IPC Day School

IPC Day School

Monday, August 31, 2020

First Day of School at IPC Day School

Wow! After months of following health recommendations and guidelines from the various Health Departments, the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics, we created our wellness protocols and are ready to open our doors for another exciting year....our 55th year to be exact!

The staff will gather early before school starts to begin our day in prayer. I thought a lot about what our prayer should include and realized there is much gratitude to offer and help to ask for. We would love to have you, as an important part of our village as we teach your children, pray along with us. And help your children learn to pray for each other and their teachers. The power of prayer is real and we thank you for joining us in prayer for a great school year!

Dear Gracious Father,

As we embark on a new school year amid the COVID-19 crisis, we are grateful for our wonderful staff from teachers to our tech and housekeeping staff and to the entire church staff, who have all worked so hard together to make this school year possible. We thank you, too, for our families who are entrusting their children to us as scary as it may feel; please give them a sense of assurance and peace about their decisions. We thank you especially for the precious children, who will come to us as new or returning students, wide-eyed after being home for so long, some excited and smiling, others tearful and sad to leave mom or dad. Help us remember, God, these children are yours and that you love them more than we ever could. 

We ask for continued guidance as we try keep everyone safe and well and to execute the plans our teachers and staff have worked so thoughtfully to create; we ask for patience with each other and our families if we have to tweak any of those excellent plans and as we navigate new schedules and different carpool protocols.  We pray for good health as we take all possible precautions to prevent the spread of the virus; we pray for stamina to match the children's energy; and we pray that we can remember to slow down and appreciate all we have and all you have bestowed upon us; and grant us times of peaceful rest to sustain us. Lastly, we pray for God's continued grace upon everyone in the Day School and that we are open to receive this amazing grace. Help us remember when we feel weighed down by our day to day activities and responsibilities that you, Lord, are with us every moment of everyday, and that when we feel we can no longer take a step on our own, we don't have to because you are there to carry us.  Let us not be anxious or worried, but rather let us praise and honor you in all we do and let us reflect your light and experience your joy. 

In your name we pray, Amen.

Note: Now that school has begun, the blog will revert back to  more happenings from the Day School so we can share what is going on. 

Sunday, August 30, 2020

Join Us For Worship @ IPC

 


WORSHIP.

SPECIAL RESERVATION ONLY OUTDOOOR WORSHIP AT 8:30 AM
Make reservations for this service here.
Due to COVID-19 precautions, everyone planning on attending must have reservations. Capacity is 50 people. Masks and social distancing required. No bulletins will be handed out, so download yours at home and print it here. 
NOTE: This service will not be livestreamed. In the event of rain, the service will be cancelled. No childcare provided. If you have a reservation and cannot make it, please cancel it to allow someone else to sign up. Thank you!
Worship with us on Sundays at 11 am via livestream at https://www.youtube.com/user/IPCBirmingham/live
JOIN US FOR WORSHIP AT 11 AM VIA LIVESTREAM
Download a bulletin at home here. 
The livestream will be available here or through the IPC Facebook page. 
Please continue to remember to support the church. Offerings may be submitted online, by mail to 3100 Highland Avenue S. | Birmingham, AL 35205 or through the ShelbyNEXT app. 
Let us know you are worshipping with us by filling out this attendance form at the start of worship.
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Thursday, August 27, 2020

If You Take A Mouse To School

                       

Many children have already started school and many more are starting soon! One fun back-to-school book to read to your children or listen to on You Tube is If You Take A Mouse To School by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond. Children love the funny chain of events that take place in all her "If You...." books. All the things the mouse does in this book will be great reminders of what awaits them when they do go back to school. So read your own copy or listen and watch If You Take a Mouse to School on You Tube. And, we will see you at Meet The Teacher!

After reading the book, let your child choose some activities to replicate from the book, or you can choose a few to have them do. Here are some ideas straight from the pages:

This is a great opportunity to talk about taking lunch to school and pulling out the lunchbox. (Remember, this year we are asking that you send your child's lunch in a Bento box-style lunchbox with one lid that covers everything.  They are available in many places and at many price points. This will minimize the amount of contact the teacher has with your child's food.) You may even want to prepare or let your child help prepare lunch food and put it in the compartments. And, it is a good time with older ones to talk about what they would like to take for lunch. Having some input will excite and empower the child. 

Practice washing hands correctly for 20 seconds.

 Do a science experiment (there are some on previous blog posts i.e. about coloring with leaves, walking water). 

Read a book.

Make a book. Your child can dictate a short story for you to write down, or you could staple some pages together that they could just draw in or color.

 Build a little mouse house with legos or whatever blocks you have. 

Count - how high depends on your child's age; have them actually count objects with one-to-one correspondence rather than just recite if they are able. You can also have your child group objects in 2,s 3's, etc. 

Go outside and play ball.

<skip the skateboarding with preschoolers!> 

Make a snack to eat together. 

These should be fun and surely help get your child excited about school and, of course, as always they will love spending time with you doing these activities.

Monday, August 24, 2020

Overnight Oats For Busy School Mornings

As we look forward to the Day School beginning its new year, we all start thinking about getting organized. One thing that always comes to mind is a quick pre-prepared breakfast to take some stress off the morning. In the last post, I shared a great recipe for Big Breakfast Cookies (made with oats). Today, let's talk about the ease of overnight oats. The best thing about this recipe is that it lends itself to infinite combinations added to the basics so everyone in the family can personalize to their tastes. Kids will love helping prepare these and, once again, the list of lessons children learn in the kitchen is amazing.

