THIS MONTH’S EVENTS
3/16 — Severe Weather Drill
3/17 — SEL Lesson
3/18 — NO SCHOOL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY
3/21 — Rock Your Socks for World Downs Syndrome Day
3/25 — ACE Awards
3/28 – 4/1 — NO SCHOOL SPRING BREAK
BENNIE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENT
The Bennie School community teaches respect, responsibility, safety, and kindness to develop lifelong learners.
BENNIE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL VISION STATEMENT
Bennie Elementary School is a collaborative learning community where staff and families encourage students to achieve at their highest potential. Students will approach challenges with perseverance and stamina. Academic, social, and emotional growth will be fostered in a safe, supportive, and positive environment through a multi-tiered system of supports. A professional, driven staff with a passion for learning will model the values of kindness, perseverance, and motivation to develop lifelong learners and flexible problem-solvers who are ready to contribute to a global society. All members of the Bennie Elementary School community are committed to continuous improvement.
REPORT CARDS
SURVEYS
As part of our School Improvement process, we collect survey data to continuously improve our processes and procedures at school. Please take a few moments to complete this Family Survey by Friday, March 28. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!
PTA UPDATES
READ-A-THON (READ-A-FUN)
Dear Parents,
The Read-a-Fun Reading Raiser is going on now from Mar 4, 2022 to Apr 1, 2022.
A Reading-Raiser is like a jog-a-thon, except your child will be reading books instead of running laps, and earning pledges based on how much they read. Everything is tracked online, which makes inviting sponsors and logging reading much easier! Our goal is to have at least 25% of students in every class participating and logging minutes. Please check out the info below to see how it’s going!
Here are two videos that explain how to participate in the Reading-Raiser:
– How to authorize your child’s Reading-Raiser account: https://youtu.be/Xc81t6If-wo
– How to become a sponsor and invite more sponsors: https://youtu.be/JGvaXCPj8iM
Your child will receive a private online account at https://www.readafun.com/ where he/she will log reading. Parent and student instructions on how to use the website have been sent home. Your child will not be able to invite any sponsors without your authorization. Follow this link to view instructions on how to use your parent account: https://www.readafun.com/guides/parent?d=168. If you have any questions about your child’s account, please contact Lyndsey Butts at lfregonara12@gmail.com
IMPORTANT: Readafun works best if you use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox or Safari.
Unlike other fundraisers where we keep only 40-60% of each donation, our school keeps 85% of each donation using this program. We are really excited to promote reading and help our school raise the necessary money for our ongoing needs.
Thank you so much for your support!
Sincerely,
Bennie PTA
Read A Thon incentive list 2022
SPRING FEVER
This year’s Spring Fever was a great success! Thanks to the cooperation of the AP community, $9000 was raised for scholarships! As you know, Bennie was in charge of the Bake Sale, and thanks to generous donations, $1500 of the $9000 raised came from the Bake Sale! Thank you, Bennie bakers, for your generosity!
SPRING FAMILY DANCE
HELP! The Bennie PTA is looking for Co-Chairs for the Bennie Spring Family Dance so this event can be held as planned on April 29. Please see the information below and contact Lyndsey Butts at lfregonara12@gmail.com if you are able to help!
ROCK YOUR SOCKS
Allen Park Elementary Schools are celebrating by wearing crazy socks to support Down syndrome awareness!
If you would like to participate and wear crazy socks on Monday, March 21st, we are asking for a $1 donation to our fundraiser. (details in attachment below)
DROPOFF AREAS
The dropoff traffic flow plan around Bennie has been carefully designed to keep our students safe and the traffic moving. Recently, some concerns have been shared regarding parking on the west side (at Door 16 — High School side) in the dropoff lane. Please remember that these dropoff areas — indicated in the map below — are for dropoff only. Families are to pull up in the car, and students are to get out of the car. No cars should be parked in these areas, as this creates a dangerous jam-up and requires people to maneuver unsafely to get around.
If you desire to keep your child in the car until the bell rings, please park down one of the side streets or in front of the high school and wait in a safe place. Please DO NOT park in any of the dropoff lanes for the safety of all of our students.
Morning Bell — Doors open: 8:30 am. No supervision for students prior to 8:30 am.
Arrival time is 8:30am at designated doors (by last name).
Families whose students have different last names, please use the oldest child’s last name for dropoff door.
BIRTHDAYS
REMINDER: We enjoy honoring and celebrating the birthdays of all of our Bennie Bobcats. However, this is a friendly reminder that birthday celebrations at Bennie are FOOD-FREE. This means that birthday food treats are not allowed and will not be brought down to the classroom. Pencils, bookmarks, etc are acceptable alternatives, although certainly not necessary or mandatory. Your child’s teacher will provide you with suggestions if needed, and will honor your child on his or her special day.
Also, please save items like flowers, balloon bouquets, and other “deliveries” for at-home celebrations. Finally, in order to preserve the dignity of all of our students, unless ALL students are receiving an invitation, please find an out-of-school method for passing out invitations to other students. Thank you for your support!!
KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION INFO
A current immunization record, or waiver from the State of Michigan, is required for enrollment to the 22-23 school year (Enrollments will not be processed without it). An up-to-date immunization record, or waiver from the State of Michigan, is required before your student can attend class in the fall.
Please make your Dr. appointments now; scheduled for before September 1, 2022.
