Dear Firefly Friends and Families,

Above all, I hope you are staying home and staying healthy. During this time of social distancing, I am offering online access to my Firefly Friends classes. We completed the previous session, “Love Where You Live,” this way and it seems to be working out! I will continue with a brand new four-week session called “Still Shining” that will available starting April 15, 2020. Subsequent weeks’ content will be available for April 22, April 29, and May 6. The format of each class will be the same, in that there will be an opening song, lighting up the fireflies, visiting feelings with Juniper, story time, craft time, and the closing song. Each portion will be recorded for you in a video snippet that you and your children can watch at your convenience. You will receive craft information via email the day prior so you can gather your materials and do the craft portion along with my video. The crafts have been designed so that the materials used will be items you likely already have at home.

Many if not most of you are homeschooling your other children as well, so I have chosen not to do the classes via Zoom. My own children’s Zoom schedules change from day to day and I am schooling them in the mornings. I hope having these videos in small snippets that you and your children can watch on demand is helpful. You will receive a password to access them each week.

I am offering “Still Shining” FREE of charge. If you would like the custom firefly patch that is being made for “Still Shining,” please send $3 to me via Venmo or PayPal simply to cover the cost of the patch itself and mailing it to your house. To sign your child up for “Still Shining,” please email me at fireflyfriendsorg{at}gmail{dot}com and include: your name, your child(ren)’s name(s) and age(s), (and your mailing address if you would like a patch).

Please send $3 via Venmo @jdcatalano or PayPal http://paypal.me/jdcatalano

If you want to purchase patches for more than one child, just add $2 per child and they will be mailed to you together.

Keep shining,

Ms. Jennifer

The Firefly Friends℠ Core Curriculum has been completed and now we are moving on to the Extended Curriculum with a course that is dear to my heart. “Love Where You Live” is a 5-week course that focuses on caring for our planet and all living things. We will meet Wednesdays from 10:00-10:35 at the Mendon Public Library on the following dates: {2.26, 3.4, 3.11, 3.18, 3.25}. We will continue to sing, light up the firefly jars, visit with our feelings, and read stories, plus do Earth-themed crafts each week. On 3.25, the children will earn a very special Earth patch!

This session is once again for children ages 2-5 with their parent or caregiver present. Please note that this class is FULL. All spaces have been filled by returning families.

I am a library volunteer who offers my Firefly Friends℠ classes as a free service to the community, but a $10 donation to help cover the cost of craft supplies for the session is always greatly appreciated! Thank you!

This week the Firefly Friends at Mendon Public Library earned their blue firefly patches! Next week on 2.5.19 from 10:00-10:35am I am offering a bonus class called “Firefly Friends Take Flight” to celebrate the fact that they have completed the Core Curriculum and have earned the yellow, orange, green, and blue firefly patches.  I’m so proud of how they are talking about their feelings, singing the songs, listening to the stories, and making the weekly crafts.  In addition to a new story, a different craft, and a very special firefly lantern that will light up next week, I also have a surprise patch for everyone who attends.  It really glows in the dark! We will then take two weeks off for Winter Break. Firefly Friends will resume on February 26, 2020.

Registration is required and space is limited. Please call the Mendon Public Library at 585.624.6067 to register. In the next post, I’ll share information about a five-week session beginning after Winter Break entitled “Love Where You Live.”

Happy Holidays!  The Firefly Friends at Mendon Public Library earned their green firefly patches, and now it’s time to register for “Start with your Heart,” the next wing in the Firefly Friends℠ core curriculum. The weekly themes for “Start with your Heart” are: Feeling, Exploring, Apologizing, Loving. Participants will still get to visit with Juniper the firefly puppet each week, of course!  They will also hear new stories, make new crafts, sing to light up the blue firefly jar, and earn their blue firefly patch this time!

Pre-registration for current families is now over and open registration is underway.  Classes will meet Wednesdays from 10:00-10:35pm {1.8, 1.15, 1.22, 1.29}.  Registration is required and space is limited.  Please call the Mendon Public Library at 585.624.6067 to register. I am a library volunteer who teaches classes free of charge, so a donation of $10 is greatly appreciated to help with the cost of the month’s craft supplies. Thank you so much!

Next week the Firefly Friends at Mendon Public Library will be earning their orange firefly patches! That means it’s time to register for “Share and Care,” the third wing of classes in the Firefly Friends℠ core curriculum. The weekly themes for “Share and Care” are: Sharing, Thanking, Helping, Caring. Participants will still get to visit with Juniper the firefly puppet each week, of course! They will also hear new stories, make new theme crafts, help light up the green firefly jar, and earn their green firefly patch this time!

Pre-registration for current families is now over and open registration is underway. Class size is limited but some spots are still available. We will meet on the following Wednesdays from 10:00-10:35am: 11.13, 11.20, 12.4, and 12.11. (There is no class the day before Thanksgiving). Please call the Mendon Public Library at 585.624.6067 or stop by to register. Classes are free. A donation of $10 is greatly appreciated to help with the cost of the month’s craft supplies.

(After “Share and Care concludes, there will be a holiday break. We will resume with “Start with your Heart” on 1.8.19).

