Seth Paine’s Principal Press December 1, 2011 Volume 2, Issue 4 The mission of Community Unit School District 95 is to inspire all students to be passionate, continuous learners and to prepare them with the skills to achieve their goals and flourish as responsible, caring citizens in a global community. December Newsletter The cold weather has arrived. Your children should be coming to school dressed appropriately for the weather. We do go outside everyday if the wind chill temperature is above 0º F. For the younger students, please have them practice putting on and taking off their winter gear on their own. This practice will be of big assistance to our staff. If you are having difficulty obtaining these items on your own, please inform the office; and we will see if we can assist you. If you have an excess of gloves, mittens, etc. We will be doing our annual collection this year in the school foyer. If you have dry or canned food items or any winter wear that can be donated, it would be greatly appreciated. I would like to wish all of you a safe and wonderful holiday season! Charity Bash Event Results The Fourth Annual Charity Bash Volleyball tournament with the elementary schools was a success. The games took place at May Whitney this past Monday, November 28th having Seth Paine come out vicorious for the second year in a row. This event benefitted the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation chosen by the high school charity bash committee. As an elementary group we raised $575 in donations and concessions sales this year. Thank you so much for your support and we look forward to continue this event in years to come. Seth Paine Reading Challenge — The Ela library runs a program having students track their reading of the ―Kids Picks‖ and ―Monarch‖ books. The library has all of the neighborhood schools competing with beads in tubes to show how many books they have read. Our PTO is sponsoring a wonderful event that is encouraging the reading of these books here at Seth Paine. At the last visit to the library, Seth Paine was in the lead for the entire district and surrounding schools that are participating. One of our incentives each month is that we have two students selected who have been reading these books to be recognized as our ―Readers of the Month‖. Congratulations to Kaira (2) and Brynn (3) on be such active readers! Page 2 Seth Paine’s Principal Press Volume 2, Issue 4 Other Important News Orchestra Concerts Approaching—The Seth Paine/May Whitney/Spencer Loomis 4th Grade Orchestra presents a Demonstration Concert on Tuesday, December 6, at 7:00 pm in the May Whitney Gymnasium. Parents, grandparents, teachers and friends are invited to see and hear what we can do! Our District wide Grade 5 Prelude Orchestras present a festive concert on Thursday, December 15, at 7:00 pm in the beautiful LZ High School Performing Arts Center. Musical selections range from classical to bluegrass to holiday favorites. October Student of the Month—Every month Lake Zurich CUSD 95 gives each building an opportunity to select a student in their building that represents our District’s mission of ―Being a responsible ,caring citizen in a global community.‖ For the month of October, Seth Paine choose 5th grade student Nick for his respect for fellow classmates, display of positive interpersonal skills, and his ability to support other students. Vacations—With the holidays approaching, I want to remind our families that Seth Paine does not encourage families to take vacations while school is in session. Though our teachers may be able to pull some work together for these students, it cannot replace the direct instruction that they receive in their school day. I encourage you to try to coordinate your vacation schedules with our district’s schedule to limit the crucial instruction that could be missed if absent. Cell Phone use in School Zone—It is state law that motorists are not allowed to be utilizing your phones while driving in a school zone or parking lot. Please remember and respect these laws as they are in place for our student’s safety. Contact Me – Have a question or a concern? Please feel free to contact me. You can reach me at #847-438-2163 or via email at: cameron.shapiro@lz95.org Important Dates to Know 12/6—4th grade MW/SL/SP Orchestra concert—7PM @ May Whitney 12/12— Seth Paine Chorus concert—7PM 12/14—5th grade Band concert – SL/MSN 12/15—5th grade All District Orchestra concert—7PM @PAC 12/21 — Last day of school 12/22– 1/3 -- Winter Break 1/4 - Classes resume Seth Paine’s Principal Press Page 3 Volume 2, Issue 4 TIPS ON READING WITH CHILDREN Start reading with your children when they are infants. Between the ages of one month and two years, children's language development is almost perfect. Children this age love hearing the sound of your voice and looking at illustrations. Books are a great way to introduce new vocabulary and concepts to your child. Pick a regular time and place to read with your children. Bedtime is great, but there may be other good times during the day. Reading is a great way to help your child calm down and focus. Having a regular reading schedule gives children something to look forward to, and it tells them that you value this special time together. Let your children help select what you read together. You always want to be introducing new books for them to love, but letting children choose sometimes will help them feel empowered by reading. It also helps them understand that they have choices about what they read. Interact with your children when reading. Don't get too carried away with your «performance.» It's more important that both you and your child have a chance to ask and answer questions about the story as you go along. This kind of exchange also gives you a sense of what your child is thinking and imagining as you read together. Encourage older siblings to help. Having the whole family read together can help foster strong relationships. Make sure everyone feels they have an important role to play in family reading sessions. Encourage older sibs to read aloud using different voices, or to act out parts of the story. Take regular trips to the library. Reading patterns are developed at an early age. If you show kids that they can go to the library and take out their own books, you will help them understand the value of this free resource. Repeat favorite stories as often as your child wishes. Many children love to hear the same story again and again. This is simply a stage of reading development. By hearing the same story repeated, children not only learn to memorize the story, but the words on the page. This process is how many children learn to read at home. Model the importance of reading in your own life. Have plenty of reading material around the house, as well as writing implements (pencils, crayons) and paper. This will help you send the message that you value reading and writing. Borrowed from www.PBS.org