Welcome to the June 2010 Camden Macarthur Child Care Directory Newsletter.

This month we welcome Gumnut Kidz Kindergarten at Narellan to the directory. Below you can read information about this service as well use the link to visit their detailed listings.

This month we also welcome Learning Links to our Professionals for Children Directory, read more below.
Pencil Grips Plus also joins our Special Needs Directory and we welcome Enchanted Cubby House and Pencil Grips Plus to our Resources For Parents Directory.

Some child care services still have vacancies for 2010, so be quick to get in contact with the services that you are interested in and get your child's name on the list for 2010 be sure to check out the detailed listings.

This month's parent resource is about Kids and Poison. As a parent it's hard to be prepared for all emergencies, but we hope our parent resource will give you some useful information should your little one come into contact with poison.

WIN...WIN....have you used our website to look or find child care? This month you have a chance to win a great prize pack valued at $50.00 from www.bellesfamilles.com.au

For your chance to win simply email us to go into the draw and tell us if you have used our newsletter or site to find or look for care.

Until next month, kind regards, Donna

Gumnut Kidz Kindergarten is tucked away in a quiet street in Narellan at 24 Wilton Street and is walking distance from Narellan Town Centre, Narellan Library, Narellan Public School and Hope Christian College.

The indoor environment is welcoming and reflects an extension of the children's homes and is designed with interesting and engaging learning spaces for children to explore and learn in. Outside, there is a natural play space that beckons the children to connect with it through the vegetable and herb garden, fruit plantings, dry creek bed, sand pit and worm farm. Education in relation to environmental sustainability and respect for our world is fostered throughout the Service's operations.

Delicious and nutritious meals are provided for children each day. The menu is planned in conjunction with the National Dietary Guidelines for Long Day Care Centres and reflects cultures from the children and family within the Service as well as the wider community.

Learning Links is an Australian charity and non-profit organisation formed to help children who have learning disabilities, difficulties and developmental delays and their families.

Our services include early childhood intervention, full cognitive, developmental and paediatric assessments, individualised and supplementary specialist literacy and numeracy services, specialised help for children who have had serious illnesses, an in-school reading program for children falling behind in literacy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, physiotherapy, family counselling, case management, group programs and workshops. The children we help range in age from birth to 18 years.

Our service brings together early childhood professionals, teachers, psychologists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, social workers, family counsellors and a developmental paediatrician to work towards each individual child's goals and to help each family achieve their dreams for their child. Learning Links helps children to be the best they can be. For more information: www.learninglinks.org.au

Pencil Grips Plus is owned and operated by a qualified paediatric Occupational Therapist. At Pencil Grips Plus, we are able to offer a unique service whereby we can guide and assist you in making product choices based on individual needs. We stock products designed to target children's fine motor, gross motor, sensory, handwriting, social and cognitive skills.

Pencil Grips Plus invites you to shop online at www.pencilgripsplus.com.au to discover our FULL product range including:

• Largest supplier in Australia of specialist and classic pencil grips for children, including The Pencil Grip, Crossover Grip, Jumbo Grip, and Writing CLAW.
• Heavyweight pencils and pens, designed to assist individuals with motor control problems and tremors.
• Easy-hold rulers and all-in-one sharpeners/erasers
• Easy-grip cutlery for children in bright colours to increase motivation around mealtimes.
• Therapy putty, mini-loop exercise bands, and individual lengths of exercise bands, designed to build hand, arm, shoulder and trunk strength.
• Developmental toys, including weighted snap bags, textured pop beads, weighted bumpity blocks and explorer ring, which take children's tactile, visual and auditory sensitivities into account, and help in further developing fine motor, play and cognitive skills.
• Developmental Play Packs that offer great skill-based game ideas that you can do at home, preschool or school. These play packs have a fine motor, gross motor and social skills focus.

Toys to enhance educational journeys

• Board games, puzzles, placemats & puppets
• Role play, outdoor, musical & wooden toys
• Ride-ons, trikes & scooters
• Books, study guides, software & stationery

www.educationaltoysforkids.com.au

Karuna Health Care
Learning Links

Pencil Grips Plus
The Sensational Kids SPOT

Ambervale
Kindy Patch

Appin
Bambinos Kindergarten Appin

Bargo
Bargo Child Care Centre
Kids Korner

Blair Athol
Partners In Care Early Learning Centre

Bow Bowing
Kool Kids Kindacare

Campbelltown
Campbelltown Family Day Care Scheme
Campbelltown Prebyterian Community Child Care
Little Einstein's Early Learning Centre - Campbelltown
St Patrick's Child Care Centre
Unique Kids Early Childhood Centre Inc

Currans Hill
UnitingCare Currans Hill OSHC

Denham Court
Leaping Learners Early Education Centre

Glenfield
Glenfield Preschool Kindergarten
Playground Learning Centre

Harrington Park
Bambinos Kindergarten Harrington Park
Bambinos Kindergarten Harrington Park (North)

Ingleburn
Bambi Kindergarten
Little Einstein's Early Learning Centre - Ingleburn
UnitingCare Ingleburn Children's Centre

Leumeah
Little Einstein's Early Learning Centre - Leumeah

Menangle Park
Skylarks Kindy

Mount Annan
Jenny's Kindergarten - Mount Annan
Leaping Learners Early Education Centre

Narellan Vale
Jenny's Kindergarten - Narellan Vale

Narellan
Gumnutz Kids
Kids Korner

St Helens Park
Little Einstein's Early Learning Centre - St Helens Park

Minto
The Rainbow Family Centres for Children - Joste-Lin Farm

Picton/Wilton
Cath's Kindy

Raby
Foundations Learning Centre

Kids and Poisons

In New South Wales, every year thousands of children need medical care for poisoning from products commonly found in and around the home. Most accidental poisonings occur to children younger than five, with children aged one to three at greatest risk.

What can be poisonous to your child?

Medicines, cleaning, laundry, gardening and car products, insecticides, perfumes, paint, plants, insects and many others.

• Store medicines and chemicals out of sight and reach of children, at least 1.5 metres off the ground and in a locked child resistant container.
• Use medicines and chemicals safely. Follow given instructions and return them to safe storage immediately after use. 
• Buy products in child resistant containers and use child resistant locks on cupboards or cabinets that store poisons. You can buy these at many hardware stores. 
• Ensure all products are stored in original containers and are clearly labelled. Regularly dispose of unwanted and out of date medicines by taking them to your nearest pharmacy for safe disposal. 
• Don't call medicines 'lollies'. 
• Check that the plants in your garden are not poisonous