If your child is absent and the absence is unexcused, you will receive an automated phone call reminding you to report the absence. Please remember to report your child’s absence, before 9am, by calling our attendance line at (269) 694-7880.

Supporting Reading At Home!

A Quick 5-Minute Tip with Mrs. Watson

The month of March continues to celebrate reading! Here is a quick tip to help build good reading habits at home. As you read with your child, it is important to encourage them to be a “word solver”. If your child comes to a word they don’t know, prompt them with these simple tips that are linked below. Don’t be afraid to say, “Can you try something for that word?” The student will need to use all their strategies to figure out how to read the word. The important thing to remember as a parent is that “productive struggle” is ok! Children need to develop strong word-solving muscles!

Videos

The Power of Productive Struggle - Love this!

• Productive Struggle

How to help your child become a word solver:

• Prompting Guide

Congratulations to the following students for being selected as their classroom PRIDE winner for the week!

P - Positive Attitude

R - Responsible Actions

I - Integrity Within

D - Determination to Succeed

E - Expect Excellence

Kindergarten: Aylah Verbeek, Isabella Daly, Peyton Wuis

1st grade: Colton Lindgren, Kinsley Koestner, Aiden Reece

2nd grade: Axel Alexander, Madelynn Ruiz, Selah Andrina

3rd grade: Raelynn Kingseed, Ellie Bronkema, Maddison McPherson

4th grade: Emma Rainey, Hayden Miller, Tucker Anderson

5th grade: Summer Dreyer, Riley Carr, Mason Coburn

The Challenges of Childhood

When children are experiencing failure or hurt, parents become uncomfortable with the pain the child is feeling, no matter what the child’s age. Our first instinct is usually to rush in and make it all better for them. But is that really the best thing to do?

We grow through our challenges and struggles, learning things that help us in the next challenge ahead. One of the best gifts you can give your children is to walk beside them through the trials in their lives instead of jumping in to rescue them. In doing so, we teach children to be self-sufficient and resilient.

It is a valuable lesson when you learn how to fix a problem on your own. For example, when your child walks out of the house without the homework that they finished the night before, rather than jumping in your car to take it to them at school, talk about it when they get home and help them come up with a plan that makes it impossible to forget the work they finished. It’s better to learn the lesson of being responsible now, rather than later when the stakes are higher in middle or high school. If your child is experiencing friendship problems, talk to him/her about the choices he/she can make and options of how to handle it rather than calling the teacher or the other child’s parents right away.

We need to support our children and teach them how to handle their own problems, rather than fixing everything for them. In doing so, we are showing them we have confidence in their abilities, which will in turn teach them to believe in themselves.