News From The Nest

Happy New Year! The budget committee met on January 22nd to review and consider funding requests from staff and teachers. The committee consists of PTO board members, parents representing all grades, teacher representatives, and Mrs. Cromwell. The committee kept a few benchmarks in mind when making its decisions. First and foremost, the request could not be something the school district planned to fund. Requests should support an educational need, provide for the well-being of students, or improve JSE’s learning environment. With that said, the committee approved requests totaling $1,154.30 for:

Mrs. Cromwell has been reviewing designs and estimates for the courtyard, utilizing funds raised from the Fun Run. Looking forward to that project (and warmer weather for it to start)!

We have received great feedback on the Penguin Patch shopping event before Christmas. The students expressed such joy being able to give back to those they love. In doing that, we raised $1,347.03 for the JSE PTO. Thanks to all of you for your continued support and generosity for our Jay Shideler Elementary students, teachers, and staff!

Please join us for our next PTO meeting on February 18th at 6 p.m. in the library.

It’s a great day to be a Blue Jay!

Katie Elwell

Jay Shideler PTO Secretary

Dear Blue Jay Family,

It’s February! Hoping that the Pennsylvania groundhog declares it’s spring. We’ve already had a year’s worth of snow accumulation in that one week of January. We will celebrate 100 days of school this month as well as Valentine’s Day and gearing up for parent teacher conferences. There’s a lot to look forward to during our spring semester. May will be here before we know, so my goal is to embrace each day and find the joy in all the big and small moments. I know we focused on gratitude in December, but I think when we focus on that all year long, we slow down and we take time to tell others that we appreciate them.

Some things the mental health team and our teachers have been thinking about is how to

help our students with executive functioning skills - especially our 5th and 6th graders this year who will be moving to the middle school. These skills include organization of materials and spaces as well as work initiative. “How do I get started? I have 3 assignments. Which one should I work on first?”

When I talk to students, they will tell me they procrastinate. I admit, that I too have that tendency, so I completely understand the struggle. What can we do as adults to help them? We want to balance responsibility with adult support. Letting them figure out some things and feeling some natural consequences is great, but we also don’t want to let them get to the point where they feel like they are failing and there is no use in trying. Sometimes it’s hard to find that balance. Every child is different. We want to help our kids plan and set some goals. It takes a while to create good habits. A hallmark 2009 study on habit creation found that habits developed in a range of 18 to 254 days;

participants reported taking an average of about 66 days to reliably incorporate one of three new daily activities—eating a piece of fruit with lunch, drinking a bottle of water with lunch or working out regularly.

If your child is fairly organized, turning in work on time, and ready for outside activities on a daily basis – don’t fix what’s not broken. However, if you feel like you are becoming a micromanager or a parental nagger, here are some things you might think about doing so you are less stressed and your child may become more organized and responsible.

1. Teach your child how to set an alarm clock. (The older ones.)
2. Have your child go through their bookbag every night and clean it out – are there notes that need to be signed and returned.
3. Have your child put their bookbag by the door the night before so it’s ready to go. I have to do that, because it takes a little bit for my brain to warm up in the morning.
4. If you have a kiddo that has a homework sheet/organization envelope, go ahead and ask to see it when you get home. Yes, we want them to be responsible to bring it to you, but remember it takes a while for a good habit to become a habit. They need to know that we are going to follow through. If you need help looking at your child’s grades on infinite campus, please reach out and let your child’s teacher or myself know.
5. Set up a work space for them away from distractions. Set a timer for them. Your entire night should not be homework. If this is a struggle, email your child’s teacher, or call. We don’t want your nights to be a constant battle. Your family life is important too.
6. Have them pack up their “go bags” for practice – cleats, snack, water bottle, etc. so if they have practice right after school or later that night they have what the need. They know the need a water bottle for practice.
7. Let a natural consequence happen. If they forget a water bottle for school, don’t rescue them and bring it. Same goes for lunch. Sometimes being uncomfortable is what it takes to help them remember. We have water and lunch here at school.

Please know how much I appreciate you. Parents juggle a lot, and we want the best for our kids.

Perfection is not a thing – practice makes permanent. Here’s to finding joy as we journey through this spring semester. Please don’t hesitate to contact me. I do not have all the answers, but I can work with you to find strategies that might help.

Glynis Kickhaefer

Jay Shideler School Counselor

kickhgly@usd437.net

785-339-4615