FISD Early Childhood School
Where the Adventure Begins...
Happy Friday, Families!!
Who's ready for the weekend?! We had so much excitement around here this week that a lot of us could use a little relaxation. Thank you to all the parents who attended conferences with your child's teacher! If you haven't had a chance to meet yet, please be sure to get that scheduled as soon as possible. We want to be able to go over baseline assessment information with all parents so that, together, we can watch your child make wonderful progress throughout the year!
I hope everyone that was able to make it out Tuesday night enjoyed our annual Fun Run! It was still pretty hot! This hot weather can move along any time! I think next year, we'll push it a little later in October to try to catch some cooler temperatures! Our fire clowns and Mr. Turkey never disappoint!
Wednesday and Thursday we also had some of our Frisco Firemen come to school with their trucks! They talked to the kids about fire safety and what to do in case of a fire. They showed them all their gear so they would know there is a friendly fireman underneath it all ready to help them in a real fire. We also got to check out their cool fire trucks and actually climb in them! I've posted a few pictures just below for you to see some of the fun we had!
Next Friday, we will be kicking off our ONE fundraiser for the year! We will running a Write A Check Campaign for three weeks. One of the most critical skills we want to teach our children while they are here is a LOVE for BOOKS. The money we raise will go toward building a guided reading library. What's that?! It is a library with multiple copies of specific titles that are leveled. It allows a teacher to pull 2-4 students together in a small group that share similar skills in the area of early reading behaviors. We want to fill this library with titles that are fun and enjoyable for our young learners. If we can instill a love for reading and teach them crucial early reading behaviors, this can be a huge step in ensuring their academic success once they move on to elementary. Please consider making a donation to our school. I'll include more details and how to donate in next week's email!
For Kids,
Melissa Ellis
Principal
Early Childhood School
Book Fair is 10 Days Away! We Need You!
https://forms.friscoisd.org/backgroundcheck/
Then, go to this Sign-Up Genius to schedule the time you'd like to volunteer!
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0948A4A72AA5FD0-fall
Thanks, in advance, for sharing your time with us!
Taking the “Trick” out of Trick or Treat
It's October, which means Halloween is just around the corner. This is a day filled with candy, costumes, and more candy, what kid wouldn’t like it?! “Happy” Halloweens actually require planning and problem solving.
Take note of the scary stimuli all around. Let’s be honest, some parts of Halloween can be incredibly scary for children. Be sure to watch your child’s non-verbal reactions to stimuli. If you find him reacting, be sure to validate his fear instead of minimizing his reactions or scaring him further for a bit of adult entertainment.
Remember who is wearing the costumes! Be sure that you are not tricking your child out of her Halloween. Sometimes parents attempt to manipulate their child to wear a certain costume for the sake of cuteness or a good (adult) joke. Honoring your child’s costume intent is a great way to foster identity formation and encourage creativity as they move throughout childhood.
Engage the entire family with age appropriate Halloween activities. Whether it be creating fun Halloween treats or decorating the house with spider webs, make sure to pick a fun Halloween activity the whole family can enjoy. Festive family bonding time can create wonderful memories for years to come.
Avoid power struggles over candy. Consider being lenient about candy eating on Halloween night. Let your kids really treat themselves. Most children will independently cut themselves off. As a parent-child team, decide together how the rest of the candy will be handled. The more voice your child has on the matter, the easier it will be to enforce candy expectations the following days.
Take part. Dress up yourself. Show your child that you are never too old to play! This is the stuff memories are made of. The experience can be relational and rewarding—not to mention the great pictures!
By Meghan Eichner, MS, (LPC-Intern under the
Supervision of Brandy Schumann, PhD.) and
Brandy Schumann, PhD., LPC-S, RPT-S
Tool Time!
Join us Friday, October 23rd from 8:30-10:00 at ECS to LEARN STRATEGIES you can use to get the behavior you want!
· Routines
· Schedules
· Priming
· Reinforcement
· And much, much more!
Presented by FISD In-Home/Parent Trainers :
Colleen Kugler, Kimberly Goushey, and Kristin Foster
Here are the flyers with more information!
Behavior Strategies – Spanish
Behavior Strategies – English
Carpool Courtesy!
First of all, I realize most of you are not smiling like the mom in the picture when sitting in carpool. But if you are, the awesome! And Thank You! Haha
If you come through car pick-up at the front of the school and wait in the car line along Red Cedar Drive, please make sure NOT to block any resident driveways. This is actually breaking a city ordinance and you can be fined. We certainly don't want that to happen AND we want to be courteous to ALL our neighbors! Thank you!
Want to Volunteer?!
1. Please complete your background check. This is something that has to be done every year. Here is the link:
https://forms.friscoisd.org/backgroundcheck/
2. Email your child's teacher or our librarian, Phyllis Jenkins, to let them know of your interest. jenkinsp@friscoisd.org
3. Check my weekly newsletters to look for opportunities to sign up for things!
Nuts & Bolts
If so, please be sure to send a note to school regarding the absence. Notes can be emailed to earlychildhood@friscoisd.org or placed in your child’s folder and sent to school. If you are unfamiliar with the attendance policy please visit http://www.friscoisd.org/ly/ParentsStudents/AttendanceInfo.htm for more information.
Have you scanned your license?
If you haven't done so already this year, please pop in the office to have your driver's license scanned. They have to be scanned once each year before you are able to attend events. If you scan it soon, then it will be super quick to attend parties or other events for your child during the school year!
Other Upcoming Events
Fall Pictures
October 22nd
Gary Burns Community Fun Run
October 24th
2nd Parent Partnership & Performance Night
November 17th @ 6:00pm
Annual Multicultural Night
December 8th @ 6:00pm <We will be looking for families to host tables to share about their cultures!>
Parent Partnership & Performance Night
Tuesday, Nov 17, 2015, 06:00 PM
ECS Cafeteria
All About ECS!
Email: ellisme@friscoisd.org
Website: http://schools.friscoisd.org/spc/ecs/site/home
Location: 10330 Red Cedar Drive, Frisco, TX 75035
Facebook: facebook.com/fisdecs
Twitter: @fisdecs
ECS Parent/Student Handbook
http://schools.friscoisd.org/docs/default-source/spc-ecs/parent-student-handbook-14-15.pdf?sfvrsn=2
2015-2016 ECS Calendar of Events
http://schools.friscoisd.org/docs/default-source/spc-ecs/2015-2016-ecs-master-calendar.pdf?sfvrsn=2