March Charger News
2024
Cherry Chase Elementary School
Phone (408) 522-8241
Click here to be directed to the Cherry Chase Website
Is Your Child Sick or Unable to Attend School?
Is your child sick or unable to attend school?
Parents please report any student absences by calling the school office at 408-522-8241 or emailing: cherrychasefrontoffice@sesd.org
Please include child's name, teacher, and reason for absence.
Lost and Found
March Character Trait: Cooperation
During the month of March, we will be focusing on the character trait of Cooperation. Teachers will be reading the book Swimmy by Leo Lionni to emphasize this character trait.
What is Cooperation?
- Cooperation is when people work together toward a common goal or purpose.
- Cooperation is characterized by a sense of “give and take”.
- Cooperation is Teamwork.
- Cooperation requires: compromise, listening, sharing, encouraging, taking turns, and doing your part.
Congratulations! Your Child Is Showing Signs of Cooperation When He/She:
- Works with other family members to accomplish a task.
- Works with others to solve problems.
- Listens carefully to other people’s ideas.
Discussion Questions About Cooperation:
- Ask your child to tell you things they do at school that require them to
cooperate with others.
- Ask your child what makes him/her feel like part of a group.
- Have your child tell you about a time he/she cooperated with friends.
- Have a discussion about cooperation in your family. In what ways do you cooperate with one another?
March is Women’s History Month
This March, Cherry Chase celebrates Women’s History Month, which celebrates the contributions of those who identify as women. Like Black History Month, Women’s History Month started as a week-long celebration. The Education Task Force of the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women started the week in 1978, picking the first week in March because of International Women’s Day on March 8th. Many groups wanted to expand nationally and in February 1980 President Carter made it happen. In 1987, Congress passed a law making March Women’s History Month. At school, teachers will be sharing biographies of influential women.
Want to celebrate and learn more at home:
For an explanation of the month, visit:
Books are a great way to learn more! Here are some book lists for kids:
Teaching Kids about Equity
What is equity? Equity is often used interchangeably with equality, but they have distinctly different meanings. While equality demands everyone should be treated the same regardless of differences, equity is giving everyone what they need to succeed.
Every child deserves the opportunity to be successful based on his or her unique gifts and talents, but not every child has equitable opportunities.
According to the Momentous Institute Organization, it’s critical that children understand equity and the many barriers to achieving it, including race, gender and socio-economic status. If parents or teachers stay silent around the topic of equity, many children will begin to develop their own perception, of themselves or those around them based on these labels.
Conversations around inequity are crucial. Children are talking about these barriers, whether or not their parents or other adults are creating safe places for those important conversations. Children process the world through small experiences that, when compounded over time, shape their own identity and their perception of others, including people of other races, ethnicities, genders and socio-economic statuses.
It is crucial that parents ensure “their voice is in the room,” says Momentous Institute’s Dr. Garica Sanford, training director. “When we don’t talk to children about topics like race, we miss opportunities to help them understand the unique ethnic and cultural differences that exist and enrich our world.”
How to start the conversation:
Like adults, children can identify inequity in the world. They may see two children being treated differently at school or they may hear a story on the news that highlights inequity. Adults can use these opportunities to open a conversation in developmentally appropriate ways. An adult might ask a child what she thinks about an experience of inequity, or if she’s seen other examples of inequity and how she might handle it. It may be as simple as saying, “there are times when people are treated differently just because of their race or gender. How do you feel about that?”
Equality vs Equity
We must teach children two key words and their definitions from Merriam-Webster to better understand the idea of fairness:
Equality: the quality or state of being equal; the quality or state of having the same rights, social status, etc.
Equity: fairness or justice in the way people are treated
Once students understand and can discern between equality and equity, glean examples from their everyday life and use them as prompts in a game of “Fair or Foul?” Do these scenarios hit a fair ball or a foul ball in the game of life? If foul, how can they be changed to make the situation fair?
Some scenarios you can use are:
- Your older sister gets to stay up later than you.
- Your brother got money for his birthday and you didn’t.
- Your friend brings her ball to school but won’t let you play with it.
- Nick always gets to be the line leader.
- You save a seat for someone in the cafeteria.
- Your friend lets you cut in line in front of him at the drinking fountain.
Literature offers more models for what’s fair and what’s not. Use the following titles to help your child reflect on how the characters in these stories resolved their fairness frustrations:
- Lillian's Right to Vote by Jonah WInter
- I am Jackie Robinson by Brad Meltzer
- She Persisted Around the World by Chelsea Clinton
Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation
by Duncan Tonatiuh
Keep the lines of communication open and give your child permission to discuss their thoughts and feelings when life doesn’t seem fair. Ask them what they want or need to resolve their conflicts. Help them become problem solvers by listening to their concerns and offering equitable options to help strengthen their voices and choices as they work to negotiate life so that it feels fair for everyone.
Celebrate National Reading Month This March
March is designated as National Reading Month - a month to motivate Americans of all ages to read every day.
Reading is fun and has many benefits, regardless of your age. It's a key component of education. It also has immediate and long-lasting health benefits such as increased cognitive function, memory, vocabulary, empathy and decreased levels of stress.
Ways to Help Your Child in Reading
Self-selection of books for children is KEY! Visit the library or bookstore and choose books together. Your child will be more invested in reading if given the opportunity to select his/her own books. Empower your child to CHOOSE whatever they want to read!
Audio books are one way to get reluctant readers interested in books. This can be done everywhere-in the car, at home, and even when sitting at a siblings baseball practice.
Graphic novels and picture books are also wonderful for practicing inferencing skills and kids usually LOVE reading them! The only thing about this, is to make sure that these are not the ONLY type of books your child is reading. We want them to expand their horizon and push themselves to be challenged in what they are reading.
10 Tips for Raising Sharp Readers
- Have books everywhere.
- Let them see you read.
- Celebrate books and acknowledge authors as the rockstars they are.
- Give books as gifts.
- Keep it fresh.
- Encourage unsupervised reading.
- Let “going to the library” be more than just checking out books.
- Help them find books that align with their interests.
- Never force it.
- Incorporate bedtime reading in your routine.