Sunday, August 30, 2015

Math for week of 8/31/15



Monday
1st  – 21-24, counting with small numbers (kahnacademy.org)
5th – 13-16, properties and patterns for multiplication on kahnacademy.org
Tuesday
1st – 25-27, counting in order (kahnacademy.org)
6th -  QUIZ page 21
Wednesday
1st – 28, and wkbk 9-10, one more, one less (kahnacademy.org)
4th – wkbk 9 & 10, rounding whole numbers on kahnacademy.org
5th21-24, Exponents and powers of zero patterns on kahnacademy.org 
6th – 22-27 even, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3dexXyyb3c 
8th – QUIZ page 23
Thursday
Field Trip

Thursday, August 27, 2015

First Chapel

Thank you to Mrs. Nancy and Pastor Brad for helping us have our first chapel of the year. Pastor Brad explained how awesome our Creator is by explaining the size and distances of our universe. It is HUMONGOUS! 

We continued talking about CHERISH today and discussed heroism.  Standing up for what's right, even if it means you might stand alone.  We used the story of Esther as an example.

Next week will start our weekly assignments. Thanks to everyone for making our first week a SUPER one!!!



Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Third Day of School

Well, we have made it through our third day of school!  We had a treat today and Mr. Sicher started to teach us self-defense. Thank you Mr. Sicher!

In Bible we have been talking about the acronym CHERISH. This includes responsibility, integrity and service. Here are two videos we have watched to teach these traits. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjnq5StX68g 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwAYpLVyeFU 

Parent's your student brought home a Kahn Academy permission slip yesterday. Please return that tomorrow.  Also, please remember that our handbook calls for students to wear a brown or black belt with pants or shorts that have belt loops.

I am also sending home a homework sheet.  This sheet will be sent home everyday and will need to be signed and returned on Thursday mornings.  This is a great way for you and your student to keep organized and accountable for assignments. Tonight they have a homework assignment to ask you your favorite smell, touch, sound, taste and sight. 

 My quote for today is from C.S. Lewis, "Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.” 


Monday, August 24, 2015

First Day of the 2015-2016 School Year!

What a great day!  We made oobleck - something that has liquid and solid properties.  We learned that God wants to talk to us and use us as His servants but we need to make good choices by living a Christ-centered life and honoring each other.  Those are the first two properties of CHERISH. CHERISH is the new set of educational Core Values that has been adopted across the conference. The original Core Values were prayerfully chosen during the summer of 2012 by a group of leaders, administrators and teachers from around the RMC. Teachers, students and parents alike greatly appreciated the emphasis on this collection of Christian values that represent the way we treat each other in our schools.

We also did some ice breakers, math drills, brainstorming and collaborative drawings. 

Parents don't forget to bring back Parent Pick Up Forms and Fountain Creek Field Trip permission slips.


I love quotes and I will try to share one every day. Today's quote is from Leo Buscaglia, "Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God."








Friday, August 21, 2015

Getting Ready!

The first day of school is on Monday, August 24.  We have been busy preparing and sprucing up the school. Thanks to everyone who has pitched in - we are very appreciative!!!





Monday, August 17, 2015

Brain Scans Show Why Reading to Kids Is Good for Them

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 5, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Brain scans reveal that preschoolers whose parents read to them regularly show more activity in key areas of their brains.
Reading to young children is well known to have benefits, including better language skills. And experts already urge parents to have a regular story time with their kids, starting at birth. It's been assumed that the habit feeds youngsters' brain development.
But the new findings, published online Aug. 3 in the journal Pediatrics, offer hard evidence of that theory.
"It's often said that reading builds brains," said study leader Dr. John Hutton, of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. "That seems obvious, but you want to show that it's actually true."
So Hutton's team used functional MRI scans to measure real-time brain activity in 19 children, aged 3 to 5 years, as they listened to stories and to sounds other than speech.
Parents were interviewed about "cognitive stimulation" at home, including how often they read to their children. Based on their responses, the number ranged from two nights a week to every night.
Overall, Hutton's team found, the more often children had story time at home, the more brain activity they showed while listening to stories in the research lab.
The difference was seen in a brain region involved in so-called semantic processing -- the ability to extract meaning from words. There was "particularly robust" activity, the researchers said, in areas where mental images are formed from what is heard.
Hutton said that finding is especially intriguing, because reading to children is assumed to spark their imaginations.
"When children listen to stories, they have to put it all together in their mind's eye," Hutton explained.
Even though children's books have pictures, he added, that's different from watching all the action play out on a TV or computer screen.
Brandon Korman, chief of neuropsychology at Nicklaus Children's Hospital, in Miami, agreed.
When a child is listening to a story, rather than sitting passively in front of a screen, the brain is in a "more active" state, said Korman, who was not involved in the research.
But he also pointed to a question the study cannot answer: Are these differences in preschoolers' brain activation actually related to their literacy later in childhood?
"That would be a next logical step in this research," Korman said.
Regardless, he added, the findings still "definitely reinforce" the importance of reading to your children.
As it stands, the American Academy of Pediatrics advises parents to read to their children every day, starting at birth. That pre-kindergarten time is a critical time for brain development, Hutton said. Other research has found that children with poor reading skills in first grade usually do not "catch up" with their peers.
But is there something special about old-fashioned books, versus the reading apps many toddlers are now using on smartphones and tablets? Both Hutton and Korman said it's not clear whether reading from a device could have different effects on young kids' emerging reading skills.
However, Korman added, some researchers have voiced concerns that if young children spend too much time on devices, that could take away from human interactions that teach them about empathy, problem-solving and other critical life lessons.
That human connection, Korman said, is one of the reasons it's so important to read to your child. "The benefits go beyond their cognitive development," he said.
Hutton agreed that a traditional story time provides a critical "back-and-forth" between parents and children.
"It's not just a nice thing to do with your child," he said. "It's important to their cognitive, social and emotional development."
More information
The American Academy of Pediatrics has more about early reading and literacy.
SOURCES: John S. Hutton, M.D., pediatrician, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center; Brandon Korman, Psy.D., chief, neuropsychology, Nicklaus Children's Hospital, Miami; Aug. 3, 2015, Pediatrics, online

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

2015-2016 Daystar Christian School Calendar



August 13                    Testing for incoming students *Scheduled through office
August 20                    Open House – 6:00 – 8:00 pm
August 24                    First day of school
TBA                             Picture Day
September 7                No school / Labor Day
September 29              Parental Involvement in Education (PIE) - Creativity
October 16                  End of 1st quarter
October 20                  Parent Teacher Conferences*
October 27                  PIE – Math
November 11-12         Can Collecting
November 25-27         Thanksgiving Break
December 18               End of 2nd quarter
December 21-Jan 1     Christmas Break
January 18                   MLK Day – No school
January 26                   PIE - Literacy
January 28                   Teacher In Service Day – No school
February 15                 President’s Day – No school
February 23                 PIE – Science
March 4                      End of 3rd quarter
March 7-11                 Spring Break
March 15                    Parent Teacher Conferences*
March 17-19               RMC Music Fest
April 26                      PIE - Health Fair
May 25                       Kindergarten & 8th grade graduation
May 26                       Last Day of School - Noon dismissal

*Scheduled P/T conferences starting at 4:30 pm.
***Dates are subject to change. 
***Please note that our school week will run Monday through Thursday from 8 am to 4pm for grades 3-8 and 8 am to 3 pm for grades K-2.

Daystar Christian School
3912 O’Neal Ave
Pueblo, CO 81005
(719) 561-9120
daystarchristianpueblo.com