WES Family Connection

Welcome to the W.E.S. Connection Newsletter! This seasonal publication will be emailed to households to provide parents/guardians with important reminders, resources, and information to help you support the academic success of your child..

As the days are getting longer and a (little) warmer, we are starting to plan for a successful completion of the school year. The last few months have been packed with special events and activities, and we were especially excited that so many parents and guests were able to join us to celebrate. Our second graders put on an amazing Happy Hearts performance with the help of Ms. D’Alonzo’s musical direction. Valentine’s Day fun was followed by Read Across America Week. Whether it was Silly Socks, Wacky Wednesday, or Green Eggs and Ham, everyone got in the spirit of the week. We loved seeing so many guest or “mystery” readers from home join in the fun by spreading the joy of reading from our youngest to oldest students. The week ended with the return of a beloved event at WES - Family Reading Night, and what a night it was! Our halls and classrooms were filled with families who enjoyed time together making crafts, eating snacks, playing games, listening to stories, and shopping at the Scholastic Book Fair. We hope to enjoy this night for many years to come.

Our clubs have been in full swing as well, with students exploring technology during Digital Tech, tapping into their creativity during Art Club, and spreading some happiness around the school in Kind Kids Club. The Theatre Academy wowed students and parents alike with their performance of “At the Bandstand,” where the audience was transported decades into the past through story and song. Congratulations to our performers for a successful show!

Although June is getting closer, we still have much to accomplish before the end of the school year. The last few months have highlighted the benefits of a thriving home and school connection, and we look forward to strengthening this connection in the coming months as the calendar fills with end of year performances, class trips, and many other opportunities for parents to participate in our WES community. Education is at its best when everyone is working and participating together!

With practices many days a week, sometimes even traveling, it can be hard for kids to balance academics and athletics. Finding the perfect balance between school, sports, family and friends is the key to school success. But easier said than done, right? Here are some tips for student athletes to help you stay on track.

KEEP A PLANNER

Most schools will give out a planner at the beginning of each year (if not you can get one for. As soon as you receive a game schedule or a project due date, put it in the planner before you forget. revisit your calendar at the beginning of every week to check on approaching dates or make corrections.

UTILIZE RESOURCES

Take advantage of tutoring services, study hall and extra credit to help stay on top of your academic game.

GET MOTIVATED

Getting excited about school can be difficult, especially those darn science and math classes! Look into books and movies that will peak your interest about the subject. For example, the movie The Martian is about a man who uses science and chemistry to stay alive on mars. Seeing the real life applications may motivate you to learn in your class.

PLAN YOUR TIME

Know your times. Know what time school starts, what time practice starts, how long it takes to get to and from school. If you are aware of your time, you will be able to better plan for it. Block out this time on your planner so you know how much time you have for study and homework.

USE WEEKENDS WISELY

Instead of using the weekends to catch up, use the weekends to get ahead. Read next week's chapter. Start preparing for upcoming tests and projects. This will make the following week a lot easier for you while you're busy balancing practice and games.

DON'T PROCRASTINATE

Complete assignments as soon as they are given. Surely, homework and studying aren't on top of the fun list, but poor planning and waiting until the last minute to do an assignment could result in a poor grade.

USE TRAVEL TIME TO STUDY

Whether it's to school or to a tournament, use the time in the car to review notes, study, or read chapters.

DON'T FALL BEHIND

It's a lot easier to stay ahead than it is to play catch up. Put in the extra effort and time to prevent yourself from falling behind.

MAKE TIME TO RELAX

All work and no play can make for a grumpy teenager....or anyone, for that matter. Everyone needs time to relax. Set aside time for yourself to read a book, do a hobby, call a friend or watch TV.

1. Texture scavenger hunt

How it works: Place nature objects with different textures in several brown lunch bags. You could put a pinecone in one, a stick in another and a stone in a third. Have your kids close their eyes and feel each object. Then send them outside to find a similar texture. As they find matching objects, introduce texture words like pointy, bumpy and smooth.

How it promotes learning: All of those new words will expand your little ones’ vocabulary. Discriminating between different textures also supports fine-motor skills like coloring and writing.

