The TK-3 elementary music programs will be held on Monday, December 2 in the 4-12 gym.  TK-3 students should arrive by 6:15 for their 6:30 program.  TK will meet in Room #108 (Mrs. Fay’s room:  When you enter HS, keep walking forward to the elementary hall.  It is the first door on the left.) Kindergarten meets in the chorus room (go in the main doors; immediately turn left and go in the first door) and first grade meets in the band room (go in the main doors: immediately turn left; go down the hallway and enter the 4th door).  Second and third grade students meet in the multipurpose room. Students may be picked up in these same rooms following the concert.

This a great opportunity for us, as adults, to model proper concert behavior for our children.  Please take off hats and turn off cell phones when entering the building.  Arrive on time and stay for the entire concert (all grade will sing together at the end).  We are all busy and tend to multi-task to try to get everything done, however, our children will benefit from us taking a one hour pause and simply focusing on the talents of our wonderful kids.

Little Hawks 3 and 4-year old preschool holiday program will be held at 9:00 a.m. on December 13 in the elementary gym.  The parking lots will have car and bus traffic and school will have students in the commons and moving to their classrooms until 8:15. We ask that family members wait until at least 8:30 to enter the building.  There will be plenty of room for all who want to watch the preschool students sing.

Each month our classrooms focus on teaching and implementing one of the seven habits from Leader in Me.  Our habit for December is Put First things First.  November’s habit Beginning With the End in Mind focused on DIRECTION. This month’s habit emphasizes how to work toward our goals (SCHEDULE). Of all the habits, this habit is often thought of as the most difficult one to maintain. It is always easier to do simple or fun tasks first, so Having a Plan to complete lengthy or difficult assignments can be a challenge. Understanding the Habit of Putting First Things First means:

• Spending time on things that are most important.

• Saying “No” to things I know I shouldn’t do.

• Setting priorities, making a schedule, and following a plan.

• Being disciplined and organized.

• Future skills that can be learned by putting first things first:

• Demonstrate time management skills

• Cultivate a strong work ethic, flexibility, and adaptability

• Develop intrapersonal skills of self-management

• Be accountable and responsible for actions and results

• Begin to cultivate analytical skills

Using books to learn more about the habit:

The Little Red Hen

 Use this picture book to springboard a discussion about long-term planning (Begin With the End in Mind) and work before play (Put First Things First). Include children when planning and planting a garden.

Pigsty

Read Pigsty by Mark Teague to foster a discussion on Putting First Things First. Possible connections include:

• Create a Venn-Diagram of Wendell’s room before and after. The middle section is for things that stayed the same in both scenarios.

• Set aside times for child to organize folders, backpack, drawers, closet, room…

• Create a plan to maintain organization.

More Books to Teach “Put First Things First, Work First Then Play”

The Little Red Hen by Jerry Pinkney (or other version)

Pigsty by Mark Teague

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathon London

Alejandro’s Gift by Richard E. Albert

Jamaica’s Find by Juanita Havill

The Week Mom Unplugged the TV’s by Terry Wolfe Phelan

Irving Black’s Strange Snack by Roz Rosenbluth

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

The TV Kid by Betsy Byars

Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World by Mildred Pitts Walter

The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

The Three Questions by Jon J. Muth

A Place for Everything by Sean Covey

Berenstain Bears: Trouble at School by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Other parent/child activities:

• Create a list of things your child needs to accomplish throughout the week. With your child rank the tasks by importance. Rewrite the list in order and post it by the calendar or some place that will be seen throughout the week.

• Design and decorate your own planner.

• Role-play consequences of getting chores done vs skipping chores or studying for the spelling test vs not studying. Then role-play how it feels to be prepared.

• Set goals as a family.

• Design a board game based on goals and real obstacles.

• Discuss with your child what he/she thinks is his/her biggest time waster and what to do about it.

