Important Dates

February 4 - Session 2 of the Lunch Program begins

February 8 - PARP Reading Cafe, 6:30 pm

February 8 - Principal's Coffee, 9:30 am

February 11-15 - Kindergarten Registration Week, by appointment only

February 15 - 3rd Grade Concert, Parent Performance, 8:45 am

February 18-22 - Winter Recess -  school closed

March 8 -  Cultural Night, 6-8:30 pm

March 21 -  Kindergarten Concert, Parent Performance, 8:45 pm

March 29 -  PTA Family Fun Night, 6-8 pm  

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CET Newsletter February 4, 2019

http://www.chufsd.org/schools/carrie_e_tompkins_es

Message from the Principal, Mrs. Kelly Maloney

Dear CET Families,

Happy Day after the Super Bowl! I had meant to get this newsletter out to you on Friday, but there was so much happening that I couldn’t find time to write!  I did tweet though! On Friday, our fourth graders participated in Colonial Fair Day! Dressed in colonial garb, students had the chance to play games that colonial children might have played like “Rolling the Hoop”, ring toss, and scotch-hopper (Hopscotch). Students were also engaged in tinsmithing, cartography, and they attended Dame School.  They ate quite well thanks to the many authentic colonial dishes prepared by our fourth-grade parents. Ask your child what they enjoyed the most about Colonial Fair Day.

Our third-grade classes have all gone eagle watching at the Croton Harmon Train Station.  Thank you to community member, Charlie Roberto, for continuing this annual outing to provide our students and their parents with the opportunity to learn about our national bird, and to see firsthand how the eagles have returned to the Hudson River Valley.  Last week one of the classes spotted a pair of adults, a yearling, and a nest. Classes also observed eagles out on the ice.  To support Teatown’s EagleFest on February 9, our third graders created bald eagle posters that will be on display. The posters contain facts about bald eagles.  

What are you an expert at?  Thanks to a visit from Gabrielle Balkan, author of several nonfiction books including 50 Cities and Book of Bones , our students have been sharing with us what they are an expert at!  We have experts on so many topics; I want to share a few with you! We have experts on space, London, triathlons, Franklin Roosevelt, fashion, and playing the piano.  There are a bunch of experts on soccer! We also have a student who says she is an expert at tacos! Asking your child what they would like to be an expert at is a good introduction to the research process.  How do they go about finding information on a given topic? At this age and stage, going to the library to find a book(s) is a good start. The “You’re The Expert” Reading Cafe is this Friday night at 6:30 pm. Admission for this PTA sponsored event is to share one fact about a topic you are interested in! Priceless.  

Our PTA Principal’s Coffee on Friday, February 8 is on the topic of Mathematics. What should CET students know and be able to do? What resources are available to them? What resources are available to you?  The Coffee begins at 9:30 am.

Enjoy the mild weather this week!

Warmly,

Kelly

News from the Assistant Principal, Mrs. Kerri Bianchi 

CET is very excited about participating in the Global School Play Day on Wednesday, February 6, 2019.  This will be our 4th year of participation and once again, we are dedicating an entire day to unstructured playtime.  We wanted to take this opportunity to share the benefits of unstructured play so that you too could see the value in our school wide participation.  Research has shown that providing children with free play builds creativity and the ability for children to come up with unique ideas.  It fosters the development of motor planning skills by helping children create and carry out ideas.  Unstructured playtime also helps develop decision-making skills.  It also fosters social skill development and collaborative play skills.  Free play allows children to develop conflict resolution skills and learn to take turns.  Additionally unstructured playtime provides students with opportunities to discover their own individual interests and skills.  We believe that the strengthening and development of the skills outlined above, are directly aligned to the Profile of a Graduate.  We are giving our students opportunities to engage in all six components.  It is also important to note that free play does not include time with electronics, video games or TV.  True free play is child initiated, creative and does not include direction from an adult.  Structured activities do play a very important role in our children’s development; they teach children how to follow rules and routines and provide structure in their daily lives.  However, we do not want to miss opportunities to teach our children other valuable life lessons.  Please join us in promoting our participation in the Global School Play Day along with over 200,000 other student’s worldwide!

News from Robin Woolley, School Counselor 

Are your kids bored and complain about having nothing to do?  Need to get them off the electronics for a while? Here’s an idea that helps them AND you: CHORES!

Age-appropriate “chores” or tasks can help a child’s social and emotional development, as well as their mental health.  Children who do things for themselves feel a sense of accomplishment and confidence - feelings that naturally combat the anxiety and depression we see too often.  Having responsibilities around the house help children feel connected to their home and family and can be used to teach empathy, too. After all, how many of us love to clean up?  

Not sure how to get started?  Here’s an idea: Create a family chore chart and keep it on the refrigerator.  Make sure everyone in the family is responsible for something and check each chore off when it has been completed.  Have an incentive for when all the chores are done. This can be an allowance or points towards a family outing or special treat.  Let your child(ren) help you decide what chores they will do and what the reward will be.

Here is an article with more information about the benefits of chores and a list of age appropriate chores I found.  

The Benefits of Kids Doing Chores    

Age Appropriate Chores

 News from Patricia Lynch, Math Teacher

C.E.T. Loves Math! 

My child can multiply and they are in Kindergarten! 

