February Newsletter

Dear Clinton Families,

Our students are taking enormous leaps in their learning! It is a joy to see those who once struggled now truly "taking off." From reading fluently with expression to becoming "Math Masters" with their addition and subtraction facts, the progress is undeniable.

These milestones are a direct result of the powerful partnership between school and home since the first bell rang in August. To keep this momentum going, let’s continue to show our children that growth comes from consistency and responsibility. How you can help this week:

Read together: Whether they read to you or you read to them, those nightly minutes matter.
Fact Practice: Keep those math muscles strong with quick fact drills.
Lead by Example: When children see the adults in their lives valuing practice, they value it too.

Thank you for being our partners in education!

Warmly,

Mrs. Kimberly McCartan Principal

February 5 PTA meeting 6:15pm

February 12 Grade One music performances; more info to follow

February 16-20 Winter Break No School

Reading Focus- Vocabulary

Building a rich vocabulary will give your children a huge learning advantage! Kids with a large vocabulary understand more of what they read and hear. So big vocabulary=big learning! Exploring new words on a regular basis is one of the best ways parents can support learning at home.

Try these vocabulary building tips with your kids at home:

Notice new words when you’re reading or listening. Talk about the importance of a large vocabulary and make an effort to learn new words.
Talk about what to do when we discover unknown words. (Hint: Don’t just skip them.) Try to figure out what the word means by using context clues or use another resource to find the meaning. Show kids how to locate words in the dictionary or use an online resource.
Focus on kid-friendly definitions and examples of new words rather than complicated dictionary-style definitions.
Keep track of the new words you learn together.. List them. Categorize them. Play games with them. Revisit them. Kids often need multiple exposures to words in order to really learn them.
Learn common roots, prefixes and suffixes to SUPER SIZE vocabulary knowledge. When you learn one word part, you’ll begin to easily recognize many more words with the same word parts.
Interact with the words in some way. Draw their meaning. Act them out. Make them come alive so you’ll remember them.
Try to find examples of new words whenever possible to make meaning more clear- finding a picture may help.
Relate words to real life experiences. Make them meaningful and make connections with new vocabulary.
Play word based games and activities. Word puzzles, word searches, word ladders and Mad Libs are a great way to build vocabulary.
Read. A lot! Read all sorts of books, signs on the wall, directions, recipes… A wide variety of reading material will expose kids to a wide variety of new words.

We live in a very chaotic, stressful world and many kids and adults experience unease because of the things around us. It can be difficult to stay calm in tough situations but know that children are always watching us and following our lead. Here are 5 Coping Skills helpful for the whole family:

1. Imagine your favorite place or things

2. Do something physical, move your body

3. Do deep breathing

4. Create a calm down spot

5. Use the 5 4 3 2 1 grounding exercise

The website below has lots of great ideas to help both kids and adults to remain calm.

https://copingskillsforkids.com/calming-anxiety