January 2013 Newsletter

January 2013

Sunset Newsletter

2013 * 2013 * 2013 * 2013 *2013 * 2013 * 2013 * 2013 *2013 * 2013 * 2013 * 2013 *2013 * 2013

What’s Happening This Month at Sunset . . .

January 2013

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14

P

15 16 17 18 19

PTA Meeting

@ 6:00 pm

MAP Testing

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

No School

Martin Luther King Day

MAP Testing StarGATE Parent

Meeting – Lego

Robotics

27 28 29 30 31

MAP Testing

PTA Meeting Calendar

2012/2013 School Year

The PTA meetings will be held the first Monday of every month. We are alternating between

after school and evening meetings. Please mark your calendars so you can attend!

Monday, January 14th @ 6:00 Monday, February 4th @ 3:30

Monday, March 4th @ 6:00 Monday, April 8th @ 3:30

Monday, May 6th @ 6:00

A Message from Our Sunset Principal – Brenda Farmer

Dear Families:

Conscious Discipline Power and Skill Number FOUR is how we begin 2013; it is my favorite. I hope you

have been blessed by the messages so far and are working hard on the first three Powers and Skills. I

certainly found I used them with my grandchildren over the holiday break. I like this Power and Skill

because I feel it begins building self esteem and willpower (choices) along with building the concept of

only being able to change oneself (free will).

Power of Free Will and Skill of Choices

So the Power of Free Will empowers children while setting limits. Think of it this way: When we, as

adults, try to control someone we are trying to make them change. Alternately if we provide structure we

help someone become better. And let’s face it – that is really what we desire, helping someone to change

not making them; because really, the only person we can really change is ourselves. We all know that, we

just forget it.

Something new to think about… We teach children to blame and seek revenge. How do we do that? We

ask questions demanding answers children will answer in any way but the truthful way because they

want to avoid consequences. So we need to shift our thinking, we need new questions.

So to shift our thinking about the Power of Free Will, try this in the month of January.

Reframe the Blame Strategy

When you hear, “Ernie made me do it.” REFRAME the words for the child and say, “So, Ernie’s the

boss of you?” The child will say, “NO!!” Then you say, “What could you do right now that is helpful

if you were the boss of yourself?” It is amazing how quickly the blaming ceases and the child

starts taking responsibility and ownership of their own actions. The child realizes they alone are

in charge of their actions and no one made them do it.

Tattling vs. Telling

Asking a child if he/she is tattling or telling is effective also. Tattling is not helpful and does not us

forward. Telling is helpful and must happen to ensure safety. For more on this, visit with one of

our staff members.

Acknowledge the child’s feelings

Children must know that you understand and are there to help them get through the problem. By

acknowledging their feelings they grow in stature. Try it! Say, “How sad, that must be hard for

you.” Or “I hear how angry you are, what can you do to change what happened.” My

grandchildren are so young I’ve given them the solution and it worked. My favorite is, “I

understand you don’t want to wear that shirt and pants to church. You wanted to choose your

own shirt and pants didn’t you? How can you make sure you do the choosing next time? How

about the first time mommy tells you to choose your clothes and get ready you do it instead of

dawdling and making her choose?

I know, I know, you are all rolling your eyes and thinking “TOO Many words, just demand he get dressed.”

Well that doesn’t work with Isaac, but the talking did. He got dressed and we were off, a meltdown

averted and he learned to do as he was told and the choice would be his.

And finally to choices, what I’m going to say IS different so be sure you read carefully. The two choices

MUST be positive. I’m used to, do it or have a time out, or do it or get a spanking (yes I grew up in the

60’s).

By giving choice you give power. Power comes from choice not force. Our ability to hear the choice and

make the choice is a measure of our self-esteem and willpower. Most children are not used to two

POSITIVE choices and they choose a third way or refuse to make a choice. It is CRITICAL that you

CALMLY continue to present the two choices until the child takes one of the two choices YOU have given

them. Do not be deceived, they will accelerate till they hit your juggler vein, you have to outlast them!

First you must think, “How do I help the child more likely choose to ______?

You must think of what you want and the two choices the child can have that ensure you get what you

want.

So, you give the two positive choices in an assertive voice, “You may ____ or _____, which is best for you.

Another Isaac story: I say, “Isaac, you may walk up the stairs to bed by yourself or I can walk up with you;

which is better for you?” You see, he is going to bed; he just has a choice on how he gets there.

