The changing seasons remind us of how quickly our children grow and develop new skills. People who work with young children often say that “the days are long but the years are short.”

Summer daylillies have replaced the spring flowering bulbs that graced our garden earlier this year. Two of our pre-school classes held a can and bottle drive this spring to raise money for bedding plants to help make our building look even better. The plants are thriving with all the rain we've had this summer. Despite the rain, we've had many more opportunities for active outdoor play, and our new playground piece has had lots of use already. We also get outside for walks and sprinkler fun regularly in the summertime.

Neighborhood House is open all summer long since many of our parents have to work or go to school during the summer. With the help of our great team of college students who work with us during their summer break, we give our teachers some well deserved vacation time while staying open all summer and offering a fun and educational program for our children. Our building has been a lively place this summer season.

Due to space limitations, we only offer a program for school-age children in the summertime. This year's teacher is Becky Reese, and she has worked hard to develop an interesting program for the children. They have attended a play at the Auburn Public Theater; created biomes as they enjoyed a special science program led by Elizabeth Fox and Lucy Pola, two staff members from the Boyce Thompson Plant Institute in Ithaca; had a visit from Rosa Grube from SAVAR about personal safety, and plan to visit the Museum of Science and Technology in Syracuse later this month.

Reese is also doing lots of fun literacy activities so that children will not show any signs of “summer slump” when school resumes in the fall.

Reese and the kids have also started a paper recycling program here at Neighborhood House, and it is amazing how much paper they have kept out of the waste stream.

Many of the children in our summer school age program this year are “graduates” of our child care program, and we love to have them return and see how much they have grown and learned.

Did you know that July was National Ice Cream month? In celebration, we had Holly in the Poppy's Ice Cream truck come to the building and every child and teacher got to choose a chocolate, vanilla or twist cone or cup. Needless to say, this special visitor was very popular with the children.

We also take part in special community activities that happen outside of our building. Our school-agers and our 4- and 5-year-olds had a special treat July 26 when they had the chance to be the baseball buddies at the Doubledays game. Our staff enjoyed our annual tent party that night, so there were lots of cheers for the children and their player as they ran out on the field for the national anthem. Even though the game was rained out in the sixth inning and the fireworks were postponed, the evening was lots of fun.

And this summer, our staff members took part in two local golf tournaments. One tournament was organized by Assemblyman Gary Finch and our team of Amy Jordan, Jill Hand, Sara Schwartz and Lindsie Leubner-Flick successfully defended our title at the Child Care Council's annual miniature golf tournament.

Lastly, we took our older children to Casey Park to see the Merry Go Round Playhouse Summer Theatre's production of “The Emperor's New Clothes.” And our children learned about the life cycle of butterflies by watching butterfly larvae grow, form a chrysalis, hatch and fly away.

Summer also provides some planning time for the next school year, and we are preparing for our UPK classes and the new children who will join our child-care program in the fall. Penny Lupo will be our UPK teacher this year and is planning lots of wonderful activities to get the school year off to a great start. Many new children will begin attending our center this fall, and many children will transition to a new classroom. The new school year brings a sense of excitement, even though our building is open all summer long.

We are also planning to take part in the annual “Read for the Record,” when millions of children across the country will read the classic story of “Corduroy” by Don Freeman. You will hear more about this exciting event as the date gets closer.

Although the daily rhythms change with the season, our work on behalf of young children here at Neighborhood House continues all year long. We appreciate the help from many community members and agencies that support our work throughout the year.

Susan Jones is executive director for the Neighborhood House in Auburn.