Mylan Park Elementary Newsletter
March 2020
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Recently, I've been hearing more and more concerns from parents about their child's technology use outside of school. Although technology has its place, and is a part of what we do here at The Park, it is also something that needs to be monitored and controlled.
We have recently received questions from parents in the office about certain games children are playing at home. Common Sense Media is a fantastic resource for parents where you can find reviews of games, if they are age appropriate and the benefits your child may, or may not have from playing.
Experts are also being bombarded on this topic of tech use and effects on children. Below is an excerpt from an article by Katherine Lee titled, "Reasons Why You Should Unplug Your Kids from Technology".
"One of the biggest challenges facing parents today is how—and how much—to reduce the amount of time their children spend on electronic devices such as cell phones, tablets, video games, TV, and computers. It's an issue not just with older kids, many of whom are practically attached to a cell phone, but with younger children as well.
It's not uncommon to see babies and toddlers staring at screens given to them by parents who are trying to find something that will distract or calm a child, and often, that early tech use transitions right into constant screen time as kids get older. It's such a prominent problem that the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) issued new recommendations for kids' media use in October 2016. Here's what they advise:
- Babies younger than 18 months: no screen time
- Kids 18 to 24 months: high-quality programming if parents want to introduce digital media (Sesame Street, Beatbugs, Storybots Super Songs etc...) ; parents should watch with kids
- Kids 2 to 5 years: limited screen time to one hour a day of high-quality programs; parents should view with kids
- Kids 6 and older: consistent limits on screen time; limits on types of media; and making sure screen use does not interfere with kids getting enough exercise and sleep
- The AAP also recommends that parents establish screen-free times (such as during dinner) and no-screen areas in the home (such as in bedrooms). And in a nod to the dangers of cyberbullying and online safety, the AAP also suggests that parents talk to kids about online safety and being respectful to others online.
As we figure out how to have kids use screens in a practical, beneficial, and limited way, it's important for parents to keep in mind not only the benefits kids gain from limiting screen time such as increased sleep, improved grades, decreased aggression, and lower body mass index, but also what kids lose when screen time is not limited.
Here are some important things kids miss out on when they're engaging with screens.
1. Reading Books
Unless your child is using a tablet or computer to read a book or article, time on the screen is the time that could be spent reading. The best way to encourage kids to read and nurture a love of books is to read to them and with them, and setting an example by picking up some books you love and getting into them yourself. Make reading an integral part of your child's bedtime routine and be sure your child spends as much time with a book as they do with a screen. Remember the old saying, "Kids learn to read and then they read to learn." If your child is on a screen instead of in a book, that's a big learning loss.
2. Connecting With Parents and Siblings
Time with family is one of the things that take a major hit when kids and parents allow the tech to take over their lives and everyone is staring at a screen instead of engaging with one another. (There's even a term for it—phubbing, or "phone snubbing"—which means checking email, texting, social networking, etc. on a cell phone instead of fully being with the person you are in a room with and should spend time with, like a child or a spouse). Designating times and places in your home that are screen-free—by banning tech devices from the family dinner table and talking to each other about your day and current events, for instance—is an important way to reconnect and really be with one another.
3. Socializing With Friends
The way kids play and socialize today is very different from previous generations, thanks in large part to all the tech devices they are constantly connected to every day. When kids get together, they may play video games or Instagram or watch a favorite show on a tablet. Older school-age kids who have their own cell phones communicate mainly via text, and social media plays a large role in how they connect with each other. All this tech use means that free play, fully-engaged social interaction, and non-electronic games—like board games, outdoor games, or just tossing a ball around outside—will tend to take a back seat.
4. Playing Outside
Appreciating nature and getting the benefits of fresh air and exercise is something that's significantly compromised when kids are staring at a screen. Physical activity is important for kids' health, and even if your child's school has an excellent phys ed program—which is increasingly rare as more schools focus on academics at the expense of gym—it's beneficial for kids' mental, emotional, and physical health to go outside and run around and play.
5. Being Creative and Engaging in Imaginative Play
Using a screen often means passively being entertained or absorbing information. Even if kids are using tech devices for educational purposes (to read, to do research, or to play math games, for instance), they are still taking in information instead of thinking, creating, or imagining.