Sometimes he chooses to go alone and sometimes he chooses to walk up with me, but he does do because

it IS bedtime. I used to say, “Isaac, it is bedtime, up the stairs you go.” And he had a meltdown. UGHHH.

Then I said, Isaac, it is bedtime, go up and get ready for bed or you will not have a book read to you.”

Another meltdown, UGHHH again. So now with the two positive choices he sometimes argues, but he

eventually chooses and off we go, no meltdown and a peaceful bedtime.

Of course I’m just the grandmother and it is harder for the parents, I get that. BUT, I do know the joy of

the household and the family when these Powers and Skills are used. They are right there before my eyes

with my children and grandchildren. I hope you find this joy also. Parenting is hard, exhausting work.

Wishing you the best in your journey.

Mrs. Farmer

PTA News!

Box Tops/Labels for Education Souper Bowl

We have started our Souper Bowl Challenge. Each classroom has a bag to collect Box Tops and Labels for Education. Monday, January 28th is the last day to bring them in. If your class brings in the most box

tops and labels, you will win a Souper Bowl party on Friday, February 1st. You can find Box Tops and Labels for Education on various food products. You can ask grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends and

neighbors to collect them for you. Please remember to do a good job of clipping on the dotted line before you bring them in. This will make the job much easier when we are counting thousands of coupons.

Thank you and welcome back to Sunset for 2013!

Winter Break Reading Challenge

Sunset students did a fantastic job participating in our Winter Break Reading Challenge! What great kids we have here at our school! And the winners are:

Kindergarten – McCoy Banks 1st Grade – Brooke Gomez 2nd Grade – Kyle Graham

3rd Grade – Emma Baxter 4th Grade – Taylor Roberts

5th Grade – Skyelar Luthy

Sunset School Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)

President — Rebecca Merritt

Vice President — Lisa McDonald

Secretary — Chrystal Rippeto

Treasurer — Marcie Barton

Sunset PTA E-mail Address: [email protected]

Please feel free to e-mail us with any questions, comments, suggestions and ideas!

“Like” us on Facebook at Sunset Elementary School PTA

Classroom News! Want to see what is happening in your child’s classroom?

Please visit the Sunset Teacher Sites by typing in the following link:

http://www.park6.org/classroompages.cfm?location=736&school=736

Special Education Topic of the Month

The goal is to increase disability awareness and understanding. Please read and have a conversation with

your child about the importance of inclusion. Thank you!

Learning Disabilities

The following information came from the following website: www.ldonline.org

Some individuals, despite having an average or above average level of intelligence, have real difficulty

acquiring basic academic skills. These skills include those needed for successful reading, writing, listening,

speaking and/or math. These difficulties might be the result of a learning disability.

Many children with LD have struggle with reading. The difficulties often begin with individual sounds, or

phonemes. Students may have problems with rhyming, and pulling words apart into their individual

sounds (segmenting) and putting individual sounds together to form words (blending). This makes it

difficult to decode words accurately, which can lead to trouble with fluency and comprehension. As

students move through the grades, more and more of the information they need to learn is presented in

written (through textbooks) or oral (through lecture) form. This exacerbates the difficulties they have

succeeding in school.

LD is a broad term. There are many different kinds of learning disabilities. Most often they fall into three

broad categories:

Reading disabilities (often referred to as dyslexia)

Written language disabilities (often referred to as dysgraphia) Math disabilities (often called dyscalculia)

Other related categories include disabilities that affect memory, social skills, and executive functions such

as deciding to begin a task.

LD online has many great activities to do with your children, it has pages just for kids. LD online is a great resource for teachers, parents and kids.

Young Authors

This year there will be no after

School writing club for Young Authors.

Teachers have decided to incorporate it

into their school writer’s workshop time. If they would

like to enter their published book in the Young Authors

contest, it will be the decision of the teacher and

student.

“Bingo for Books Fiesta Style”

Thurs. March 21

6:00-7:30 p.m.

Sunset Cafeteria Please mark on your calendars for this fun family reading night

open to all Sunset students and parents.

More information to come later.

Puberty Education for 5th grade students is scheduled for Friday, January 25 at 12:45 pm. Your child will

bring home a letter explaining the program. If you prefer that your child not participate, please sign and

return the letter in the designated area. If you would like to preview the video that will be shown to the

students prior to their class, you may see Mrs. Smith to check this out. If you have any questions please

contact Mrs. Smith.

Windy Smith, RN

School Nurse

Yellowstone Quake Home Games

Start Time: 7:30 pm

Catch all the action at the Victor J. Riley

Arena (1400 Heart Mountain St.).