• Plan time as a family. This is especially important as your children get older and want to spend more and more time with friends. Set aside a couple of hours once a week as family time. Watch a movie, go out to eat, play games, cook dinner together…whatever fits your family. Protect this time and make it a tradition. Everyone in the family should block it out on their calendars.

Children should arrive at school between 7:55 and 8:10 each morning.  We start the day with Walk to Read. WTR is a critical time when students get extra help in areas of reading based on their specific needs.  This is also a time when children who are strong in reading get challenged.  When a child is late, he or she is losing the opportunity to get 30 minutes of reading instruction designed specifically for them based on the results of their reading screenings. 

A child who is 15 minutes late each day, misses an hour and 15 minutes of instruction each week which adds up to an entire day of instruction by the end of the month.  In an elementary, this time can never really be made up.  Our education is experience-based and activity-based.  When students miss participating in discussions and activities, there is no worksheet or assignment that can recreate the experience.

We do understand that there are times when families will be out of town for several consecutive days.  When that occurs, please notify the teacher and office in advance so work can be made up ahead of time.  If an emergency arises that causes your child to miss school, make the office aware so we know your child is safe.

Published September 25, 2020 by avondalemeadowsms.org

It’s late in the day, and you finally have a quiet moment with your child. You want to connect and hear all about your baby’s life, so you ask the easiest question: “how was school today?” I bet you know you’re going to get the same old one-word answer like “fine” or even “good.” It’s frustrating.

If you’re serious about getting your child to open up (and we know that you are!), then it’s time to leave “how was school” by the wayside and try asking these five specific, open-ended questions instead.

What was your favorite part of today?

It’s specific, open-ended, and positive.

By focusing on the best part of their day, your child just may open up and unload all about their excitement to you. It gives them a chance to get their thoughts rolling in a positive way and while they could just stop with a quick sentence, one thing could lead to another and it may even turn into a full conversation about school.

Which friends did you get to spend time with today?

Kids love it when the things that matter to them are the things that matter to you.

Some children are less than enthusiastic about the actual school work and may be more willing to open up about their day if you ask about their friends. In addition, this can give you some insight into who your child’s friends are and who they tend to spend the most time with, something that all parents should pay attention to.

Teach me something you learned today!

Learning is fun, but teaching others is great for memorization and confidence.

You can ask this question in a few different ways, but the idea is to pique your child’s excitement. Most kids assume parents already know everything. By inviting your child to teach you something, you’ll show respect for their growing knowledge and get them excited to open your mind up to something they just learned.

What made you feel happy/sad today?

Your child will find it easier to tell you about what is happening in their life if you can help them name the feelings around those events.

As parents, we are often preoccupied with how our children feel. Especially true when our kids are away from us all day and we’re unable to observe how their day is going. Obviously we want our children to be happy all the time, but by asking what made them happy or sad we can open up the conversation for them to express how they felt during their school day.

What were you proud of today?

Children want and deserve to be proud of themselves. And you deserve to be the encouraging force in their life who reminds them of all the things they should be proud of.

Bringing your child’s attention to something they feel good about is such a positive way to end their school day and start their interactions with you. You can let them spill all about how proud they are of something they did that day, school-related or not, and let them know how proud you are of them as well.

Connecting with our kids after school is hard. Often times they’re exhausted from a day of learning and don’t exactly want to be interrogated. But by changing up the questions you’re asking and being a little more specific, you can increase your chances of starting a conversation with your child after school.

Learning to read and understanding what is read are two of the most important skills students learn.  They are the foundation and basis for all future learning.  Parents can help their child learn this skill by making sure their child has books to read at home, providing time and incentive to read, and taking the time to ask their child questions about what they have read.  You can ask specific questions about the characters and story line or simply ask your child to retell the story.  Ask why characters might have made the decisions they made or what the character could have done differently.  Asking about the author’s purpose is another idea to spark a comprehension discussion.

