Mustang Memo - October 25, 2024
Thank you to all of the Mustang families who joined us for parent/student/teacher interviews this week. It was great to see our community out in classrooms and hallways to celebrate their child's learning. We value these interviews as opportunities to cheer on the students while also sharing things to work on before the report cards come out in late November.
Thank you to Mrs. Eng and her parent volunteers for running another successful book fair. We'd also like to thank the parent volunteers from the Davidson Creek Fundraising Society for selling raffle tickets for the Chromebook draw over both nights. What would we do with out our incredible parents? Team work makes the dream work!
Enjoy your weekend!
Helene Hewitt & Jay Robertson
Principal & Assistant Principal
A place where you belong!
Table of Contents
Week At a Glance
Action
- WOW Wednesday is Coming Soon
- Boost Literacy by Reading at Home
Opportunity
- Counsellor's Corner
- Help Boost Your Child's Math Fact Fluency
- Remembrance Day Ceremony
- Mabel's Labels
Information
- Halloween Reminders
- Parents Make the Difference
WEEK AT A GLANCE
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| Tuesday |
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| Wednesday |
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| Thursday |
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| Friday |
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ACTION
WOW Wednesday is Coming Soon
November 6 is WOW (Walk or Wheel) Wednesday! Walk, bike or scooter to school for a chance to win a prize for your class at the end of the year! Parents driving their children to school can park a little further away and walk in! For our students who take the bus, you are encouraged to walk or run around the soccer field twice at recess! Dress warm and enjoy this fresh, beautiful season!
DCE is hosting WOW Wednesday on the first Wednesday of the month for the entire school year! It will always be the same day as early dismissal. On Each WOW Wednesday, your teacher will tally all the students in your class who walk or wheel to school — AND, at the end of the year, the class with the highest total number of WOW Wednesday students wins a prize! Students who take the bus will be encouraged to walk a lap around the school to be counted in the results.
Even though the colder weather has begun, we can still take to opportunity to move our bodies and prioritize our health! Have fun!
Thanks from your DCE Parent Wellness Committee
Boost Literacy By Reading at Home
You know that reading together as a family is a powerful way to promote literacy, but how do you find books to read? Here are some places to find some excellent book ideas:
All ages - Your local library or sites like Read Aloud Revival have all sorts of great book suggestions.
Students in Grades 4-9 - check out this video.
High School students - check out this video.
Check out this document for some prompts to help your child read purposefully to find meaning.
OPPORTUNITY
Counsellor's Corner
This year, our school team is excited to explore restorative practices. In contrast to more traditional models of discipline, which emphasize punishment, restorative practices emphasize accountability, empathy, and dialogue and community building. One way that you can get involved as parents is to help your child develop the essential communication skill of “active listening.”
What is Active Listening?
Active listening goes beyond simply hearing words; it requires full attention and engagement with the speaker. Key components of active listening include:
- Giving Full Attention: This means putting away distractions, like phones or toys, and focusing on the speaker.
- Using Non-Verbal Cues: Nodding, maintaining eye contact, and using facial expressions to show understanding or interest.
- Reflecting Back: Paraphrasing or summarizing what the speaker has said to show comprehension, such as saying, “So what you’re saying is…”
- Asking Clarifying Questions: Encouraging further explanation if something is unclear, which helps deepen understanding and shows interest.
- Avoiding Interruptions: Allowing the speaker to finish their thoughts without interjecting, fostering a respectful dialogue.
Active Listening can be hard to do and is not something that feels natural if you’ve never intentionally practiced it before! If you are interested in learning more about active listening, check out this article from the Center for Parenting Education.
Help Boost Your Child's Math Fact Fluency
What is math fact fluency?
Fact fluency is your child's ability to quickly remember basic facts in the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). They can pull the answers out of long term memory without having to count on fingers or use a strategy.
Why do kids need good fact fluency?
When kids cannot recall facts quickly, it means that they are using most of their brain power trying to figure them out. Because their working memories are busy figuring out the answer, they have little brain power left to use the fact to solve a math problem. This is called cognitive load theory.