For a complete season schedule, visit their

website.

http://yellowstonequake.pointstreaksites.c

om/view/yellowstonequake

Paul Stock Aquatics

and Recreation Center JAN 18 – Open Kayaking (All ages, $4)

Pool; 5 to 7:30 PM

JAN 21 – Basic Backstroke Swim Clinic (7yrs &

Older, $15) Pool; 10 to 11:30 AM

JAN 21 – Dodgeball (School-Age Youth & Older,

Free to members)

Red Gym; 1 PM til there’s a winner!

JAN 23 – Open Scuba (All Ages, $4)

Pool; 5:30 to 7:45 PM

JAN 26 – Family Tennis (3 yrs & Older, $10/Family)

Marooon Gym; 9 to 10:30 AM

JAN 26 & 27 – CKATS Polar Bear Splash

Pools closed to the Public

JAN 28 – 3-on-3 Basketball Registration Deadline!

Riley Arena

Public Skate Schedule

For a schedule please go to the following website:

http://www.rileyarena.com/schedule.html

Missoula Children's Theatre

The theatre company will present "The Wizard of

Oz" with area children performing.

Location: Wynona Thompson Auditorium

Date: January 26, 2013

Time: 3:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Contact: Steve Schrepferman

Phone: (307) 587-6693

Sleeping Giant Ski Area is now open! The ski bus will

begin shuttling skiers/snowboarders to the mountain. The

bus departs the Cody McDonald’s at 8 am. Additional

pickups at the Chamber and Wapiti School. Cost is $8 per

rider or get your $70 season pass and save!

Little Giants Flying Squirrels (5 – 14 years of age)

3 full days of progressive lessons and fun.

1 day of Competition and Prizes

Focus: All mountain riding skills

Dates: Saturdays (Jan 26th, Feb 2, and Feb 9th)

and Sunday Feb 10th)

Sunday Feb 10th: Competition and Prizes

Times: 10:00am to 11:30pm (Instructional Lesson)

11:30am to 1:00pm (Lunch)

1:00pm to 3:30pm (Applicational Lesson)

Price: $100.00 - Per Student (lift ticket, lunch, and rental

included for all 4 days)

Sign up: Email [email protected]. Include your

child's name, age, ski level, parent or guardian name and

phone number, and an additional emergency contact

person and phone number. In the subject line of the email

use the words: FLYING SQUIRRELS SIGN UP. You can

also call us @ 307 587 3125

Park County Library

In the Children’s Library:

Mondays: Toddler Time 10:00-10:20 am, for

ages 12-36 months with parent or caregiver.

Short stories, music, movement, and finger

plays develop a comfort in the library.

Tuesdays and Wednesdays – Story Time,

10:00-10:45 am for ages 3-6. Stories are based

on a theme each week, accompanied by games,

songs, and crafts promote early literacy.

Sleepy Time Stories the first Monday evening

of each month from 6:30-7:30 pm. Kids may

come in pajamas, bring a stuffed animal or

pillow and enjoy stories and snacks.

Read to a Dog every Tuesday afternoon from

3:45-4:45 pm. This is wonderful oral reading

practice opportunity, plus just plain fun.

Certified therapy dogs are non-judgmental

listeners, and this program is proven to help

fluency. Call, email or stop by to sign up for a

15 minute session.

Monday, January 7, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.,

Winter party with winter games, stories, craft

and snack for grades K-5.

Monday, January 21, Lego Club

Staring Saturday, January 19, sign up for the

February Family Winter Reading Month.

For a complete calendar please go to this

website:

http://parkcountylibrary.org/cody/upcoming-events-at-

the-cody-library/

For more information, call the Children’s

Library at 527-1884 or email librarian

Holly Baker,

[email protected] or visit

www.parkcountylibrary.org/kids/.

Follow codykidsread on Twitter and

Facebook.

Hands of a Potter Children’s Store

2706 Big Horn Ave Ste B – Cody, WY

Come participate in our COAT drive! Drop off

your gently used coats or new coats. Children

without a coat can pick up a coat for

FREE at our store!

3rd Annual Jack Russell & Corgi Races

Date: Friday, January 18, 2013

Start Time: 6:30 pm

Description

$10 Admission, Drawings, Door Prizes, Raffles,

Cash Bar and Food, Silent Auction

Cody Cattle Company

1910 Demaris St

Buy a chance to win 1/2 the pot from first 8

races or increase your odds with the Calcutta

Races.

All proceeds will go to benefit the Park County

Animal Shelter.