2. Beach volleyball

How it works: Playing volleyball with an inflatable beach ball is another worthwhile activity. You can also simply throw the ball high in the air for your kids to catch if they are too young to play an organized game. Challenge them to count how many times they can clap before catching it! (Hint: If they have trouble gripping the ball, simply deflate it a bit.)

How it promotes learning: You can probably guess that this game teaches counting and social interaction skills. Catching a ball using both hands also teaches bilateral integration, a necessary skill for learning tasks such as cutting, buttoning and tying shoes.

3. Gardening

How it works: Gardening is connected with loads of developmental, physical and even psychological benefits for children. Your little ones can help with the gardening and learn at the same time—it’s a win-win!

How it promotes learning: All that digging and pulling is great for sensory exploration as well as building hand and finger strength, explains Kiley.

4. Pool noodle obstacle course

How it works: Get creative with pool noodles and design an obstacle course. Lay them on the ground, cut them in half, attach them to a fence or hang them from a branch. Challenge your kids to jump over them, limbo under them, crawl around them or walk on them like a balance beam.

How it promotes learning: Getting up and moving helps kids build core muscle strength. This will later be used for completing school tasks seated at the desk.

5. Nature hike

How it works: Nature offers plenty of discoveries for kids. Help them explore by encouraging them to find certain types of leaves, bugs, rocks and flowers.

How it promotes learning: A nature hike encourages observation skills, fine-motor skills, hand-eye coordination and the use of the five senses in exploring.

6. Critter quest

How it works: As the “critter,” you slowly inch your way around the yard while narrating your movements. You might say, “I’m climbing up the swing set. What letter does ‘swing’ start with?” Try to work in new words like climb, reverse and descend. Your kids are the “trackers.” It’s their job to follow you with their eyes and think about your questions.

How it promotes learning: Critter Quest improves eye movement and tracking, plus it can be used to strengthen vocabulary, letter recognition and phonetics.

7. Chalk jump

How it works: Sidewalk chalk to write numbers and letters in different colors. Then ask kids to jump on the number, letter or color that’s called out.

How it promotes learning: This activity helps develop gross-motor skills, counting skills and letter, number and color recognition.

5 Steps to Conflict Resolution for Kids

The earlier that children can learn how to manage disputes, the sooner they begin cultivating their emotional intelligence, which factors into conflict prevention and tolerance. This model can help students resolve conflicts on their own:

1. STOP. Don’t let things get out of control. Take a step back and try to calm down, since anger makes conflicts more difficult to resolve.
2. SAY what the conflict is about. Make sure you both have a clear understanding of what is causing the disagreement and clarify what each of you wants or doesn’t want.
3. THINK of positive options. What’s a fair solution that meets both of your needs?
4. CHOOSE a positive option that everyone can agree on.
5. RESPECT the opinions of others, even if you can’t agree.

Effective conflict resolution also requires children to remain positive, patient, and sincere. Some tips on what NOT to do include:

• Resorting to name-calling
• Using physical violence
• Interrupting the other person
• Refusing to listen
• Insulting someone’s intelligence

What Are Some Conflict Resolution Activities?

Family and peer activities can help students learn how to handle conflict in a controlled way. Some activities that can help children learn how empathy, communication, and self-esteem work in conflict prevention and emotional resilience include:

• Play games. Games have rules, and rules are great for starting disputes. Working through a “questionable call” without getting emotional is the foundation of conflict resolution.
• Create something. A writing or art exercise that involves a problem and solution encourages kids to share how they resolve conflicts and learn how other’s do it.
• Put on a play. Students can write their own scripts or collaborate on a story about what caused a dispute and how the various players contributed to its resolution.

Friendship is essential throughout life. We need friendship. Elementary students are learning how to be a healthy friend and how to build healthy friendships. How can we help?

Talk about the qualities of a friend around the dinner table or in the car. What do you look for in a friend? Ask your children what they like in a friend. You might share that a friend is someone who is kind, a good listener, lets me pick the activity (treat one another as equals), shares with me, respects that I have other friends, is honest and is happy for me when I do well.