Books make wonderful Christmas gifts.  The personnel at bookstores have great ideas for children of all ages.  Your child’s teacher and our librarian can also provide good ideas regarding series of books that children enjoy.  When you give the gift of reading, you not only ensure that your child has books available to read at any time, you also send the message to your child that you value reading.

Hinton Elementary is a PBIS school.  This means that we take a positive approach to teaching children to manage and be responsible for their behavior.  Instead of managing behaviors with a punitive approach, we work on building relationships between students and staff.  Students are taking responsibility for their behavior and thinking ahead about making decisions based on the Blackhawk Code.  We proactively teach and post expectations to ensure students are always aware of what is expected of them.  On those occasions when students do not choose to meet the expectations, we help the student set up a plan to make better decisions in the future.

Check In/Check Out is one way that students learn to make better decisions. CICO is a highly effective, research-based intervention that consists of students checking in daily with an adult at the start of the school day to pick up a goal sheet and receive some encouragement.  Throughout the day, adults provide feedback on the goal sheet.  At the end of the day, the child meets again with their assigned adult to go over the goal sheet, receive more encouragement and make a plan to either keep up the great progress or improve the results the next day.  The goal sheet goes home to parents each day so parents can also support their child’s progress.  This is a great intervention to improve student accountability and get students excited about their ability to succeed, self-monitor, and accomplish goals.  Students also benefit from knowing that their parents and the school staff are on the same page and all want the child to make good choices and be successful.

If you have questions about PBIS or CICO, please contact your child’s teacher, Danica Held (school counselor), or Kathy Rhodes (principal) at 947-4327 or through the school e-mail.

by Rachel Jones

All of us who have children have too many toys scattered throughout the house. No matter how diligent we are about keeping them at bay, it seems to be a constant fight. It’s especially hard when special days come and we want to give gifts to our children, or grandparents want to give gifts.

Gifts are good things!

But, too much of anything isn’t good.

A great way to combat having too many toys is to shift all the gifts to non-toy items.

18 Non-Toy Gifts for Children

1. Classes. Music, dance, riding, drawing — classes are a great way to encourage children in their interests and let them know that you pay attention to them and what they enjoy.

2. Memberships. Zoo, science museum, children’s museum, YMCA membership, etc. These are particularly great for family gifts! Many young families want to enjoy day outings, but affording them can be a challenge, so give them the gift of a yearly membership.

3. Subscriptions. Kids enjoy getting things in the mail. Why not encourage their reading by getting them a magazine subscription for something they are interested in!

4. Events. Movie tickets, or tickets to a play, concert or sports event are really exciting! Having an event to look forward to makes the rest of life more enjoyable.

5. Activities. Mini golf, bowling, skating rink. These are so much fun! And a big part of the fun is going together. Children love spending time with the adults in their lives; they want to see you enjoying your time as well as enjoying them.

6. Recipe and Ingredients. Kids love cooking with their parents. Baking something special or cooking dinner is an ideal time to spend together and learn life skills. Print out a recipe, purchase all the ingredients and set a date for cooking together.

7. Crafting Date. Our daughter loves making crafts. I do, too; I really do enjoy the creative aspect. But I rarely take time out to do it with her. These crafting dates mean the world to our creative little girl. Keep a basket of craft supplies and get out a book for inspiration. We like Sneaky Art: Crafty Surprises to Hide in Plain Sight, by Marthe Jocelyn.

8. Arts and Crafts supplies. If your craft box is running low, stock up a little on things you need. Add in something fun the kids haven’t used before. A gift of arts and crafts supplies often brings on the imagination, and kids can’t wait to get to work!

9. Coupons. An envelope of coupons that they can “spend” at any time: I’ll do one chore — no questions asked; movie and popcorn night, you pick the movie; 1:1 game of cards or basketball (whatever the child’s interest is in); sit and read a book with me; stay up 1/2 hour past bedtime.

10. Restaurant Gift Card. Dinner, ice cream, coffee, cupcake — whatever suits their fancy! Give them the freedom of inviting whomever they wish: it may be mom or dad; it may be a grandparent, aunt or even teacher they would like to spend more time with.