Our first few weeks passed so quickly and it’s already time to sign up for “Grow and Glow,” the second wing of the Firefly Friends℠ curriculum.  In this four-week session, we will continue to visit with our feelings (and Juniper the firefly puppet, of course), sing to wake up the fireflies, read stories, and do fun crafts. Caregivers and their children ages 2-5 can now register for the new session, which will meet Wednesdays from 10:00-10:35pm on the following dates: 10.16, 10.23, 10.30 and 11.6.  

In “Grow and Glow,” we will be focusing on four new weekly themes.  Class size is limited to 11 children per section and registration is required. Please stop in the Mendon Public Library or call them at 585.624.6067 to secure a spot so your little one can earn their orange firefly patch!

School has started and I’m thrilled to announce that a new year of Firefly Friends℠ is about to begin! Now that my youngest is in kindergarten, I will be offering my weekly Firefly Friends℠ program in the morning rather than the afternoon. Registration is officially open for “Your Light is Bright,” the first “wing” of the program, which will meet at the Mendon Public Library from 10:00-10:35am on the following Wednesdays: 9.18., 9.25, 10.2, and 10.9.  

Firefly Friends℠ is intended for children ages 2-5 with their parent or caregiver present. Each week there are stories, songs, and crafts based on a different theme. At the end of each 4-week “wing,” children earn a new firefly patch.  This is a fun, engaging, and creative program for children to learn what bright lights they are in this world. The weekly themes for “Your Light is Bright” are: Happiness, Brightness, Uniqueness, and Kindness. During this session, they will be working toward their yellow firefly patch! 

Please note that class size is limited to 11 children and registration is required. You can register your child by stopping by the Mendon Public Library at 22 North Main St., Honeoye Falls, NY 14472 or by calling them directly at 585.624.6067. Classes are offered as a free community service, but a $10 donation per child is greatly appreciated to help cover the cost of the month’s craft supplies.

For more information about the program, class structure, as well as class offerings for the rest of the academic year, please click on the menu tabs at the top of the page.  I hope to see you and your little ones on September 18th at 10:00am when we sing songs, light up the firefly jars, visit with Juniper the firefly puppet, read stories, and make art together!

I will once again be returning to the Lima Public Library this summer with my Firefly Friends℠ program! Beginning on June 5, 2019, I will be offering my “Butterfly in the Sky” session for children ages 2-5 with their parent or caregiver present.

“Butterfly in the Sky” will meet once a week for 5 weeks.  Classes typically last 35 minutes.  The basic structure includes the opening song, lighting up the firefly jars, visiting feelings with Juniper the firefly puppet, story time, and in-class craft time.  Our focus will be themes related to butterflies, and children will earn their butterfly patch during the last class!

We will meet the following Wednesdays at 10:30am:

6.5.19
6.12.19
6.19.19
6.26.19
7.3.19

Registration is required, and is for the entire program of 5 classes. Space is limited to 12 children between the ages of 2 and 5, with their parent or caregiver present. This is not a drop-off program.

Registration is now open! Please sign up in person at the Lima Public Library. There is a bright orange registration sheet at the front desk! The library’s address and hours are as follows:

Lima Public Library
1872 Genesee St.
Lima, NY 14485

Their hours are:
Mon: 1:00pm-8:30pm
Tue: 1:00pm-8:30pm
Wed: 10:00am-12:00pm & 1:00pm-5:00pm
Th: 1:00pm-8:30pm
Fri: 1:00pm-5:00pm
Sat: 9:00am-12:00pm (closed Saturdays Memorial Day-Columbus Day)

I look forward to helping your little one shine this summer!

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What fun we are having at the Mendon Public Library! I love seeing the children’s faces light up like fireflies each week! It’s never too late to join! Next month I’m offering “Sparkling Stars,” my final session for this academic year at Mendon. This will be a 5-week session focusing on five different types of star shapes found in nature. Can you guess what they are?

We will meet Wednesdays from 12:30-1:05pm on the following dates: {4.3, 4.10, (no 4.17), 4.24, 5.1, 5.8}. Please call the Mendon Public Library at 585.624.6067 to register! This session is for children ages 2-5 with their parent or caregiver present. There will of course still be stories, songs, and crafts, plus visiting with our feelings and Juniper the firefly puppet as we explore our star theme! At the end of the 5 weeks, children will earn their glow-in-the-dark star patch!

I am a library volunteer who offers Firefly Friends℠ classes for free, but a $10 donation per child to help cover the cost of craft supplies for the five classes is greatly appreciated!

This spring I am debuting a brand new Firefly Friends℠ course which focuses on caring for our planet and all living things. “Love Where You Live” is a 5-week course. We will meet Wednesdays from 12:30-1:05 at the Mendon Public Library on the following dates: {2.27, 3.6, 3.13, 3.20, 3.27}. We will continue to sing, light up the firefly jars, visit with our feelings, and read stories, plus do Earth-themed crafts each week. On 3.27, the children will earn their special Earth patch!

This session is once again for children ages 2-5 with their parent or caregiver present. Registration is required and space is limited! Please register by calling the Mendon Public Library at 624-6067 or stopping by the front desk. I offer my Firefly Friends℠ classes as a free service to the community, but a $10 donation to help cover the cost of craft supplies for the session is always greatly appreciated!