While there are many benefits to having tech devices in our lives, such as having a world of information at our fingertips or being able to video chat with grandparents who may live hundreds of miles away, parents must be mindful of the things that are sacrificed if screen time isn't used carefully and limited. Kids can get a lot out of tech devices, but they need to thrive in the real world, too."
Check out our website for more information and resources for you and your family on how to create tech free spaces, device free dinners and family tech use contracts and agreements.
Pre-K and Kindergarten Registration is Open!
Kindergarten Registration -To register your child for 2020-21 Kindergarten at Mylan Park Elementary, please call the school at: 304-983-7700. Registration and screening at the school is scheduled for March 13th. Your child must be five years old by July 1, 2020.
What Are We Learning?
PK - This spring we will be learning about different units of study: farm, bugs, and planting. As always, we continue to learn through play, movement and interests.
Kindergarten - We are learning about teen numbers and place value. We are using our vowel power to sound out and write words (digraphs and blends).
First Grade - We are working on adding 10's to any number, along with adding tens and ones. We are also adding and regrouping. During reading we are focusing on beginning, middle, and end of a story. Students are learning about characteristics of fiction and nonfiction, they are making connections to characters and focusing on capitalization/punctuation and writing letters.
Second Grade - Students will be learning how to add two-digit numbers, they are adding and subtracting without regrouping. We will be focusing on measurement and estimation. In reading students are learning about folktales and exploring fiction and non-fiction. They will be focusing on cause and effect along with character traits.
Third Grade - Students are finishing up measurement, line plots, and perimeter. They will be moving onto geometry focusing on attributes of shapes and quadrilaterals.
During reading students are learning about drawing conclusions, they will be comparing and contrasting and focusing on understanding characters. Opinion writing will be a focus this month.
Fourth Grade - Students are finishing up comparing fractions and will be learning about elapsed time, measurement, measurement conversions along with area and perimeter. Students continue to focus on attacking comprehension, learning about point of view and will begin looking at author's purpose and poetry.
Fifth Grade - Students are working on measurement, data and geometry. Through reading students will be focusing on theme, main idea, cause and effect along with point of view. Opinion pieces along with review of informative and narrative writing will be focused on this month.
In all classrooms we continue to use FOSS Science in our everyday learning. Second Step is embedded in our Morning Meetings and students are focusing on social/emotional well-being, listening and collaborating.
Home and School Connection
Home and School Connection. You will find activities for math at home, ideas for dinner conversations, and tips for studying.
WATCH D.O.G.S.
Mylan Park Elementary is proud to implement the Watch DOGS program. This program aims to enlist healthy male role models into our school, interacting directly with our students in an educational and mentoring capacity. If you are a father, step-father, grandfather, uncle, cousin, or close family friend and you're interested in being involved with this program, please contact Mrs. Bartley at 304-983-7700. Please visit our website for more information.
Important Dates
March 2nd- Dr. Seuss Week
- March 2 - Mixed Up Monday (wear mixed up clothing)
- March 3 - Top Hat Tuesday (wear your favorite hat)
- March 4 - Wacky Wednesday (wear your wackiest socks)
- March 5 - Theodore Thursday (dress up as favorite Dr. Seuss character)
- March 6 - Funny Food Friday (wear green)
March 3rd - 4:00 PTO
March 4th - PICTURE DAY
March 6th - Instructional Assistants Day/WVU Day, 6:00-8:00 Starting Points Dr. Seuss Night
March 7th - March to College for 5th grade
March 10th - 1st grade fieldtrip
March 13th - Kindergarten registration, NO School for current Kindergarten students
March 16-20 - No Boys and Girls Club
March 18th- Spirit Day
March 19th - Pop-Up Farmers Market, 5:30 BORN Academy
March 27th - PTO Spring Movie Night
April 1st - Spirit Day
April 2nd- Last day for tutoring
April 3rd - Midterms
April 8th - Early Dismissal
April 10th-13th - No School
April 27th-May 1st - 3rd-5th grade West Virginia General Summative Assessment
Mylan Park Elementary
Website: https://boe.mono.k12.wv.us/13/home
Location: 901 Mylan Park Lane, Morgantown, WV, USA
Phone: 304-983-7700
Facebook: facebook.com/mylanpatriots
Twitter: @mylanpatriots