Sharing what we value in a friend helps us evaluate our own behavior too. Are we “being” the type of friend we want to find? Being a good friend is a lifelong learning experience. We can always learn how to be a better friend.

Discuss the signs of an unhealthy friendship too. Do I or my friends put pressure on one another to conform or to change to please the group? Is someone the “boss”? Is there a lot of drama (rumors, conflict, dishonesty, guilt trips, manipulation, jealousy)?

We should always be open to making new friends, even when we already have healthy friendships. Are we inclusive to those needing friends? How can we make a new friend?

Most people enjoy talking about what they like, so a natural way to start building a friendship is to ask some questions. Then “listen”, really listen to the answer. A conversation can start from just listening. “What do you like to do on the weekends?” “What’s your favorite video?” “Do you have any pets?” When we listen to someone, we are telling them that we value them- they matter. This is a great way to build a friendship. Practice starting conversations with one another in your family, pretending you do not know one another. Look the other person in the eye to show that you are listening.

Two of the most common relationship issues in upper elementary school are “the go between” and “the controller”. Sending messages to someone via a “go between” escalates the conflict. Encourage your child to talk directly to the person with whom they are having a conflict. A message is not as clear coming from another person, just as the game Whisper Down the Lane proves. It’s a great activity if your child isn’t familiar with it. Several people sit in a circle and someone whispers a sentence to the next person, going around the circle. Continue until the message comes back to the original sender. It’s never the same statement. A conflict is not solved until the two people involved can talk together. A “go between” adds to the drama plus it is an awkward position for that middle person too.

The second common issue is “the controller”. Sometimes one person tries to choose who can be friends with who. Ask your child “Who should choose your friends?” They usually answer “me”, but in reality many students allow pressure from current classmates to determine their friends. Statements such as “If you sit with her, I won’t sit with you.” Or “If he’s invited to your party, I’m not coming.” This is a subtle way to pressure your child about who they can have as friends. In such instances using a response that puts the decision back into the classmate’s hands is helpful. “Your friendship is important to me, but they are invited too. I hope you will still come, but I’ll understand if you decide not to come.” Another helpful statement is “I like being friends with you but I have other friends too. I hope you understand.”

Building friendships really is a lifelong quest. Share what qualities in friends matter most to you. Role play asking questions and listening to build skills to start new friendships. Discuss signs of unhealthy friendships and avoid a “go between” or “the controller”. Friendships take work, but the benefits are a healthier and happier life.

Debra Schmidt, M.A.
School Counselor, 609-567-7070 ext. 197
dschmidt@hammontonps.org

The month of March is National Youth Art Month. This month is set aside to celebrate art in our schools and the accomplishments of all student artists age 4 to 18. The Youth Art Month Exhibit is a collection of 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th grade student self-portraits and is on display at W.E.S. through the month of March. Locally, we are given the opportunity to display our students' artwork at Casiano's Coffee Bar & Sweetery located in downtown Hammonton. It gives us great pleasure that this exhibit will travel to Casiano's Coffee Bar for the month of April. The collaborative display at Casciano’s is a credit to Mrs. Linda Cashan and her belief that art is important to the development of all children. We thank her for her support of our programs. Congratulations to all students who are selected to participate in this exciting exhibit! We are so proud of them!

Don’t forget that you can visit the W.E.S. online Art Gallery at Artsonia! https://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=5423

Meagan Rieder

Art Teacher Grades 2-5

Warren E. Sooy, Jr. Elementary School

Click to visit our Artsonia Gallery!

December:

Samantha McHale

Tyler Heggan

Steven Flores

Alex Winneberger

January:

Benjamin Gall

Thomas Chapman

Faridat Aina

Arianna Angello

February:

Maddison Brunozzi

Lillian McLeod

Jose Reyes Recillos

Gavin Zbikowski

Olivia Chiola

• Check your child's parent portal each week to keep up to date on their progress.
• Charge Chromebooks each night.

• TECH SUPPORT

  Parents and Students can send an email for technical support. Include the Student ID in the message. techsupport@hammontonschools.org

Website: https://www.hammontonschools.org/
Location: 601 North Fourth Street
Phone: 609-567-7070
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