Stoney Creek News
Growing Kind Hearts & Minds While Inspiring Personal Success
From the Principal
Happy March!
We are gearing up for great reading celebrations throughout the entire month. We have several guest readers and local celebrities. The kids are so excited about our office crew "walking the plank" and we hear about it almost every hour!
Just a couple of items to remind all of our families about:
1. Please wash all winter gear, the coats and snow pants. This will help in getting rid of germs.
2. Our custodial staff are increasing their cleaning procedures and added touch points throughout the building.
3. Please follow the guidelines on the health chart regarding sending your kids to school with symptoms. (see picture with this article)
4. Please encourage your child to wash their hands when they get home from school as well. We are encouraging them to wash hands here at school, especially before eating.
To help increase conversation at home regarding the school day please read further below this article for a list of questions you can ask your student versus just "how was school today?' We hope that it helps increase the conversations you have at home.
Thank you for sending your healthy kids to school every day!
Tiffany Jackson, Principal
How Was School Today?
Here’s some of their favorites!
- What made you smile today?
- Can you tell me an example of kindness you saw/showed?
- Was there an example of unkindness? How did you respond?
- Does everyone have a friend at recess?
- What was the book about that your teacher read?
- What’s the word of the week?
- Did anyone do anything silly to make you laugh?
- Did anyone cry?
- What did you do that was creative?
- What is the most popular game at recess?
- What was the best thing that happened today?
- Did you help anyone today?
- Did you tell anyone “thank you?”
- Who did you sit with at lunch?
- What made you laugh?
- Did you learn something you didn’t understand?
- Who inspired you today?
- What was the peak and the pit?
- What was your least favorite part of the day?
- Was anyone in your class gone today?
- Did you ever feel unsafe?
- What is something you heard that surprised you?
- What is something you saw that made you think?
- Who did you play with today?
- Tell me something you know today that you didn’t know yesterday.
- What is something that challenged you?
- How did someone fill your bucket today? Whose bucket did you fill?
- Did you like your lunch?
- Rate your day on a scale from 1-10.
- Did anyone get in trouble today?
- How were you brave today?
- What questions did you ask at school today?
- Tell us your top two things from the day (before you can be excused from the dinner table!).
- What are you looking forward to tomorrow?
- What are you reading?
- What was the hardest rule to follow today?
- Teach me something I don’t know.
- If you could change one thing about your day, what would it be?
- (For older kids): Do you feel prepared for your history test?” or, “Is there anything on your mind that you’d like to talk about?” (In my opinion, the key is not only the way a question is phrased, but responding in a supportive way.)
- Who did you share your snacks with at lunch?
- What made your teacher smile? What made her frown?
- What kind of person were you today?
- What made you feel happy?
- What made you feel proud?
- What made you feel loved?
- Did you learn any new words today?
- What do you hope to do before school is out for the year?
- If you could switch seats with anyone in class, who would it be? And why?
- What is your least favorite part of the school building? And favorite?
- If you switched places with your teacher tomorrow, what would you teach the class?
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.
Kindergarten 2020-2021
Building Healthy Communities Update: March is Nutrition Month
Health and reading go hand-in-hand! The Building Healthy Communities program combines healthy eating education with reading in many ways. From sending home healthy home works to reading nutrition labels in class, your child is developing in both reading and health knowledge. There are also lots of ways to incorporate reading and nutrition at home! Be on the lookout for the “Healthy Parent Tip Sheets” created by the USDA and read them with your children. Visit your local library and get a book on the importance of healthy eating and being physically active or pick out a cookbook and try making a recipe together!
The Importance of Vocabulary - Part 2
Did you know that reading one book every day to your young child makes a difference in your child’s vocabulary development - and in your child’s education?
Around 25% of caregivers never read with their children. When children are read to - from birth until the start of kindergarten - they are learning lots of words. Results showed that parents who read 1 picture book with their children every day provide their children with exposure to an estimated 78,000 words each a year. When you add it up, over the 5 years before kindergarten entry, researchers estimate that children from literacy-rich homes hear a cumulative 1.4 million more words during storybook reading than children who are never read to.
Whether you read to your children in the past or not, it’s NEVER too late to start! Starting in kindergarten, if you read to your children (or if they read) 20 minutes a day at home, they will hear 1.8 million words per year. They will have read for 851 hours by 6th grade and on standardized tests, your children will likely score better than 90% of their peers.
Adding to that benefit, vocabulary knowledge leads to better spelling. A study done by the American Academy of Pediatrics found reading to children of any age awakens a number of regions in the left part of the brain. The areas in the brain that become active involve understanding the meaning of words and concepts tied to memory.
So what can you do? Read to your child. Read a book EVERY day. It doesn’t cost a lot to have a huge library of books to read. Visit the library to check out books to read with your child.
If making regular trips to the library is difficult for you, you can check out online books from the library on your tablet. After one trip to the library to get a library card, you can check out online books through the OverDrive app or the Libby app. Talk with the local library to find out how you can do this. There are also a variety of other free online options for books and reading. A few good ones include Storyline Online (famous people reading children’s books aloud), Open Library (sign up to check out books for free), Amazon’s Free Kids’ eBooks and Barnes & Noble’s Free Nook Book for Kids (both have a mix of free and paid eBooks). In whatever way works best for you, read to your child every day!
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
March
13 1/2 Day of School Dismissal at 12:05 p.m.
17 Parent Teacher Conferences
19 Parent Teacher Conferences
23-26 Hearing & Vision Screening
25 Kindergarten Screening & Round Up
26 Kindergarten Screening & Round Up
31 Talks with Tiffany
31 Dress Like a Pirate Day
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 5 - 2nd Grade Musical - 6:00 p.m.
May 25 – No School
June 3 – ½ Day of School
June 4 – ½ Day of School, Last Day of School