Bauer Bits
February 3, 2023
From the Principal's Desk
- THANK YOU parents for filling out the mid-year survey. If you haven't yet, please do so by the end of the day today.
- PICK-UP - Parents of PK/K students picking up from school should plan to arrive later, towards 3:40 p.m., due to the longer distance those students travel to pick-up and the additional time required for them to pack up, etc. This will allow us to load cars whose students are already out and ready to go home and begin clearing our lot.
- This week's article comes from Love and Logic again. I hope that you find it useful!
The Gift of Practicing Gratitude
It can be an easy thing to say: “Be thankful”.
We are often trying to get our kids to express outward gratitude. It’s the polite thing to do.
But what if genuine, heartfelt gratitude is more than just a polite duty? What if it is really good for our mental health? And what if modeling such an attitude could be incredibly beneficial to our kids’ overall mental health?
Well, it turns out that is exactly the case. Researchers are now telling us that consistent (think practice) expressions of gratitude help our brains to notice MORE things to feel thankful about. This makes sense based on what we know about the brain. We know that our brains take in massive amounts of information via our senses (too much to process) and MUST filter out lots of less-important information.
That means that when we make efforts to focus on certain things (this is why I use sticky notes), our brains will NOTICE those things more! In Love and Logic, we say that one of the things we can always control is what we notice more or pay more attention to. We may not be able to control events but we can make an effort to control our attitude toward those events (victim vs. victor).
I recently heard that researchers have zeroed in on data emphasizing the other side of this coin. When we continuously notice and complain about the things which cause us discontent, we re-wire our brains to notice more of those things. And to feel worse about them.
Does that seem oversimplified? Gratitude helps wire our brains to notice more things to feel thankful about and feel better – complaining helps wire our brains to notice more things to complain about – and feel worse.
How much of this is conveyed nonverbally? How much of this is ‘caught’ rather than ‘taught’? How impactful will it be if we are intentional about gratitude? How will affect our kids if they regularly (not just one day per year) hear/witness us intentionally noticing our many blessings and expressing sincere thankfulness for them?
I encourage you to experiment and find out.
Mark Your Calendar
Friday, February 3rd - Early Release (12:15) - TODAY!!!
Friday, February 10th - Valentine's Day Parties and Wear Red or Pink Day
Monday, February 13th - Tuesday, February 14th - Winter Break
Friday, February 17th - Career Day and Popcorn Friday
Friday, February 24th - Early Release (12:15)
STEAM Tidbits
We're nearing the end of most units next week.
- Kindergarten students have been learning about structure and function of the human body. They will be designing a cast next week for someone who has a broken wrist.
- 1st grade students are finishing their light and sound unit by building a system that could alert park rangers if they're lost and need shelter.
- 2nd grade students finished their erosion units this week. They built systems that prevented houses from being washed away in a landslide situation.
- 3rd graders finished their programming unit this week using Scratch.
- 4th grade students are in their energy conversion unit. Next week they will be learning how to complete electrical circuits.
- 5th grade will be programming their "Amazon" robots to run autonomously through a course to drop off packages.
-Mr. Lloyd
Kids Heart Challenge
Lost & Found
Bauer Elementary
Email: ehuizen@hpseagles.net
Website: https://www.hudsonvillepublicschools.org
Location: 8136 48th Avenue, Hudsonville, MI, USA
Phone: 616-669-6824
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BauerElementary
Twitter: @BauerElementary