This recipe is made in mason jars, 10-ounce size for adults and bigger kids, 6-ounce size for your younger children. For the smaller size, just half the first 3 main ingredients and add other ingredients according to taste. 

OVERNIGHT OATS

Layer these ingredients in this order. 

Next consider what your add-ins will be. The sky's the limit but I listed a few ideas below. Once you have added the extras to your jar, screw the lid on tight, and shake. This is fun for the children, just remind them to be careful with the glass jar. Refrigerate overnight and enjoy in the morning. If you do not like the cold mixture, you can also microwave this for a warm breakfast. 

Once I have the ingredients out, I make multiple jars at once since they stay fresh in the refrigerator until I am ready to use. I usually make each jar different so I have a variety to choose from. You could have your children make several at a time, too, so breakfast is covered for days. 

Apples and cinnamon

Nut butter and chocolate chips

Berries and honey

Nuts with anything

Chia seeds for added protein

Bananas and nut butter

Coconut and chocolate chips

Any fruit in season



Sunday, August 23, 2020

Worship With Us At IPC

 

WORSHIP.

SPECIAL RESERVATION ONLY OUTDOOOR WORSHIP AT 8:30 AM
Make reservations for this service here.
Due to COVID-19 precautions, everyone planning on attending must have reservations. Capacity is 50 people. Masks and social distancing required. No bulletins will be handed out, so download yours at home and print it here. 
NOTE: This service will not be livestreamed. No childcare provided. If you have a reservation and cannot make it, please cancel it to allow someone else to sign up. Thank you!
Worship with us on Sundays at 11 am via livestream at https://www.youtube.com/user/IPCBirmingham/live
JOIN US FOR WORSHIP AT 11 AM VIA LIVESTREAM
Download a bulletin at home here. 
The livestream will be available here or through the IPC Facebook page. 
Please continue to remember to support the church. Offerings may be submitted online, by mail to 3100 Highland Avenue S. | Birmingham, AL 35205 or through the ShelbyNEXT app. 
Let us know you are worshipping with us by filling out this attendance form at the start of worship.
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Independent Presbyterian Church
3100 Highland Avenue
Birmingham, AL 35205

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Strengthen Those Little Fingers


There are many activities that require strong little fingers and there are many ways to help your child strengthen their fingers.

Let your child play with a baster or an eye dropper in the bathtub or in a plastic kiddie pool to squeeze water in and then squeeze water out. Your child could also transfer water from one container to another outside. 

If you can stand the mess, you could let your child do something you would normally not allow and let them use their different fingers, one at a time, to smash blueberries or green peas....thumb, pointer, middle finger or tall man, ring finger, pinkie. 

Another fun strengthening activity is to give your child a clothespin or a pair of tongs to use to transfer pom pons or cotton balls from one container to another. If you have a variety of colors, you could even add sorting into this activity.

                                                      

                                            

Singing songs or rhymes that have finger movements like "Where is Thumb Man?" or "Five Little Pumpkins" are also great for strengthening, counting, and dexterity. You can make up finger movements for any rhymes you know and your children will think it is fun and it will help them remember them.

Monday, August 17, 2020

Get Out Your Oats!

 Oats can used to make a plethora of good-for-us foods. Other than eating warm oatmeal on a cool day, one of my favorite ways to get my oats is with these Big Breakfast Cookies. They are great for a ready-made breakfast, snack or lunch extra. My grandkids actually think they are dessert because they are yummy!

BIG BREAKFAST COOKIES - Makes 12 big or 16 smaller

1 cup applesauce

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla

1 ½ cups oats

2 mashed bananas

⅓ cup raisins, craisins, any dried fruit or chocolate chips

¼ cup chopped nuts, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the applesauce, cinnamon and vanilla in a large bowl. Add oats, bananas, raisins and nuts, (if using) and stir. Let sit 10 minutes. 

While you are waiting, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. An easy trick to making your parchment paper not curl up is to wad it up (like you used to make paper balls to throw in the trash can like a basketball!) and then flatten it back out. Voila!

After 10 minutes, drop by spoonfuls onto your prepared pan and flatten a little. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Cool on a rack. Enjoy! These also freeze well. Microwave to warm.

When you have emptied an oat container, recycle it. Not in your recycling bin yet, but help your child make a drum.

You can cover it with construction paper. Have your child help measure and cut the paper. You can attach with glue or tape. They can add paint, glitter, pom pons, or stickers. Whatever you have on hand. Turn on some music and let your kids beat on their drums with their hands or chopsticks. To get a good laugh out of them, dance along!




Sunday, August 16, 2020

Join IPC To Worship and Learn

 

WORSHIP.

Worship with us on Sundays at 11 am via livestream at https://www.youtube.com/user/IPCBirmingham/live
JOIN US FOR WORSHIP AT 11 AM VIA LIVESTREAM
Download a bulletin at home here. 
The livestream will be available here or through the IPC Facebook page. 
Please continue to remember to support the church. Offerings may be submitted online, by mail to 3100 Highland Avenue S. | Birmingham, AL 35205 or through the ShelbyNEXT app. 
Let us know you are worshipping with us by filling out this attendance form at the start of worship.
FINAL SUMMER ADULT CLASS
Click on the link below to view this week's offering for adults:
NOTE: Currently, there are no youth or children's classes. Older classes, including VBS and Bible in 90 Days, can be found on our YouTube channel.
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