1. family and parenting
2. children

Kensington Elementary School
Judy Sanders, Principal
March 5, 2015
At the end of last week’s Parent Ed. Night, many parents requested more information about writing.
The most frequently asked questions focused on how parents can help their children with writing at
home. Your child’s teacher will likely have suggestions that are specific to your child and his/her
grade level. My suggestions are more general; I hope you find them useful.
•
Children and adults benefit from talking about what they want to write about. Create a climate
in your home that is filled with words – talk to your children about experiences that you share,
places that you go, and things that interest them. If they have an assignment to write about
something, let them talk it out first. Write down some of the key things that they say so that
they will have a bank of words to use when they sit down to write. Let them think out loud
before they try to put their ideas on paper.
•
Use writing to communicate with your children. Leave notes on their pillows or tucked in their
lunch boxes. Ask them a question in writing, and ask them to leave the answer under your
pillow or by the front door. Make it fun, and show them that writing is a tool for sharing ideas,
not just a chore that we do for school.
•
When your children ask for help with writing, be as helpful as you can be. Help them figure
out what they want to say. Resist the temptation to be critical, and instead delight in their ideas
and praise their efforts. When your children share their writing, be primarily interested in the
content, not the mechanics.
•
Encourage children to use writing for authentic communication. Suggest that they write for
information about possible vacation destinations, ask them to make a shopping list for you,
encourage them to write letters (or emails) to relatives or friends. If they have a complaint
about something, suggest they write a letter communicating their thoughts. Writing for real
purposes can be very rewarding, especially when a child gets a written response.
•
Become an active participant in your children’s education as writers. Just as you read to your
children and let them see the pleasure you get from reading, so should you write with them and
let them see you use writing as a tool for communication. Let them see you revise your
writing; read your own writing to them and ask for suggestions about how you might make it
better.
Upcoming Dates to Remember:
March 5 – PTA meeting – LCFF/LCAP and Common Core
March 19 – Open House
March 20 – Report cards distributed
Get Involved—Join the PTA Board
Nominees for 2015-2016
The Kensington Hilltop Elementary School PTA presents the following
nominees for our 2015-2016 Officers:
President: Kari Tindol
Secretary: Julie Gantenbein
Treasurer: Jenny Chan
First Vice President, Carnival Chair: Yvonne Lau
Second Vice President, Legislative Chair: Renee Rubin Ross
Third Vice President, Room Parent Coordinator: Sherry Garcia
Fourth Vice President, Communications Director: Megan Sherman
Auditor: OPEN
Historian: OPEN
The following positions are appointed by the PTA President:
Parliamentarian: OPEN
Emergency Preparedness: David Kwett and Christina Pollock
Hospitality: Sarah Schroeder & Jasmine Kroese
Kenvue: OPEN
Membership: Cheri Troxell
Outdoor Classroom: Kate Verhoef
Safe Routes to School: Leslie Reckler
To find out more about how you can involved, contact the Nominating
Committee:
Andrea Tung, [email protected]
Natasha Benjamin, [email protected]
Jenny Chan, [email protected]
KHS PTA
Announcement
March 2014
News from Outdoor Classroom
Join us Sunday, March 8th from 9 - 12
Thank you to the volunteers who came to help weed and
prune the school yard over the Presidents’ Week break.
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starting to bloom and now we can enjoy the show! We’ll
be working again this Sunday March 8th from 9 till noon
if anyone wants to help.
Thanks to the dozen or so 5th and 6th graders who volunteered
to collect trash last Friday. Your stewardship is appreciated
and it really makes a difference. Next month it’ll be the
fourth graders’ turn and we look forward to a great
turnout!
Thank you to Room 5 for taking over the bird feeding station for the rest of the school year! Chickadees,
towhees, and dark-eyed juncos have already been spotted
there and with your help many more species will be coming by
to enjoy their “smorgas-bird”!
Finally, we’ve already begun working to make this year’s
Carnival plant sale a big success. If you have any plant
cuttings, divisions, or “pups”, pots of any shape and size,
or decorative baskets that you could donate, please contact Kate at [email protected].
Thanks!
Kate Verhoef, PTA Outdoor Classroom Chair
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Thanks for jumping!
All day long on February 26th, hundreds of students jumped their hearts
out to some awesome music that Csilla provided and showed that being
heart-healthy & having fun can be the very same thing.
Thanks to Kensington’s Student Council and Mrs. Gray for
helping make this such a fun, interactive event
Heart disease can be prevented!
Healthy Habits include
Be active—walk to school
Eat healthy foods—mmmm, fruits & veggies
Talk to loved ones about living long, healthy lives—manage blood
pressure & stress
!
The American Heart Association is gladly taking
modest monetary donations—please return
pledge sheets to your classroom teacher ASAP.
2015 YEARBOOK!
Dont miss your chance!
Deadline to guarantee your copy is 3/30/15
Treasure the memories!
The Kensington Hilltop School Yearbook featuring
special moments from Kindergarten through grade 6.
Just $30.00 per copy.
Order online at
www.kensingtonhilltop.org/yearbook
Or
You can also pay by check — make your check payable to
¢.()8SSHU*UDGH)XQG£DQGGURSLWRIILQWKHVFKRRORIҕFH
Or
Simply click on the big blue button
on the right column of the Thursday Packet.