ST. AGNES CATHOLIC SCHOOL GATOR NEWS Principal: Jeanne Girard http://www.st-clair.net Director of Education: Dan Parr Superintendent: Deb Crawford December 2014 Board Chair: C. Bryden Trustee: A. Labadie Issue IV Advent is a time of waiting for the birth of Jesus. We all love to get ready for birthdays. We celebrate them with family and friends. Christmas is Jesus’ birthday. In our homes, we will get ready by decorating Jesus’ family tree, the Jesse tree. Jesse was the father of King David, one of Jesus’ ancestors. We will decorate the Jesse tree with ornaments that remind us of the people who waited for thousands of years for Jesus to come. Advent is a time when we bring greater meaning to gift giving and sharing as we look closely to Jesus who is the “Gift.” Sharing our worldly goods, acts of charity, feeding the hungry, exchanging gifts, remembering people we often forget, gathering of families: these are all human activities in which we find Christ, the love of God, now. All these acts are signs of our consideration for others and a conversion of our hearts. Let us remember to prepare not just our homes but our hearts as well as we seek God’s loving forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Celebrating with an Advent Wreath, prayer services as well as the Eucharistic Celebrations will help all of us keep Christ in Christmas. On the road again . . . The Full Day Kindergarten through grade 3 students look forward to visiting Camp Christmas at the Chatham Armouries on December 3rd. The students will be able to see our “Tree for the Arts Themed Tree” and enter a ticket to win one of the decorated trees. The theme this year is “Polar Express”. Students will be invited to wear their PJ’s to the event in keeping with the theme of “Polar Express”. Before our trip, students will know the story and be able to see the movie at school to tie everything together. ALL ABOARD!! THE POLAR EXPRESS!!! WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO SUPPORT THIS EVENT? ALL STUDENTS IN GRADE 7 WILL ATTEND THE MUSKOKA WOODS LEADERSHIP CAMP AND CAMP CHRISTMAS PROCEEDS GO DIRECTLY TO DECREASING THE COST SIGNIFICANTLY FOR OUR STUDENTS. EVEN IF YOUR CHILD IS NOT ATTENDING THIS YEAR, THEY WILL ATTEND ONE DAY– SOONER THAN YOU MAY THINK! Attending this trip to the Armouries each Christmas season may seem like a lot of money. Consider it an investment in our future Chatham Community in order to raise children with Catholic Leadership values who are able to give back and become productive members of our own Community– then, you may consider it a small investment for a GREAT return! Page 2 Why are the students at St. Agnes Catholic School... Building Spaghetti towers? Saving Sam? Getting rid of “Toxic Waste”? Turning their raft over while in a sea of toxic waste? Acting like a “Human Calculator”? Helping a Farmer transport chickens, corn and a fox safely across a river? We are building a Growth Mindset! Students are learning all about their brains, how a brain works and the best ways to make it grow. If you have not had a chance to ask your child about our perseverance activities we can fill you in. Here is what some students said… “ I used my mistakes to my advantage!” “Every time I made a mistake, I tried a different way and my brain grew.” “There were no winners, we just had to keep on trying.” “Oh my gosh, I thought we would NEVER get this! We kept trying and worked together and figured it out… it was so cool!” “This day could not have been more perfect! I had the best time figuring out this problem.” “The race is not always won by the swiftest, but the one who keeps on running!” Can’t Page 3 Dear St. Agnes Catholic School Families, As you may have heard, I will be moving to St. Joseph Catholic School in Chatham immediately following the Christmas break. We will be welcoming Mr. Tom Baker to St. Agnes and I know he will be so excited to be joining the family and will be immensely impressed by the St. Agnes students who follow the Golden Rule daily! In the Gospel of John, it says: Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain Be taken up and thrown into the sea and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” These are words of assurance as I move on to a new beginning. I take with me the great joy of having belonged to this community for almost 8 years. I do not relish in the task of uprooting and replanting because it is hard work. It is also hard work to let go of something so dear to you without leaving “claw marks” all over it. But, anything worth having is worth the effort and sometimes the things that are most precious to us are the ones we had to work the hardest to get. I know that by letting go, I will experience new things and add to the richness I have gained from St. Agnes Catholic School. I have been blessed too many times to count with so many children, parents and staff members I have had the privilege to meet during my years at this school. Everyone of you that I have met has left an indelible mark on my heart. Of course moving on is difficult but, in the grander scheme of things, who am I to argue? I am part of a bigger and richer plan. I have often told my own children that you do not change as you grow older; you merely get to know yourself better. It has been such a blessing to be able to travel with this school community on this part of my journey. You cannot go back- there are no do-overs in life… what we are able to do is visit our memories, weave stories and look back fondly as often as we like to remember the good times, bad times and crazy times. I will always have a special place in my heart for everyone who has been a part of this school community and I will always remember it fondly as “home” and the students that passed through these halls as “my children”. I will always remember St. Agnes as the place that taught me “it is not always about getting what you want but, sometimes it is about wanting what you’ve got.” I wish for you a life full of joy and peace. May you always give more than you take, be grateful that you are the answer to someone’s prayers and may you too, find joy in your journey. I hope that one day, our paths will cross again. Blessings, Jeanne Girard P.S. As ‘our’ song says “ And we’ll always be Gators, it runs through our blood, The Golden Rule is just a must…I’ll follow the rule, the way God wants me to be” And so I will ... Page 4 GATOR NEWS Issue IV PEOPLE GET READY . . . JESUS IS COMING! On Tuesday December 9th the St. Agnes School Community will be hosting a Christmas