Stoney Creek News
Growing Kind Hearts & Minds While Inspiring Personal Success
From the Principal
Dear Families,
We are at the end of February and time is flying by very fast. Lots of fun things coming soon. This time of the year is busy for all of us so we hope that you will assist us with a couple of things. 1. Please share our Kindergarten information with anyone who may have a child that meets the age requirement. We are hoping to keep the number of sections we currently have this year. 2. Send your student to school dressed for all kinds of weather as Michigan changes often in these next couple of weeks! 3. Time in school is important and we need your child to come on time and stay the WHOLE day! Our teachers prepare for a full day and want your child to get the full experience every day. We are looking closely at our attendance data and hope to share that with all of you very soon.
As we enter MARCH, the students will be enjoying MARCH is reading month activities. Our theme is focused on "Reading is a treasure," get your best pirate attire ready!
This newsletter, I would like to introduce you to Mrs. Bekkering and Mrs. VanderWall our School psychologist and School Social Worker. They joined us in August and have been a tremendous support to our students in all capacities. They typically work with our students with special needs, but also assist with teaching lessons in the social and emotional realm. We are so excited to have them join our team and be part of our community.
Thank you for sending us your very best!
Tiffany Jackson, Principal
1/2 Day of School Friday, 3/13/2020
Dismissal at 12:05 p.m.
Attendance
Parent Teacher Conferences
Parent Teacher Conferences are March 17 and 19. We look forward to meeting with you once again to share the great things that are happening at Stoney Creek with your student(s).
Please sign up to meet with your child’s teacher at these links.
Once you get to the link, pick your child’s grade level at the top of the page and then scroll down to your child’s teacher, you will be able to then select the time that works best for you. If you have more than one student, please be sure to allow time to travel from one classroom to the other.
Spring Pictures
2nd Grade Music Notes
PTO Meeting
Kindergarten 2020-2021
Building Healthy Communities Update: Get Moving
The recommended amount of physical activity for children is at least 60 minutes per day. Building Healthy Communities gets kids moving in four ways: (1) through a quality, physical education curriculum, including new equipment, (2) encouraging students to be active during recess, (3) offering short physical activity breaks in classrooms, and (4) having a before– or after-school Healthy Kids Club which offers non-competitive physical activity in a safe and supervised setting. Encourage your child to be physically active at home and do LESS sitting around. Encourage them to turn the TV or computer off to move around more in ways they enjoy. When you do watch TV, think of fun movements to do during the commercials. Invite your kids to go with you when you walk the dog or shovel snow. Maybe you can walk to school together instead of driving. You will be surprised how easy it is to reach that 60-minute goal if you build physically activity into your day at several different times. However you choose to do it, just get moving!
The Importance of Vocabulary - Part 1
Research tells us that the larger a child’s vocabulary is, the greater the chance that the child will become a successful reader. There are a couple of simple ways to help a child expand his/her vocabulary. One way is to chat with your child about everything you do...whether it is cooking or grocery shopping or driving across town. By talking about the things you are seeing and doing, as well as the objects you are using, you help develop your child’s vocabulary.
Consider these three scenarios in a grocery store when three different children pick up an avocado and ask what it is:
Parent A: “Put that down. Stop touching things. Let’s go home.”
Parent B: “That’s an avocado. Put it back, now. We’ve got to get home soon. Let’s go.”
Parent C: “That’s an avocado. That’s what we use to make guacamole. Guacamole is a dip that tastes fabulous with tortilla chips. The avocado has a hard skin on the outside but inside, it’s a shade of creamy green and it has a large pit. I think you can actually partially submerge the pit in water to get it to sprout and then you can plant it. It wouldn’t survive our winters, though. It grows in warmer climates.”
Which child do you suppose is more likely to develop a larger vocabulary? The child of parent C, of course. When you talk with your child about the things all around you - using descriptive words - your child’s vocabulary grows quickly. Use interesting words. Instead of saying, “that’s a big watermelon,” try saying, “that’s an enormous watermelon.” You can even start a contest to see how many different words you and your child can think of to replace a “boring” word. Instead of “big,” you could use enormous, huge, gigantic, massive…
Expose your child to a wealth of words and you will provide them with a gift that will support their journey to becoming a successful reader.
In the next newsletter, we’ll share another powerful way to develop your child’s vocabulary.
YMCA Spring and Summer Break Day Camp Info
2020 Spring Break Camp | April 6-10 | Wolverine Worldwide Family YMCA | $180 member & $195 non-member
2020 Summer Day Camp | June 15-August 21 | Wolverine Worldwide Family YMCA | $180 member & $195 non-member per week
YMCA Spring Break and Summer Day Camps serve campers ages 5-12 and offer an experience that is sure to keep your child having fun ALL spring and summer long! We offer convenient hours (7am-6pm) and affordable pricing so your family can flourish. From field trips to fostering creativity, to building a sense of accomplishment and belonging, we help kids thrive by surrounding each child with support, guidance, and fantastic opportunities to discover, learn, and try until they succeed.
The YMCA offers a 10% early bird discount through the end of February and 5% early bird discount through the end of April. For additional information on YMCA Day Camp programs, visit grymca.org! Financial assistance is also available (contact ewhaley@grymca.org | 855-1447 for applications). Register today for Spring Break Camp and Summer Day Camp!
Upcoming Events
February
25 PTO Meeting @ Pine Island
March
2 Jurewicz, Defever Wabeke, Kiander Field Trip
3 Williams, Olsson Field Trip
5 Spring Pictures
13 1/2 Day of School Dismissal at 12:05 p.m.
17 Parent Teacher Conferences
19 Parent Teacher Conferences
20 Kindergarten Field Trip
23-26 Hearing & Vision Screening
25 Kindergarten Screening & Round Up
26 Kindergarten Screening & Round Up
31 Talks with Tiffany
April
1 Kindergarten Field Trip
2 Slipper Day
3-10 No School Spring Break
15 Kindergarten Field Trip
21 Book Bingo
23 Defever & Jurewicz Field Trip
23 A-L VIP Breakfast
24 M-Z VIP Breakfast
24 2nd Grade Field Trip
28 Kiander & Wabeke Field Trip
30 Williams & Olsson Field Trip
May 25 – No School
June 3 – ½ Day of School
June 4 – ½ Day of School, Last Day of School