The Cub’s Corner Report for
Park Elementary School
121 S. Workman, Lyons, KS 67554
www.usd405.com T: 620.257.5624
Dear Parents,Welcome to another year at Park Elementary! The teachers, staff and I are so excited to be able to serve you and your children. It’s our passion and our mission in life to help your child grow academically, socially, emotionally and physically. We feel one of the best ways to help you be a part of your child’s education is with a monthly newsletter.
This newsletter is Park Elementary’s chance to show and tell the community at large what is going on in our classrooms and throughout the school. We will try to showcase special events, give you an advance notice on upcoming events, highlight class happenings and give some helpful advice on how to help your child with their school work at home. Most importantly, we want to ensure that you feel connected to what your child is experiencing while they learn here at Park.
As with all of my letters to parents, I want to let you know that my door is always open for you to come in and talk with me. Please feel free to email me. My email address is or call me at 620.257.5624.
Again, thank you for sharing your children with us! We hope you enjoy the newsletters.
With warm regards,
John C. Cannon, Principal
Worth Quoting
“The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up!”
Mark Twain
Short Notes for home and school
-EXCELLENT ATTENDANCE
Being in school every day means your child won’t miss out on learning. Try to schedule appointments and family trips outside of school hours. If they ask to stay home “just because,” remind them of what they’ll miss, such as their reading group or PE. Explain that they can be absent only if they’re truly sick or if there’s a family emergency.
-EAT MEALS TOGETHER
You may have heard that it’s important for families to eat dinner together. But other meals count, too. If you work in the evenings, maybe you could make time for a family breakfast. On a weekend, try a picnic lunch! Research shows that children who regularly eat meals with their families tend to do better in school and avoid risky behavior.
-GOOD CONSEQUENCES
Behaving well and working hard pay off! Help your child see the results of their efforts – you’ll find yourself correcting less often as they learn self-discipline.
Tie good behavior to nice and natural outcomes.
If your youngster is quiet when you’re on the phone, you might say, “You were so patient while I made that call. Would you like to play a game now?” Or when they go to bed without a struggle, point out how energetic they seem the next morning.
Recognize success.
Maybe you’d like your child’s room to be neater, who wouldn’t! Tell them that if they keep it clean for a month, you’ll help them rearrange or redecorate it (No need to go out and by new things, just simply reuse their existing stuff in a new way). By that time, picking up will probably be a habit. And they’ll enjoy their room so much that they’ll be motivated to keep it that way.
Tip: Try not to use rewards like toys or food. You’ll train your kiddo to expect something in exchange for behaving well. Plus, offering food as a reward can lead to unhealthy eating habits.
Important News From the Classroom
The Readers Corner - Mrs. Orth, Reading Recovery Teacher/Title I
"Children are made readers in the laps of their parents." ~Emilie Buchwald
Please read to your children every day. Talk about the story and ask them what part they liked best and why that was their favorite part.
Speech Therapy – Mrs. Sandbo – Speech Pathologist
The following list represents at what age typically developing boys and girls can articulate English consonants correctly. Vowels are correctly produced by the age of 3. All children do not develop at the same time and in the same way, so we cannot expect correct sounds from every child at the exact same time. If you suspect your child has a speech problem, please contact Dave Vesper at 257-5196 Ext 167 to set up a time for your child to be screened.
Age 3: m,n,p,b,t,d,h,w
Age 4: k,g
Age 5: f,v,y, s clusters (star, skunk) Age 7: sh,ch,th,j Age 8: s,z,r
From the Music Room – Mr. Scott, K-2 Music Teacher
The first semester is full of spectacular events and holidays ranging from Columbus Day to Christmas. Your children and I have been hard at work training our minds and bodies in musical activities every single day. Sooner than you think will be our annual Christmas Concert on December 1! This will be an opportunity for your children to show you just how much they have learned so far and for many of them it will be the first time they have ever performed in front of a large group. Cooperation, respect, and responsibility are a few of the building blocks to a well-rounded learner and I try to remind them of that every day. I ask you to take a moment to ask about what songs your child has learned so far. I bet you are pleasantly surprised.
Pre-Kindergarten: Mrs. Swenson Classes - Deb's pre-k classes ended their fire safety unit with a visit from Firefighters, Greg Moss and Mark Johnson. Greg and Mark reviewed fire safety procedures with the students, and showed them what a firefighter would look like and sound like, as well as other sounds children would hear if a firefighter had to come help them. The focus of their visit was on, not being afraid and hiding from firefighters. They are our friends and an important community helper.
Kindergarten: Mrs. Hendricks Class - Our kindergarten class has been really busy learning new letter sounds, working on writing our numbers 1-10, learning sight words, and beginning to read a few CVC words. In October we will be learning about fire safety and have a short presentation with Greg Moss from the Lyons Fire Department. We will also be learning about nocturnal animals, pumpkins, and scarecrows. The students are also working so hard on their writing skills through the use of the Handwriting Without Tears program and apps we use on our student ipads which include LetterSchool and Eggy Alphabet.
1st Grade: Mrs. Ludwig’s Class - Fall is in the air! Mrs. Ludwig’s class is busy working with time, money, and estimation in math as well as improving our problem solving skills with word problems. Guided Reading is helping all the children become better readers and we continue to work on sight word vocabulary, comprehension, and retelling of the story. They love when Mrs. Ludwig reads Halloween stories! October brings awareness of Fire Safety for the children and learning about the explorations of Christopher Columbus. Science brings studies about nocturnal animals and how they grow and survive in their habitat.
2nd Grade: Mrs. McMillan’s Class - Mrs. McMillan's class has been busy for weeks learning how to be good citizens/classmates. We have been doing this through a list of character words. Through the character words: respect, responsibility, effort, caring, honesty, and choices the students are putting into practice some basic skills in order to become and be good citizens. We also were able to extend this idea of "citizen" when the class participated in the Lions in Lyons Day activities. The class picked up trash in the park and on the playground and helped to beautify the Park School grounds. The students will continue throughout the year revisiting these words and be given opportunities to put them into practice
SPECIAL EVENTS THIS MONTH
COSTUME PARADE AROUND THE SQUARE - October 30th
TIPS FOR PARENTS:
- Please have your children wear comfortable shoes. They will be walking a lot that day and if they have on plastic or play shoes they will not be appropriate for the walk.
- Absolutely no weapons, life like, plastic or foam.
- If the costume has a mask, the mask eye holes must be large enough for the child to see properly out of. If the child’s vision is not clear through the mask, they will be asked to take it off.
- The costume must be appropriate for school and follows the dress code. Costumes that depict or have logos of alcohol, tobacco, drugs or weapons on them are not permitted.
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