Parent – Vaccine Required for School Entry in Michigan
Required Childhood Immunizations for Michigan School Settings
Claiming a Nonmedical Immunization Waiver- MDHHS
MDHHS FAQ Immunization Waiver
MARCH EXERCISE CALENDAR
Thank you, Mrs. Smalley, for preparing these fun calendars each month!
FREE ACCESS TO VOOKS
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NEWS FROM THE DISTRICT NURSE
Winter Allergy & Asthma Tips
Just passing along some helpful winter info to get us through this cold chilly season!
Stay well everyone!
Deb Arnoldy, RN, BSN
https://allergyasthmanetwork.org/news/cold-air-asthma-in-winter/
https://allergyasthmanetwork.org/news/winter-allergies-causes-symptoms/
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Sharing two great parent workshops that may be of interest – details attached.
Love and Logic Parenting Bootcamp on March 9, 16 & 23
–Raising Responsible Kids
–Letting Empathy and Consequences Provide Teaching Opportunities
–Turning Mistakes into Wisdom
Virtual Parenting Workshop: Raising a Reader-Promoting Literacy for Kids 0-5 – March 16
Love and Logic Parenting Boot Camp-March 2022.pdf
Parent Workshop-Raising a Reader-Promoting Literacy for Kids 0-5.pdf
Young Designers of Glass Event
Hello,
Wyandotte Art and Glass Center
(734) 778-9878
4308 13th Street,
Wyandotte, MI 48192
Young Designers of Glass Flyer
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THE IMPORTANCE OF READING
This is an excellent article that outlines the importance of reading to children daily. It’s never too late, and it’s so important that I’m including it again this month! All of our Bobcats can benefit from being read to daily, and being encouraged to develop their own personal reading time, too.
The importance of reading to kids daily
Young children whose parents read them five books a day enter kindergarten having heard about 1.4 million more words than kids who were never read to, a new study found.
This “million word gap” could be one key in explaining differences in vocabulary and reading development, said Jessica Logan, lead author of the study and assistant professor of educational studies at The Ohio State University.
Even kids who are read only one book a day will hear about 290,000 more words by age 5 than those who don’t regularly read books with a parent or caregiver.
“Kids who hear more vocabulary words are going to be better prepared to see those words in print when they enter school,” said Logan, a member of Ohio State’s Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy.
“They are likely to pick up reading skills more quickly and easily.”
The study appears online in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and will be published in a future print edition.
Logan said the idea for this research came from one of her earlier studies, which found that about one-fourth of children in a national sample were never read to and another fourth were seldom read to (once or twice weekly).
“The fact that we had so many parents who said they never or seldom read to their kids was pretty shocking to us. We wanted to figure out what that might mean for their kids,” Logan said.
The researchers collaborated with the Columbus Metropolitan Library, which identified the 100 most circulated books for both board books (targeting infants and toddlers) and picture books (targeting preschoolers).
Logan and her colleagues randomly selected 30 books from both lists and counted how many words were in each book. They found that board books contained an average of 140 words, while picture books contained an average of 228 words.
With that information, the researchers calculated how many words a child would hear from birth through his or her 5th birthday at different levels of reading. They assumed that kids would be read board books through their 3rd birthday and picture books the next two years, and that every reading session (except for one category) would include one book.
They also assumed that parents who reported never reading to their kids actually read one book to their children every other month.
Based on these calculations, here’s how many words kids would have heard by the time they were 5 years old:
- Never read to, 4,662 words;
- 1-2 times per week, 63,570 words;
- 3-5 times per week, 169,520 words;
- daily, 296,660 words; and
- five books a day, 1,483,300 words.
“The word gap of more than 1 million words between children raised in a literacy-rich environment and those who were never read to is striking,” Logan said.
Book recommendations from Education and Human Ecology
Patricia Scharer, professor emerita of reading and literacy, reviews children’s books and makes recommendations for parents to read with their children.
- 7 books for young readers on becoming me
- 14 children’s books that break down walls
- 7 books to help kids understand times of crisis
EHE experts have also devised questions to start discussions with children about the books you read together.
The word gap examined in this research isn’t the only type kids may face.
A controversial 1992 study suggested that children growing up in poverty hear about 30 million fewer words in conversation by age 3 than those from more privileged backgrounds. Other studies since then suggest this 30 million word gap may be much smaller or even non-existent, Logan said.
The vocabulary word gap in this study is different from the conversational word gap and may have different implications for children, she said.
“This isn’t about everyday communication. The words kids hear in books are going to be much more complex, difficult words than they hear just talking to their parents and others in the home,” she said.
For instance, a children’s book may be about penguins in Antarctica – introducing words and concepts that are unlikely to come up in everyday conversation.
“The words kids hear from books may have special importance in learning to read,” she said.
Logan said the million word gap found in this study is likely to be conservative. Parents will often talk about the book they’re reading with their children or add elements if they have read the story many times.
This “extra-textual” talk will reinforce new vocabulary words that kids are hearing and may introduce even more words.
The results of this study highlight the importance of reading to children.
“Exposure to vocabulary is good for all kids. Parents can get access to books that are appropriate for their children at the local library,” Logan said.
Logan’s co-authors on the study were Laura Justice, professor of educational studies and director of the Crane Center at Ohio State; Leydi Johana Chaparro-Moreno, graduate student in educational studies at Ohio State; and Melike Yumuş of Başkent University in Turkey.