11. Dress-Up Clothes. These do need to be limited, but two dresses and a couple play silks can get hours and hours of play!

12. Books. We get a lot of books from the library, but there are some that I just can’t find there, or it takes us longer to read through. We have read through the entire Little House series, Narnia, and are working our way through Shel Silverstein’s books. Be sure to pass the books on when you are done, so they don’t clutter up your home.

13. Clothes. When kids only have a certain amount of clothes, they often enjoy getting clothes. Make it a point to get something that fits their style. That may mean Western clothes, superhero, fancy dresses, etc.

Hinton Elementary extends a heartfelt THANK YOU to our school community! We're incredibly proud of our readers and grateful for your support, which made our fundraiser a success. Our students had a wonderful time reading and we raised $2000. Special shout out to Mrs. Olson’s class who were our top readers/fundraisers.  We can't wait to host another Read-A-Thon next year!

If you have a child at home that you would like to enroll in preschool, please go to the district website and complete the preschool application.  The application can be accessed by selecting the Students and Parents tab and then selecting Preschool.  If your child is more than a year away from attending, you can complete pages 1, 2, and 6 and wait until your child is closer to preschool age to complete the other pages.  Preschool classes often fill a year or two in advance, so signing up early is recommended.  Parents can sign their child up any time after birth.  Our 3 year-old program for 2024-2025 is full now with a waiting list and the 4-year-old program is nearly full.  Check out the preschool handbook if you are interested in our admission procedures.

The TK-3 building collects Country Hearth bread proofs of purchase.  These proofs of purchase can be redeemed for cash to help support the educational needs in our building.  Please send Country Hearth proofs of purchase to school with any TK-3 child or drop off in the elementary office.  Tell your friends and family to save them too.  We appreciate the time and effort taken to support our school!

**We also collect pop tabs to support the Ronald McDonald house.  Those can be dropped off in the box in the front entry.

Our preschool raises funds by collecting Hy Vee receipts.  Please send in Sioux City Hy Vee receipts dated between August 1, 2024 and May 1, 2025 to help us earn extra money to purchase needed items for our preschool program.  Receipts can be dropped off at the elementary office between the hours of 7:45 and 3:45 or sent to school with any of our students.

Dec. 2 – 6:30 TK-3 Holiday Concert in 4-12 gym

Dec. 6 – 2 hour early dismissal for staff professional development

Dec. 12 - Last day for Toys for Tots donations

Dec. 13 - 9:00 Preschool Christmas Presentation in elementary gym; 2 hour early dismissal for staff professional development

Dec. 16 -7:00 School Board Meeting

Dec. 20 -End of 2nd Quarter/1st Semester; 8:45 & 9:15 3rd Grade Willy Wonka plays for families; 2 hour early dismissal for holiday

Dec. 23-Jan. 2 - No School

Jan. 3 - Students return; Report cards go home; 2 hour early dismissal for staff professional development

Jan. 6 - K & 1st Grade Hearing Tests

Jan. 10 - 2 hour early dismissal for staff professional development

Jan. 13-17 - FAST Reading Screening

Jan 17 - 2 hour early dismissal for staff professional development

Jan. 20 - No School for Students:  Staff PD Day/Possible Snow Day

Jan. 21-24 - FAST Math Screening

Jan. 24 - 2nd GOLD Checkpoint for preschool; 2 hour early dismissal for staff professional development

Jan. 31 - 2 hour early dismissal for staff professional development

Feb. 7 - No Preschool: Staff at Centering on Centers; 2 hour early dismissal for staff professional development; 5:30-7:00 PK-6 Fun Night

Feb. 14 - 2 hour early dismissal for holiday

Feb. 17 - No School

Feb. 21 - 2 hour early dismissal for staff professional development

Feb. 24 - Preschool 2nd GOLD checkpoint

Feb. 28 - 2 hour early dismissal for staff professional development