At Least 60 Minutes of Exercise a Day!

So... I'm watching the Charger game and saw a commercial for Play 60, a program sponsored by the NFL that encourages kids to get out and exercise for at least 60 minutes a day. Their website, http://www.nflrush.com/ has all kinds of stuff almost every NFL team. We'll be trying out the games for Antonio Gates and Urlacher during PE tomorrow! :)

Also, they are currently running a contest to have an NFL player come to your school and teach you a 'fun game.' Let's try to win it! Register at: http://www.nflrush.com/contests/taps/

Family Solar Day

I wanted to let you know about this upcoming event...

Family Solar Day

Sunday, September 27
12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Liberty Station – Ingram Plaza
2640 Decatur Road, San Diego (Point Loma) MAP IT
Free – No registration required Bring the whole family to this free Solar Energy Week kick-off event and learn about powering your world with the sun in a casual, relaxed atmosphere at the historic Liberty Station on San Diego Bay. This is an afternoon of fun solar activities for the whole family and an opportunity to mix with hundreds of residential consumers seeking expert advice about solar solutions and technologies.

Some of the activities include interactive, hands-on exhibits, solar experiments, solar cooking demonstrations and a coloring contest for kids. There will be many opportunities to ask the experts questions about how you can join in on the clean energy future.

One of our most popular and well-attended annual events, this will be a day of fun and sun that will empower you with the information you need to make the move to solar power and water heating.

Sad News

Your child should have brought home a letter on blue paper today - it talks about a student who attended Mater Dei that passed away on Monday.

I wanted to let you know that I talked about the student's death with the class. I told them that we don't have a lot of information about what happened - that all we really know is that she became ill and, sadly,  died. There were a lot of different stories floating around about it all today (among adults - not the kids) so I thought it was important to clarify with them that sometimes it takes time to learn what really happened after a person dies and that sometimes rumors are spread when people aren't sure exactly what happened. We talked about H1N1 (because that was a big concern among some parents) and discussed all of the ways we are already working to prevent the spread of germs. I wanted to be sure to calm their worries so that we remember not to overreact when we see someone who is sick.

We also talked about how how the student's classmates, friends and family may be feeling and about how we have felt when someone we cared about passed away. The kids shared what things help them to feel better when they are feeling sad and we decided that it would be nice to make cards for the students, expressing our sadness about what happened and trying to give them a reason to smile. Together, we came up with some appropriate sentiments to include and the kids began their cards in class. Some children brought theirs home to finish, while others finished in class. You may wish to talk to your child about our discussion and check in on how s/he is feeling about it.

I want to reassure you that, as a school that believes health is very important, we talk a lot about the importance of hand washing before we eat (snack and lunch) and after using the restroom. I have hand sanitizer available (any time they need it) and we are careful to wipe down the tables before we eat our snack in the classroom. I also remind them to cough into their elbow or their shirt and to dispose of tissues after using them.

Operation KidPrint

Hopefully, you will never be in a situation where you'll need your child's fingerprints but it's always good to be prepared. On that note, I wanted to share this upcoming event with you...

Operation KidPrint
at Bonitafest 2009

September 26, 2009
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Lot B behind the Wells Fargo on Bonita Road
4252 Bonita Road, Bonita, CA

Obtaining a copy of your child's fingerprints is a tool to protect your child if the unthinkable happens. Operation KidPrint provides a confidential way of documenting vital identification information for your records. Join Assemblymember Marty Block and the CHP at Bonitafest to help protect your children.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Today in class we read the book, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett. It’s a book that teachers love to read because it can lead to some pretty creative writing. In the book version, a man tells his grandchildren a bedtime story about a town called Chewandswallow where they have no grocery stores because food falls from the sky in place of rain, snow and various storm systems.

A movie (with the same name) opened today. I haven’t seen it, of course, so I can’t tell you if it’s any good or not but you can tell from the trailer and write ups about the movie that it’s quite different from the book. If you go see the movie with your child, consider having a conversation about what’s different and why they are so different.

After reading the book today, I showed the kids the website for the movie. It’s pretty fun and is very interactive. One thing that I emphasized with them is that Sony Pictures Animation has partnered with Feeding America to provide meals for Americans in need. While playing the game Food Catcher, every time you ‘catch’ a golden apple, one meal will be donated. It’s an easy way to help others and helped get us thinking about how lucky we are to have food to eat every day. After playing the game, they can print out a certificate that they can also color. Check it out!

Nixle

In case you aren’t familiar with it, I wanted to share a great community resource, Nixle. As stated on their website, “it immediately connects you to trusted, important, time-sensitive information via text message, e-mail, and web. Get neighborhood-level public safety and health alerts and other relevant community information.”

You can have notifications sent to an email address or directly to your phone and you can choose locations where you live and work. I really appreciate getting notices like this one:

Volunteer for Chula Vista's Community Emergency Response Team(CERT). Starts Oct 1st 5:30-9:30 PM. Call 619.476-2378
Public Announcement:The City of Chula Vista in partnership with Southwestern College invites the general public to participate in Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). Basic certification requires a twenty-four hour commitment. The classes are intended to prepare everyone to be ready in case of a disaster and be a survivor not a victim. Classes are free of charge. Please refer to attachment for details. Please call (619) 476-CERT for additional information. Or Register at (619) 409-5482 at CV Fire. Members are 15-1/2 years of age to seniors. This is a 24 hour training, starts Oct 1st, ends Oct 24th.
Contact Information: Tom Leonard 
Fire Department 
 619-409-5482 
 tleonard@ci.chula-vista.ca.us

To check it out and/or sign up with Nixle, click on this link. http://local.nixle.com/
:)Ms. G

Presidential Address

There is a lot of controversy swirling around President Obama’s address today. I wanted to let you know what we talked about after watching it in class this morning.

When it was over, I asked the children to tell me about what they remembered from the speech. Two big messages came across: if you see someone being bullied, you should stick up for them and don’t ever give up. The children had lots to say about how important it is to work hard and keep trying, even if you fail sometimes. We also talked about his comment that “if you quit on school - you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.” [This is an idea that relates directly to an important component of our charter - how the choices you make affect you, the people around you, in your community, etc.] Additionally, we talked about how school can help you discover things you are really interested in or really good at.

After our discussion, I asked them to do some writing. We made a promise to work hard in school so that we could achieve our goals - for most of the children, the goals focused on what they want to become when they grow up. I asked them to finish the writing and include a drawing for homework tonight so your child can show it to you if you are interested in seeing what they wrote.

Here is a link to the address in case you missed it:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/A-Message-of-Hope-and-Responsibility-for-Americas-Students/

Welcome to Second Grade at LdV!

After two weeks of school, we are beginning to settle in and get used to our new school site. It has been an exciting transition and we are enjoying life at Mater Dei. Our class has reached capacity with 20 students. We have been spending time getting to know each other and starting in on the 2nd grade curriculum.