School is Cool

A big mahalo to:

• Mrs. Sanchez who baked cookies for the Student Council's Community Cookie Project
• The four chaperones who  accompanied us on our Dole Plantation field trip
• Mrs. Nagamine who  works endlessly on class projects
• All those who shared Valentine's treats with their classmates

All Valentine's Day treats will be sent home on Monday in the green Long's recyclable bag.  Please have your child return it to school on Tuesday.

The Kindergarten teachers are rethinking our "homework' assignments. It was mentioned a few weeks ago that homework with the daily worksheets would cease at the end of the 2nd trimester.  However, that are many homework alternatives that reinforce learning. Many of the benefits of homework can be obtained through extra-curricular involvement and family-based activities. Here are a few ideas you may find useful:

• Playing games as a family, such as card games, board games, word games and even puzzles promote academic skills (color and pattern recognition, number sense, logic and problem solving skills, literacy skills, etc.);
• Visits to libraries and museums help to reinforce learning on a specific topic, or following up on a child's personal areas of interest;
• Storytelling and make-believe activities encourage children to express themselves creatively – but also provide opportunities to learn taking turns, cooperation and tolerance for the opinions and preferences of others;
• Informal games can encourage a child to make practical use of school skills (shape identification, counting, adding and subtracting, estimation, rounding, etc.) Look for opportunities to challenge your child to apply knowledge during activities around the house, on errands, while travelling or while waiting for appointments.
• Reading to or with a child daily has been called “the only conclusive way to boost their academic success.” (“Homework a homewrecker: Report”) Be sure to offer lots of appropriate literature to your child, and to encourage regular reading.
• Websites such as Starfall , Disney, or PBS Kids   are a few that your children would be totally engaged with. You can click on each of the highlighted titles to be linked to the site.

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