Evening of the Arts! This show is for you– the families of the students at St. Agnes Catholic School so that the students can showcase their talents! The doors will be opened at 5:30 pm so that families can take a gallery walk and see our Art Displays and hopefully purchase pieces that their child has created. All student art pieces will be sold for a donation with a minimum donation of $2.00 for each art piece. (Of course, if you are able and would like to offer more, we graciously accept!) There will be a baked goods sale as well. Christmas goodies will be packaged and sold for $5.00 per package. We hope to keep things simple this way by offering different selections in each package. There will also be a silent auction for some select pieces from our talented Art Club Members. The evening can be a one stop Christmas Shopping Event, Entertainment Evening and a chance to stock up on Christmas baked goods. Each class will be performing throughout the show with the entire school as part of the finale. The performance begins at 6:30 pm after everyone has had a chance to purchase baked goods and view our Gallery which will be displayed in the main hallway on the way to the Gym. We are asking for Nut Free Baked Goods for our sale. Any donations can be dropped off to the school or sent in with your child on December 9th by 11:00 am. Please label any containers you send so that we can be sure to return them to you or your child. All proceeds will go toward lowering the cost of educational excursions and School Family Activities. Director’s Insert – 10 Tips to help your child with reading Tips for kindergarten to grade 3 1. Cuddle up and read. Quiet times together are opportunities to bond...and read. The cuddling can be as important as the reading. Make it exciting: put some drama into your voice or let your child read every other page. As you go, explain any new words or ideas. 2. Public libraries today are worlds to explore so try to go regularly. Your library has great resources – books, computer games, DVDs, CDs, magazines, newspapers and Internet access. There are also terrific in-house programs such as reading circles for little ones and homework clubs for older children. If you have access to a public library, talk to the librarian about what is available. 3. Make your kitchen part of your "reading zone". Have fridge magnets available so children can start making words and short sentences. 4. Words are everywhere – take everyday opportunities to read with your child. Your child's world is filled with words – on cereal boxes, street signs, stores, posters, subway ads, etc. Wherever you go, you can always find new words and point them out. 5. Games can be great learning tools. Board games or card games such as word bingo or memory and rhyming cards can be a fun way to learn about words, letter sounds, and reading. They can help children realize how much fun learning can be. Check out your local school fair or second-hand stores for gently used games. You can even create your own by cutting out pictures, writing words on cards and getting you child to match them. Computers are reader friendly too! Though many worry that kids may spend too much time on the computer, there are some great games that help kids learn to read and allow them to create their own stories. Look for "parent approved" on the packaging in stores and in the library. Find some kid-friendly websites, like TVOKids and Canadian Geoillustrated for Kids, that have games you can play along with your child. 1. Books make great gifts. Ask family and friends to give a book instead of a toy as a gift. Make sure to tell them about your child's reading level and interests. To build up a home library find almost-new books at garage sales and school fairs. 2. Subscribe to a magazine. There's no substitute for the excitement of receiving mail. Let your kids subscribe to their favourite ageappropriate magazine and watch their eyes light up with the arrival of each new issue. Great magazines for younger children include Chirp® and Chickadee®. 3. Be a reading role model. When your kids see you reading, they will want to imitate you. It won't be long until they learn that reading is fun, interesting, and a "grown up" thing to do. Keep books, magazines and newspapers handy. Keep a box in the kitchen or living room for easy access. A special note: Educators agree that literacy skills develop and improve as a result of a wide range of activities. For example, a child's literacy skills are enhanced when parents who do not speak an official Canadian language read to their children in their native language. Children will benefit from this reading experience. Reading Is Thinking! Reading to and with your child is one of the best ways to develop reading skills and positive attitudes and excitement about print. The most important idea for children to know is that reading has to make sense. As you support them in their reading, if they make a mistake that affects the meaning, it is helpful to start with this question: ‘Does that make sense?’ This helps them think about what they are reading and backtrack to try other strategies so that they can make meaning from the text. Asking them this question and giving them some time to think about it, helps to build their thinking skills when reading. It allows them to practice the strategies they are learning with your encouragement. For more information on how your child learns to read, visit http:// www.parentliteracypartners.com/meaning-structure-and-visual-cues.html Playing With Math Facts at Home Through playing with numbers, children can build and strengthen so many basic math skills. Traditional playing cards and dice can be used to randomly create two numbers that students can either add, subtract, or multiply together. Creating a competition by completing three or four rounds of calculations to get the highest number can help build basic skills in a fun, engaging way. Websites such as Prodigy (https://www.prodigygame.com/Canada/) and Khanacademy (https://www.khanacademy.org/) are great places to practice skills students have started to learn in the classroom. With Khanacademy and Prodigy students can complete questions to increase skills in a game environment. Basic facts can also be practiced in simple free games at sites such as http://www.mathplayground.com/ or http://www.arcademics.com/games/. On these sites, children can practice their addition, subtraction, division and multiplication facts by completing math questions within a video game activity.