S.O.A.R. NEWSLETTER
AUGUST 29, 2008
by Debbie Fischgrabe
September 01, 2008
S.O.A.R. Program
Putnam Co. R-I School District
Newsletter – Volume 2, August 29, 2008
NO S.O.A.R. ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1
There will be no S.O.A.R. Program on Monday, September 1. School is closed to observe Labor Day.
WEB SITE INFORMATION
I would like to remind each of you that the S.O.A.R. Newsletter and other pertinent information regarding the S.O.A.R. program may be found on the school website at www.putnamcountyr1.net. I would like to encourage you to visit the website from time to time to keep up on things that are scheduled for your children.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS WEEK
Mr. Lou Spase visited the S.O.A.R. classroom on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. He gave a presentation on the migration of butterflies. The students enjoyed catching butterflies on Tuesday and were able to identify their species as well as check them out under the microscope on Wednesday.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Three FAMILY STRENGTH WORKSHOPS have been scheduled on September 18, 25 and October 2, 2008 from 6:00-8:00 p.m., in the PC R-I Education Building, for all S.O.A.R. parents. A new topic will be discussed each evening. The topics that will be discussed will be:
Sept. 18 - Family Strengths, Communication and Managing Stress
Sept. 25 - Positive Discipline, Self-Awareness and Self-Esteem,
Balancing it all
Oct. 2 - Nutrition, Food/Fitness, Setting Goals & Family Night
These workshops are for parents and childcare will be provided on site by A+ high school students. I hope that all of you will plan to attend these very informative workshops
HIGHLIGHTS COMING UP NEXT WEEK
Next week school will dismiss at 12:45 p.m. because of the Putnam County Fair. The S.O.A.R. Program will be provided until 6:00 p.m. Tuesday through Friday evening.
A couple of A+ students have agreed to teach keyboarding and drums to interested S.O.A.R. students. We will be starting these classes next week.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Parents need to learn the difference between encouragement and pressure. I read an article recently that told of a family with a child who was told by the school counselor that he had a high IQ. The counselor reminded them to remember that “it was all about how you apply yourself.”
They encouraged him in every way that they could. They boasted to relatives, high-fived him when he read the entire Harry Potter series in one night and were elated when he informed them that he planned to go to his dad’s alma mater.
They watched the easy-going child become increasingly more nervous. When he received school papers back with less than a perfect score he would bang his head on his desk in frustration. It wasn’t until his second miserable year in middle school that they began to understand what it was that their son was applying himself to.
One day he finally lashed out, “I’m tired of being perfect, Mom!”
In today’s society we often measure our worth by our financial success, which is earned by having a good job, getting a diploma from the best university and making good grades from Kindergarten through high school
Like most parents we all want our children to succeed and as parents we often apply great enthusiasm to see that our children “apply” themselves. Oftentimes we learn the hard way as there is a very fine line between promoting good grades and making them the end-all between encouragement to our children and sending a message that their worth is contingent upon their performance, between giving them every opportunity to succeed and putting unrealistic expectations for success on them. The child’s outburst about perfection helped his parents realize he needed permission to ease up on himself. He needed to know that just because he’s smart doesn’t mean he has to be perfect and that being imperfect does not somehow compromise his character.
He needed to hear that his parents still loved him if he brought home B and even C papers. He needed to bring home a few of those papers, and survive.
I don’t think we should ever quit helping our children be successful but we should always remember that our children are unique individuals with a variety of strengths, limitations and ways of interpreting the world.
Now that's what I call success. Have an enjoyable and safe weekend with your families.
Ms. Debbie, Mr. David, Mr. Michael, Ms. Nellie and Ms. Elladean
