The CPES BobChat
April 26, 2020
What Do You Do When You See "It" in Your Child?
Social isolation has eliminated lots of distractions in our lives. We've been required to slow down and be with our family more. We've been able to take a long look at each other to notice what's really happening on the inside of them. That process has allowed us to see so much good in our kids and we definitely want to affirm that. But maybe...just maybe we've seen some things that are "growth opportunities." It could be a habit or attitude or trait that needs some work. We noticed "it" at first but maybe thought it would go away and...it hasn't. What do we do? How can we help our children during this time to work on the "it" that may need improvement? 1. Praise "it" when "it" is good or right. What get's rewarded is often repeated. If our child struggles with being responsible, try to catch them when they're taking a positive step of ownership and emphasize that appropriately and meaningfully. If they are getting "it" right in one area, help them connect that to another area. "You know, you get along well with your cousins. I think you can do the same with your sister." "You do a great job getting your schoolwork done. Let's think about doing the same with your chores at home." 2. Be a detective and listen well. You may see what your child needs to improve but he may not have noticed. Ask questions. "Is there a reason why you speak harshly to your brother?" "Why do you think this is happening?" "How do you feel when this occurs?" "What do you think you can do to solve this?" "Is there anything I'm missing or anything else you want me to know?" Your child may have great insight to not only what the problem is but also how best to solve it. As parents, we always want to seek to understand before being understood. Easy say and hard do. 3. Help them set a specific goal with appropriate positive and negative consequences. "You need to pick up your toys in the living room at 5:00 each day" is more helpful to a little person than "go clean up your mess." Help them know what happens if they do that and if they don't. Be sure to stay consistent and feel free to monitor and adjust the goals and consequences if they aren't working. Always keep the why behind the what in front of them. "The reason we want you to clean up your toys is so no one will step on them and get hurt. We don't want them to get broken. We want you to take care of the things you have so you can enjoy them for a long time." 4. Model it and call it out in others. This can be a little tricky. We definitely want to model good character and habits for our kids. It is hard for kids to "do what I say" if we're not doing what we're supposed to do. Kids do what we do. Within our family, it is OK to express appreciation and value when someone else models the behavior that our child needs to improve. That recognition just needs to be genuine and authentic and not have the message of "I wish you were more like him/her." Sometimes you can find good examples of the behavior in books and movies and discuss that with your child. 5. Show what you're working on, too. We are all works in progress. This "quiet time" in our culture may reveal to us some things we need to work on as well. Our children need to know that we're still trying to get better at life. During these training years of elementary school, one of the greatest messages we can convey is that growth and improvement is either wisely chosen or painfully imposed. I want Whitney and Joey to learn how to see their own blind spots before a boss or teacher or police officer points them out with greater consequences. This time of isolation presents so many financial, health, and emotional hardships. There is nothing easy about it. It can be a time, though, when we are better able to invest in our children in ways that will make a lifelong difference. Thank you for all you are doing to support your child and our school. Blessings and strength to you in these days.
Mr. Maness, Principal
P.S. You may have also come to realize during this time that there are some big issues that need to be addressed with your child. Please reach out to your child's teachers and our guidance counselor, Mrs. Sanders, for help. We are here to support you in any way we can.
School News
Plans for the End of the Year--As a district and school, we are working to determine how best to wrap up the end of the year now that we know we will not bring our students back to campus . If you have suggestions, please feel free to email Mr. Maness mailto:pmaness@rhmail.org. Our highest priority is the safety of our students, parents and staff. As always, we want to think through how we can end as well as we can given the circumstances. Let's think about what we can do more than focusing on what we can't do.
E-Learning through the End of the Year--Our district will be providing some guidance this week for us on the schedule for remote learning through the end of this year. We will send that information to you when we receive it.
Special Area Activities for This Week--Click on the button below for suggested activities for PE, Art and Music.
Teacher Appreciation Week--Will be the week of May 4-8. Please encourage your child to send staff members a note, card or video. Staff emails are listed below.
Spring Pictures Refunds--We have decided to cancel Spring Pictures. If you have already paid online with Lifetouch, they will refund your credit or debit card. If you wrote a check, we will give your check back to you.
Refunds for Field Trips and Lunch---We are working on the process to request refunds for any field trips that could not be rescheduled. We are not able to process those requests at this time. All funds currently in lunch accounts will carry over to this fall if a parent wishes to leave them there.
Need Help? If you need assistance, please contact the district at helpme@rhmail.org or call our dedicated phone support hotline, 803-980-2016 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. on weekdays. You can also access resources on our District webpage: https://www.rock-hill.k12.sc.us/ (Please see below if you need technology assistance.)
Opportunity to Help--This is from Mary Ann Kennedy, one of our CPES parents: "I don’t know about all of you, but I’ve felt helpless in this time of crisis trying to figure out how to help. My family is collecting individually wrapped snacks to make snack bags for healthcare workers. We all probably know someone that works at a hospital or a senior living place, and it is a difficult time for them. Let’s show them a little love and appreciation for what they do. If you would like to provide snacks or drinks, there is a plastic tub outside of our church on the porch of the office- Northside Baptist- 1140 Curtis st. off of Dave Lyle Blvd. I’m going to pick it up everyday between 3-4. If you can’t get there, but would like to help please send me a private message- tigerunner2000@gmail.com."
Update Your Contact Info
Remote Learning
Staff Email Addresses and Office Hours--Can be found in the links below.
Technology Assistance--For technical issues such as logging into Canvas and Launchpad, connecting to wifi, resetting passwords, device troubleshooting, etc., the Rock Hill Schools Technology Department staff will be on-call from 8:00am - 8:00pm and can be reached via email at helpdesk@rhmail.org or via phone at (803) 985-3531. Technology help tutorials will be published at: https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rock-hill.k12.sc.us%2Felearning&data=02%7C01%7CPMANESS%40rhmail.org%7C10c38360cc8d442c802808d7cdca73c5%7C57b835c11a6c40088e2fb2a16e5f738a%7C0%7C0%7C637204141727260450&sdata=YuZ8uNvg%2BLbNyY%2FZF9ppuTRY2C1dJRTrYoa2JBVDLSw%3D&reserved=0. Click on the Parents & Students button in the left-side menu for access.
Or your child's teacher can submit a tech request as they normally would. Each school tech is still monitoring tech requests as usual.
French and Spanish Resources--Click on the button below for some helpful resources to support your child in continuing to learn a second language.
Need Wifi Access? See below flyer from Comporium about how to access free Wifi for 60 days.
PTO and SIC Information
Parent Teacher Organization and School Improvement Council Update
The PTO serves to raise funds, coordinate volunteers and encourage teachers through appreciation activities. Click on the PTO Newsletter button below if you wish to receive the PTO Newsletter: PTO and SIC are tentatively planning to meet on the second Monday of each month next year. School Improvement Council meets at 5:30 (in the Fish Bowl) and our Parent Teacher Organization meets at 6:30 (in the Media Center.) Elections were held in the spring for these organizations but all parents are welcome to attend to help provide input and volunteer. Meetings will be held on March 9, April 13, and May 11 (if needed.)
Calendar of Events
All school events before, during and after school have been canceled for the rest of the year.
May 4-8--Teacher Appreciation Week
May 10--Mother's Day
May 22--Bad Weather Makeup Day
May 25--Memorial Day (No School)
May 29--Bad Weather Makeup Day
June 4--Last School Day