GRANDPARENTS/SPECIAL FRIENDS - Are invited to come to Maplewood on Friday, Oct. 19th! A ceremony will be held at 12:30 p.m. in the gym, where Grandparents or Special Friends will all hear a student musical performance. After the p.m. program in the gym is finished, the adults can go back to the classroom with the students; hint: we’ll let our guests all leave school by 2:00 p.m. to avoid the usual traffic jams at the dismissal time at the end of the day. (If you want your child to leave school with someone different than we have on file, or to leave early, we must have a note from you!) Come enjoy the children, and hear praises for you as their Special Friends or Grandparents! The kids love to see you here!
COSTUME EVENTS - Wednesday, Oct. 31st will again be a day when children can bring costumes to school to wear in an afternoon parade. Students will put on costumes after lunch, and begin the parade at 12:45 p.m. on the playground (in the gym if poor weather). To make this a safe, enjoyable event for everyone, make sure that the costumes are: SAFE (they shouldn’t restrict vision or trip them up; also, absolutely no fake or real weapons should be brought for this school affair) and APPROPRIATE FOR THEIR AGE (no revealing, bloody, or violent costumes) and CONVENIENT (so the student doesn’t have to be stressed about the time limits to get dressed; they will not be allowed to put on costumes until right after lunch).
NO SCHOOL NEXT FRIDAY! - Friday, October 26th, is a District-wide Professional Development Day, and school offices will be closed!
LIFESKILLS - The Lifelong Guidelines are the behavior guidelines that our school community will be practicing this year. These five guidelines (Trustworthiness, Truthfulness, Active Listening, No Put-Downs, and Personal Best) are based upon a respect for others and self and provide a safe environment in which learning can take place. The guideline that our school is focusing on in October is:
~Active Listening~
Some of the ways that we can explore the Lifelong Guideline of Active Listening include:
· Practice note-taking skills
· Listening to different forms of music
· Listing the characteristics of an active listener
· Attending an in-school or community performance and practicing active listening skills
In addition to modeling Active Listening for your child, there are ways that parents can help improve their children’s listening skills. You can support your child by:
· Reading aloud increasingly longer stories, staring with picture books and working up to chapter books and asking him/her to share what pictures come to mind as the story progresses
· Asking him/her to retell and evaluate TV programs
· Providing opportunities for your child to remember and follow increasingly difficult, multi-step instructions
· Identifying nature sounds during a walk in the woods, park, or while strolling along the beach
Please let us know of any other ideas that have worked for you. I want to thank Debra Wisniewski, our Character Education Specialist, for providing us with the reminders about our efforts here and for her valued work with our students. Debra will only be at Maplewood about once every 6 school days, as she is spread out to work in 6 schools (our Character Education Grant ended last June); she will be here to help us with our Student Council activities, and provide help to us all by consulting on “Lifeskills” and “Steps to Respect”.
Oct 18 - TAG Parent Meeting at Maplewood @ 6:00 pm
Oct 19 - Grandparents/Special Friends Day at 12:30 pm
Oct 25 - BAJA FRESH Day – 11:00 – 9:00 p.m. 4th Grade Fundraiser (7421 SW Barbur Blvd)
Oct 26 - NO SCHOOL – Professional Development Day
Oct 26 - Maplewood Carnival!
Oct 30 - Vision Screening - Kindergarten
Oct 31 - Halloween Parade
