;)
Thursday Notes
September 22, 2011
School Website: www.townshend.windham.vt.us
Dear
Parents & Students,
Next week is the last week of
September, believe it or not! We have
completed one set of testing (MAP, which stands for Measure of Academic
Performance). October is more testing
with the NECAP (New England Common Assessment Program)
Our OPEN HOUSE is Thursday, October 6
from 6:30-7:30PM. We are so eager to see
you all in our classrooms and hope that you discover the many wonderful things
your children do with us every day. It
is truly a joy to work with every student.
Our slogan for students achieving success is “All Means All” and our
skilled teachers embrace the belief that every student can grow and
learn. Open House is not for parent
conferences but rather a chance for you to experience life in the classroom by
looking at student work. Parent
conferences will officially take place on the afternoon of November 10th. Your child’s teacher will invite you to sign
up for a conference closer to the date.
Please note NO SCHOOL on Sept 28th
for teacher inservice. Take care
and have a great FALL weekend.
Sincerely,
Deborah M. Leggott, Principal
It’s
Academic: Still More Reading tips!
Tip #7: Relax Your family’s bedtime rules occasionally. It is hard to put away a good book just because it is bedtime. Let your child know that once a week
(preferably on the weekend) he/she can
stay up late as long as he/she’s reading in bed. You might even want to plan a special bedtime
snack and encourage the discovery that reading is really fun.
Tip
#8: Have a family contest to determine “The Most
Unusual Place I Ever Read”. Take
pictures of family members in their
favorite reading hideaways. (These make
great holiday greeting cards.)
Tip
#9: Schedule time to read. In some families, when everyone says, “Oh
DEAR”, that means they’ve agreed to Drop Everything And Read. During DEAR time, the TV goes off, the phone
goes unanswered, and everyone sits down for some uninterrupted reading
time. Make sure everyone has something
to read. Schedule DEAR time in advance
and write it on the family calendar.
This let’s your child see that reading time is just as important as
basketball practice!
Tip
#10: Start a family library. Buy paperback books and make them last by
covering them with clear contact paper.
Encourage your child to swap books with friends. Look for a used-book store or a library
having a sale. Give books for gifts: establish
a family tradition of giving books for holiday gifts. Giving gift certificates to book stores is
another way to give books if uncertain which book to choose.
Tip
#11: Invite a “guest reader” to read to your
child. Encourage siblings to read to
each other. Ask friends, neighbors or
other relatives to share a story with your child.
Tip
#12: Limit your child’s TV time. Studies show that kids who spend more than 10
hours a week watching TV do worse in
reading than kids whose parents set limits on TV viewing. Some families give their children “TV
Tickets”, each good for 30 minutes of television time. When the tickets are gone the TV is turned
off for the week. The same idea works
for video games and computer time.
Get
into the “reading habit”…last tips next week.
9/22/11
Band News - Instrumental Music Night
The instrument rental night is scheduled for Monday,
September 26th, at 6:30 pm, at the Dutton gym. The parents and students who
have submitted their instrument surveys will be met by Michael McKinney,
Instrumental Music Teacher and representatives from Ellis Music Company of
Bethel, VT, to sign contracts and pick up their rental instrument. Students will receive their first choice
unless there has been notification from Mr. McKinney. After introductory
remarks, instruments will be handed out in the order of the
parent’s arrival, "first come, first serve".
Our Art teacher has a request for donations of older
t-shirts, button shirts or aprons for use in her Art Class. The current ones are really worn out and
should be replaced. The shirts should be
larger sizes so that any of our students can put them over whatever they are
wearing.
Soccer practice for Pre-K, Kindergarten & First Graders starts on
Saturday mornings this weekend from 9-10 a.m.
Jenna Ackerson will be the coach and would love help from any parent
interested. There is a small box of some
cleats and shinguards in the lobby of the school, if anyone is in need of
some. Also, at this point, no other
schools in our district have shown an interest in having games for this age
group so these students will be practicing drills, etc. on Saturday mornings.
For your information – School pictures are scheduled for
Thursday, October 6th. Order
forms are enclosed and should be returned to school no later than Friday,
October 30th. If any parents of
Pre-Kindergarten students would like to bring in their child at 8:15 a.m., we
can have those Pre-Kindergareten students’ pictures taken at that time before
we start with the rest of the classes.
Reminder that there is no school next Wednesday,
September 28th. This is a
teacher inservice day.
For anyone who has suffered
damage due by Hurricane Irene, FEMA will be at the Farmer’s Market today
and next Thursday to answer any questions.