Teachers at C.E.T. LOVE to hear that you and your child are enjoying working with numbers and math concepts at home.  Multiplication can be interpreted as ‘repeated addition’ (3+3+3=9 or 3x3=9).  Many students, yes, even Kindergartners, are wonderful ‘skip counters’ and use that to multiply. 

We encourage skip counting in all grades as a precursor to factoring.  The level of factoring and multiplication we do in the upper grades at C.E.T. can surprise parents and students as it becomes much more complicated that skip counting and basic multiplication. 

For example, let’s factor the number 12:

12 = 6 x 2 or

12 = 3 x 4 or

12 = 2 x 2 x 3

Why do we use factorization?  It can be used for many things, like helping perform arithmetic operations.

For example: 15 x 8
Factor 15 and 8:

15 = 3 x 5

8= 2 x 4

Now we group the factors so that it is easier for us to multiply.

(2 x 5) x (3 x 4) = 10 x 12 = 120

Skip counting is important to grasp but do not forget the big picture is being able to compose and decompose numbers with +, -, x, ÷, fractions, decimals and percentages.  At C.E.T., building a strong sense of numbers is key to our program.  We encourage flexible thinking and showing our thinking on paper through drawing and writing.  Yes, skip counting is wonderful, keep it up at home!  You can also strengthen your child’s number sense with prompts such as, “Wow!  You can count by tens to 100!  If there are 6 tens in 60, how many 5’s are in 60?  … How many 3’s, … 2’s?  So ... 30 twos are 60, 20 threes are 60, 12 fives are 60, and 6 tens are 60! How do you know you are correct?” 

News from CET PTA

With temperatures dangerously low, there is no better time to stay indoors and read. Our PARP reading contest is currently running (January 28th - February 3rd). Please remember to send in the forms which are due February 4th. 

The winner of each class will be announced at the PARP Reading Cafe scheduled for February 8th at 6:30 pm. It will be an evening of fun, themed after Author Gabrielle P Balkan's books. This is a free event. To gain admission, kids need to share an expert fact with a Fact Collector at the door. We'll be making a big U.S. map of places important to CET kids. 

Some other fun activities include: * a regional bake sale,* a bones craft, * states spelling contest (please practice with your kids at home). We will have a place where kids can pick a reading partner -- we'll have some fun ones on hand! 

There will also be pizza: New York Style!

Please sign up to volunteer: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409094fa4a92fa2f49-volunteer

Important dates to remember:

Feb 4th

  • Session 2 of Lunch Service starts
  • Reading competition forms due

Feb 8th

  • Principal's Coffee (9:30 am) followed by a short General PTA meeting (10:30 am)
  • Principal's coffee will deal with the topic of math-standards, curriculum, technology resources, and assessments. Mrs. Lynch will help with the presentation.
  • PARP Reading Cafe at 6:30 pm

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Croton-Harmon Baseball & Softball Clinic for Grades K-6

Participants will be taught defensive and offensive fundamentals of the game in a fun atmosphere from the Croton-Harmon High School Coaching Staff and Players.

Dates & Times:

Thursday, February 28 th from 6:00-7:30pm

Friday, March 1 st from 6:00-7:30pm

Thursday, March 7 th from 6:00-7:30pm

Friday, March 8 th from 6:00-7:30pm

Location:

Croton Harmon High School Gyms

Cost:

$30 per session ($100 for all sessions)-all proceeds will go toward the CHHS Baseball/Softball Programs

Email the following coaches to reserve a spot and find out more information:

Baseball-Eric.Rosen@chufsd.org

Softball-Kerri.Tracy@chufsd.org

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Children's Dental Health Month - February 2019

The 9th District Dental Association is conducting a poster contest for "Children's Dental Health Month 2019". The Contest is open to all students K-12 and entries are to be received on or before Friday, March 8th.  To submit your entry and/or have any questions regarding rules, awards, etc., please write to:

Ninth District Dental Association

364 Elwood Avenue

Hawthrone, NY 10532

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SNOWMAN CONTEST RETURNS!

The Village of Croton is conducting a snowman contest. Have your family build a snowman or snow sculpture, take a 4"x6" photo of it and its builder, and mail it with name, address and phone number on the back to the Croton Recreation Department by noon on March 8th.

If you have any questions, please contact the Recreation office at 914-271-3006

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION

DATES: FEBRUARY 11-15, 2019

Students who reside in Croton and will be 5 years old before December 1, 2019 are eligible to attend kindergarten, If you are in need of a kindergarten registration packet and/or an appointment, please contact:  

Gail Anzovino, Secretary to the Principal 

914-271-5184 ext.3212

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Updating You and Your Child’s Information in the K12 Alerts System 

To be sure we have the most up-to-date information for you and your child, you may access K12 Alerts by either logging on to the CET Homepage where you will find “Parent Portal/K12Alerts” or by accessing the Croton-Harmon School District’s Homepage and clicking on “Parent and Resident Portal/K12Alerts”. Once you log in to the K-12 Alert System, you will be able to make any necessary changes to your or your child’s information.

If you have any questions please contact Denise Cuomo, 914-271-4793, ext. 4200.

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LOST AND FOUND

Please check our “Lost and Found” for your belongings. They miss you and their home! We will be donating items on February 15th.  



K12 Alerts
Patented (U.S. Patent No. 8,180,274)
K12 Alerts

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