April Enews

A huge thank you to Julie Kelly and Barry Goldman for generously donating the cost of the ice blocks for our giant ice castle at the Ice Castle Festival and Play Day.

The Case Against Early Reading

Jennifer Ligeti's recent blog post The rush to read, an argument against early reading, has gone viral, with 1000+ Facebook shares and a huge number of views and comments on our blog.

Check out what everybody's talking about and join the discussion on the Sunflower blog!

Want to do more?
Visit the Alliance for Childhood's website to find out how you can advocate for children on this issue.

Greetings!

Upcoming Events

Check our website calendar often for updates! We update this page each Monday.

G.O.! (Get Outside) Event
Thursday, April 12, 3:00 -- 5:00 pm
Green Cay Nature Center, Boynton Beach
No fee. For all ages, open to all. Come any time between 3:00 and 5:00 pm.

Circle of Song (infants age 5, with adult)
Friday, April 13, 9:30--10:15 am
at Sunflower
$15, includes all children in family

Share & Learn Park Playdate
Friday, April 20, 9:30--11:00 am
George Snow Park, Boca Raton
No fee. Bring your children to play; Susan will lead parents in a discussion of current parenting topics and concerns.

Teen Improv Coffeehouse
Friday, April 20, 7:00 -- 9:00 pm
at Sunflower
Teens (13 and older) and Adults only
Adults, $10. Students, free (or donation)
Ticket covers the evening including cappuchino, coffee, tea, homemade brownies, scones, live music and, of course, wildly creative Improv.

Earth Day Celebration
Saturday, April 28, 10:00 am -- 3:00 pm

Daggerwing Nature Center

Boca Raton

This is a free family event, hosted by Daggerwing Nature Center and Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department. We invite all Sunflower Roots & Shoots members to meet up and attend this event. Come out and support our local nature center with your Roots & Shoots friends!

12th Night Performance by We Love Shakespeare!
Saturday, May 5, and Sunday, May 6, 2:00--4:00 pm
Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center

Sunflower Donor and Volunteer Thank You Reception
Sunday, May 6, 1:00--1:45 pm (before 12th Night performance)
Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center

Cocktails with a Twist Fundraiser Party
Friday, May 11, 5:30--7:30 pm
at George and Jennifer Ligeti's home in Boca Bath and Tennis
$25 per person

A fundraiser to benefit Sunflower Creative Arts. Wine tasting and premium Tequila tasting featuring Johnny Stange, C.M.S. Sommelier. Delicious hors d'oeuvres will be served. Surprises for you!

Please RSVP by May 4. Send check payable to Sunflower Creative Arts. Additional donations greatly appreciated!

Sunflower Theatre Mini-Camp in July!
Sunflower is offering a month of Storytime Drama and Theatre Workshop mini-camps in July! Camps will be taught by our new theatre teacher Whitney Stange, and will run Monday through Friday each week:

Storytime Drama (ages 5-7) 9:30 -- 11:30 am, M-F
Theatre Workshop (ages 7-12) 12:30 -- 2:30 pm, M-F

Camp weeks are July 9-13, July 16-20, July 23-27 and July
30-Aug. 3, 2012.

Early Registration Cost is $110/week, (before May 1).

*Sign up for all four weeks by May 1 and pay only $100 per week!
Cost after May 1 is $125/week .

Want to check out a free class? Join our Storytime Drama and Theatre Workshop classes on Tuesday afternoons through May 22. First class free for first-time families. Call 561 482-3412 to RSVP.

Visit our website for more information or call 561 482-3412.

Storytime drama students

Imagine the possibilities...
by Whitney

In Summer Theatre Mini Camps, actors will participate in activities that will stretch their creativity. Improvisation, theatre games, story creation, and set and prop production will all be aspects of this summer's programs. Each week the students will create an original theatre piece, which will be performed on the Friday of that week. The idea is to give each child a total theatre experience, while working with other children towards a common goal. [...]...»

Balancing Risk and Safety (part 1)

by Susan

In my work with children and families, I have been thinking more and more about risk assessment, the importance of risk for healthy development, how to balance risk with reasonable safety, how experiences managing risk build capable children who become responsible for their own safety, and how especially in the US fear and litigation tangle [...]...»

Balancing Risk and safety (part 2):
Refiguring fearful equations

by Susan

In part 1, I wrote about how, as parents, our emotions and resulting fear can cloud our ability to effectively assess risk in our children's lives. It isn't easy but experiencing risk is the only way we all learn. The US is lagging far behind in blowing away the clouds toward clearer thinking on this topic. A leading [...]...»

Photo essay: Seedlings Moms' Ice Cream Social

by Jaime

In March, Seedlings moms were treated to a special ice cream social in their honor. The afternoon included special performances by our youngest theatre students from Storytime Drama and Theatre Workshop. Check out the day in photos on our blog...

The Lasting Traditions

by Jonathan

When stressed or overwhelmed I seek the things that provide familiarity. Traditions that stir warm childhood memories. What provides me the most comfort are the small traditions gathered throughout my whole life. Most of these traditions were not planned or marked on the calendar. As a child art supplies were always available. After a particularly [...]...»

Falling Down

Seedlings mom Cindy Thagard talks about finding a balance between protecting her children and allowing them to learn through exploring the world around them, in this guest post on our blog.

While at a hotel pool with some of our friends, a few of our kids were playing on the lounge chairs. This was a very nice hotel with fully covered lounge chairs, not the kind with slats [...]...»

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Playfully yours,

Susan Caruso
Sunflower Creative Arts