, just like electronics engineers do using oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers.  Kids can engineer over 750 exciting, useful electronic gadgets and play lively electronic games.

photos from merchant websites

Contributed by Danyelle, Fairmont Private Schools

holiday concerts...A to Z

Here at Fairmont, the annual holiday concerts have become a beloved tradition. The wintry decor, adorable costumes, bright lights and lovely music combine to create a magical experience for the audience. To help you make the most of your student's performance, here is the full schedule of shows along with a few concert-going tips. 

2011 Holiday Concert Schedule 

Anaheim Hills Preschool Sing-a-Long

-Thursday, December 8 at 9:00am for P3 Parents

-Friday, December 9 at 9:00am for P4 and M-W-F P3 Parents

Citron Holiday Caroling 

-Thursday, December 8th at 9:30am

-Friday, December 9th at 9:30am

Edgewood Holiday Caroling by Kindergarten, 2nd and 4th grade

-Tuesday, December 13

Mable Campus 

-Wednesday, December 7: 1st and 2nd Grade Winter Performance at 9:00 a.m. AND 6:30 p.m.

-Wednesday, December 14: 6th/JH Grade Instrumental & Ensemble Winter Concert at 9:00 a.m. AND 6:30 p.m. 

Fairmont Holiday Concert Tips 

• Read the Fine Print. Many of the holiday shows have multiple performances to accommodate all the parents. Read the details in your campus e-newsletter and be sure to attend the right performance. 
• Know Where to Sit. In advance of the concert, take your child into the MPR and ask him or her to show you where he or she stands during the show so you know the best place to sit to capture that perfect picture or video. 
• Arrive Early. Parking and seating may be limited, so leave yourself some extra time to settle in and mingle with other parents. 
• Charge Up. Camera and video camera batteries seem destined to run out at the most inopportune moments. Don't risk it...charge up  the night before and bring back-ups. 
• Enjoy the Moment. It can be tempting to stay behind the camera the entire performance to capture every second of cuteness, but we recommend you snap a couple great pics and then put down the camera to truly take in the show. 

Contributed by Alyssa, Fairmont Private Schools 

BOOK REPORT snowmen at night

Snowmen at Night

by Caralyn Buehner

Kids and snowmen go together like hot chocolate and mini marshmallows.  I'm not sure what it is?  I've had the opportunity to make a snowman a few times, as an adult, and it wasn't much fun.  It's cold, hard work.  And my snowmen were generally disappointing in both stature and symmetry, compared to the Frostyesque image in my mind.  But for a child, if there's snow, there's a snowman to be made.

My children love the snowmen who come to life in Caralyn Buehner's Snowmen at Night.  The book attempts to solve the mystery of why snowmen never look quite the same day to day.  Could it be that some funny business is going on at night?  Yes, indeed.  Kids love hearing about all the fun the snowmen have at night--ice skating, sledding, playing baseball--even "drinking cups of ice cold cocoa made by snowman mothers."

You won't regret purchasing this book or checking it out from your local library.  It's a delightful read-aloud and even engages the imaginations of older kids.  Just like The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and The Polar Express, Snowmen at Night deserves a spot on your holiday bookshelf.

Contributed by Danyelle, Fairmont Schools

photo credit barnesandnoble.com

FRIDAY FOLDER december 2

Highlights From This Week 
CHOC Toy Drive 

The spirit of the holiday season is underway and our Annual Toy Drive kicked off this week. We would appreciate if you could help us by donating a toy for a boy or a girl who is in CHOC - Children's Hospital of Orange County. These children would truly benefit from receiving a special gift on Christmas morning and all year long. You can drop your donation off at the campus now until December 9th. The toys will be picked up at school by the Orange Coast Harley Davidson's Chapter. They will come to the campuses on Friday, December 9th via motorcycles. Thank you in advance for your kindness and generosity. Check out these gift tips and read the history of the toy drive. 

Winter Musical Performances 

Each campus will be hosting its holiday musical performances in the upcoming weeks and you won't want to miss it! Mark your calendars for the dates below: 

Anaheim Hills Preschool Sing-a-Long
-Thursday, December 8 at 9:00am for P3 Parents
-Friday, December 9 at 9:00am for P4 and M-W-F P3 Parents

Citron Holiday Caroling 
-Thursday, December 8th - 9:30am
-Friday, December 9th - 9:30am

Edgewood Holiday Caroling by Kindergarten, 2nd and 4th grade
-Tuesday, December 13

Mable Campus 
-Wednesday, December 7: 1st and 2nd Grade Winter Performance at 9:00 a.m. AND 6:30 p.m.
-Wednesday, December 14: 6th/JH Grade Instrumental & Ensemble Winter Concert at 9:00 a.m. AND 6:30 p.m.  

Weekly E-Newsletters 
Anaheim Hills Campus 
Citron Campus 
Edgewood Campus 
Mable Campus 

December Lunch Menus 

AH Preschool-1st Grade

AH 2nd-8th Grade

Citron

Edgewood Preschool-Kindergarten

Edgewood 1st-8th Grade 

Mable 

Contributed by Alyssa, Fairmont Private Schools 

BULLETIN BOARD happy holidays

'Tis the season to be jolly! Ring in the holidays with these festive crafts, decor and treats. 

1. DIY Button Wreath 2. Resourceful Trader Joes Gift Wrap 3. Natural Christmas Tablescape 4. Creative Mitten Advent Calendar 5. Reindeer Cake Pops 6. Snowflake Gingerbread 


Contributed by Alyssa & Danyelle, Fairmont Private Schools 

THE FAIRMONT FIVE online social coupons

The recent social coupon movement takes traditional "couponing" to a whole new level. Forget cutting around the dotted lines on your weekly ads. Online social coupons can be purchased directly through your email account, and they offer huge savings (often 50% or more) on a variety of local products and services. 

So here's the idea... Companies work with social coupon sites like Groupon or Living Social to offer special deals to costumers, but only if a predetermined minimum number of people purchase the coupon. If this number is met by the end of the time frame, the deal is on. If not, the deal is off and those that did purchase the coupon are reimbursed--thus the term "social coupon." 

It's a win-win situation, great deals for consumers and excellent exposure for companies to a wide, attentive audience. The catch? The coupon sites often take about half of the coupon proceeds, making the deal difficult for companies to front unless their coupon costumers return again and pay full price. But there are still plenty of great deals out there, just don't forget to read the fine print to make sure you really qualify for the deal (often returning customers do not). 

There are so many social coupon sites, so here's a round-up of our top 5 to get you started: 

1. GROUPON The instigator of the social coupon movement. Why Groupon? Easy to use, only one e-mail per day, ability to personalize your deals, $10 referral incentive, iPhone + Android app, excellent customer service. 
2. LIVING SOCIAL The most social of the online coupon sites. Why Living Social? Refer 3 people to the deal and you get the deal free, extensive variety of deals spanning 89 U.S. cities, only one e-mail per day, iPhone app. 
3. YELP DEALS The most intuitive place to find deals while searching for local businesses. Why Yelp Deals? Can be purchased directly from business pages on Yelp, not required to sign up for daily e-mails, simple integration with Yelp website or app, longer window of availability. 
4. DEAL GOODER Cause-related social couponing. Why Deal Gooder? 50% of the coupon sale goes to the local Charity of the Day, only one deal per day per city, available in Orange County and Los Angeles.
5. OC REGISTER DEALS Coupons recommended by writers who know Orange County. Why OC Register? Specific to the Orange County area, multiple deals each day based on specific area, easy to use. 

For a more extensive list, check out this article. Happy couponing! 

Contributed by Alyssa, Fairmont Private Schools 

HOW TO be a calmer parent

Along with tidings of comfort and joy, the holiday season seems to always bring a little extra stress. Adding shopping and decorating and family parties to your already hectic schedule can make it easier to lose your cool. But when you're around the kids, it's important to handle stressful situations with composure to set a good example. According to psychologist Matthew McKay, Ph.D., coauthor of When Anger Hurts Your Kids, "Studies have shown that parents who express a lot of anger in front of their kids end up with less empathetic children. These kids are more aggressive and more depressed than peers from calmer families, and they perform worse in school."

So how can you avoid the parental temper tantrums? Here are some helpful tips from Good Housekeeping: 

• In that white-hot moment of anger, visualize your child as a baby. "Older kids and teens are not adorable like babies, and sometimes they can be very obnoxious. When you remember them as the babies they once were, that can do some good," says Sandra P. Thomas, Ph.D.
• Take a time-out and walk into another room. Gain some literal distance from the situation to regain your cool. 
• If your anger has already boiled over, the most important thing is to own up to what you've done wrong. Apologize sincerely, promise to try not to do it again, comfort your child and move on. Dwelling on the situation can make it seem more traumatic than it really was. 
• If you've gotten into an argument with your spouse that your child overheard, it's important to circle back quickly and do damage control, says Charles Spielberger, Ph.D. Don't explain all the reasons you were upset. Just acknowledge what happened and explain that you've worked it out and that you still love each other. If possible, emphasize what you'll do differently next time. 

For more tips and ground rules for short-circuiting your anger, check out this article. 

Contributed by Alyssa, Fairmont Private Schools 

(Photo from EduGuide)