Our working memory is sort of like the desktop of our brain. We store stuff there so that we can manipulate it easily. Our brains then decide to put the information into long term memory or put it in the recycling bin.
The thing is, our brain "desktops" have limited space. When it is full, we cannot put anything else in there. If we fill up the desktop with ways to calculate the basic facts, we have no room left in there apply the fact to figure out how to solve an equation, answer a word problem or find a pattern.
What happens when my child doesn't have fact fluency?
When your child is trying to solve a math problem that has multiple steps, problems with fact fluency will slow them down and make them feel frustrated and unsuccessful. They will use up all their brain power figuring out what 8+9 is and then not remember what they were trying to do in the math problem itself. It makes doing the math problem hard, slow and punishing!
When kids have good fact fluency, their brain has put the facts into long term memory which clears off the "desktop" and makes room for them to think about the problem they are solving.
How can you help improve fact fluency at home?
There are many ways you can help including:
- regular short practice of math facts (2 minutes 3 times is better than 10 full minutes of practice all at once!)
- make it fun (play games that require you to practice those facts)
- teach kids the commutative property (numbers can be added or multiplied in any order and get the same answer: 2+3=5 is the same as 3+2=5)
Want more ideas? Check out this website for some practice ideas.
Remembrance Day
Our Grade 2 students, with the support of our talented music teacher, Ms. Falcon, are hard at work getting ready to lead our Remembrance Day ceremony taking place on Friday, November 8.
You are welcome to join us in the gym for this important event where we will honour those brave men and women, past and present, who serve in our armed forces.
We will have an early recess so that students can come down to the gym around 10:25 a.m. and we can begin the program around 10:40. This will ensure that we observe the moment of silence at 11 a.m. Students and community members are invited to wear uniforms such as Beavers, Scouts, and Girl Guides.
Mabel's Labels
Did you know that Davidson Creek Elementary has an account with Mabel's Labels? If you are ordering labels for your children's clothing, school supplies or other materials, select our school from the drop down menu and we'll get a small kick back!
INFORMATION
Halloween Reminders
Costumes
It's almost time for our little ghouls and goblins to walk the halls in their spooky Halloween costumes! Please help us keep things safe and fun for all students when preparing your costumes. Here are our guidelines:
- masks will only be worn during the parade but will stay in the locker for regular class time
- please ensure masks are not too scary/grotesque for our youngest students
- please leave weapons at home
- if you choose to wear an inflatable costume, we will ask you to leave it uninflated when using the stairs. That means that you might be deflated during the parade for safety reasons!
Parade
Parents are welcome to come and watch the parade which begins at 12:45 p.m. Come into the school and find a spot on the gym bleachers to enjoy the cuteness!
Treats - Let's not be nutty!
We do have some students and staff with serious nut allergies. We value them as part of our community and want them to feel safe at school. Please help us to keep them safe by not sending foods that contain nuts to school! Thank you for helping us to make sure that everyone belongs here!
Parents Make the Difference
Here is this week's article with helpful tips for families:
A five-step process can help your child make better decisions
Children have to make a lot of decisions every day. So it’s important that they learn to make responsible ones. Encourage your child to follow this simple five-step decision-making process:
- Assess the situation. Your child can’t make a wise decision if the issue at hand is confusing. To help clearly define the problem, suggest that your child consider, “What’s the main thing I’m concerned about?”
- Explore options. What are some ways to handle the problem? Have your child make a mental list, then narrow it down to the three most sensible choices. This list-making step is critical because it illustrates that there are usually more than two options for solving a problem.
- Consider the disadvantages. Have your child think about the cons of each choice. If a certain option has a particularly negative consequence, this is a good time to rule out that option.
- Consider the advantages. Have your child think about the pros of each choice. Does one option have major advantages over others?
- Decide on a solution. After weighing the pros and cons of each possible option, your elementary schooler can make a well-thought-out decision with confidence.
Reprinted with permission from the October 2024 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2024 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc.