Dear Parents,
Saturday night was an evening of joyous festivity as we gathered together to celebrate "An Auction in Paradise." Thank you to auction chairs Tara Ashworth and Cindy Kurick who spent many hours calling, organizing, and preparing for this annual event. Thank you, too, to all the parents, friends of the parish, clergy, teachers, and staff, who contributed items and who attended. You are a treasure!
God Bless,
Eleanor McCormack
|
|
| Mrs. Bauer has the "Copacabana" spirit! |
|
PIZZA THIS FRIDAY, APRIL 20, FOR ALL STUDENTS WHO SUBSCRIBED
This Friday Pizza Lunch supports PreK!
Pizza and Market Table volunteers are needed in the school cafeteria from 10:45am-1:15pm. You must be VIRTUS-compliant to volunteer. Come for the entire time or just for an hour.
Market Table
Appropriate items and some favorites are individually bagged popcorn, fruit snacks, chips, pretzels, cheese puffs or Jell-O and small items like bubbles, novelty pens, stickers, and mini-notepads. Please do not send in cookies or nut products.
Do not send in latex items such as balloons or any item
made with latex.
For every $15 spent you earn 1 volunteer hour.
If you have any pizza questions, contact Mike or Cecelia Gilliam
|
May Hot Lunch orders are now being processed. For the month of May, hot lunches will begin on Tuesday, May 1, 2018, and will run through Thursday, May 31, 2018. A total of 17 hot lunches will be served for a cost of $106.25 per child. Please complete
this form to submit an order.
|
LAST CALL FOR YEARBOOK ORDERS!
T
he deadline to order yearbooks has been extended to Friday, April 20. Order forms were sent home with students. Please return the form with payment or authorization to charge FACTS by Friday, April 20. The cost is $25 and the yearbooks will arrive in early June.
If you have any questions, please e-mail
|
|
CONGRATULATIONS!
to all our Diocesan Science Fair Participants!
Camelah Cornejo
Emma Fahey
Caroline Fletcher
Will Green
Logan Lynch
|
Felix Pellegrino
Annabella Rozzi
Mario Rozzi
Melina Vicente
Mia Young
|
A SPECIAL CONGRATULATION!
to our
DIOCESAN SCIENCE FAIR WINNERS
Caroline Fletcher
Botany
3rd Place
Mario Rozzi
Chemistry
HONORABLE MENTION
Camelah Cornejo
Chemistry
|
|
MISSING SOMETHING?
Please come to the STM Cafeteria and claim any lost items or ask your child to look through the Lost and Found bin for any articles they are missing.
All items and clothes remaining in the Lost and Found bin next week will be donated to charity.
|
|
Book Release: Marco's Travels
Sa ka fèt - Saint Lucia!
Jason Louis, proud STM parent of Kindergartener and a 5th grader, is excited to announce to the STM community and friends, the release of his 3rd children's book in the Marco's Travels series - Marco's Travels: Sa ka fèt, Saint Lucia!
Marco's Travels: Sa ka fèt, Saint Lucia!
continues the rich tradition of the Marco's Travels series, which sees Marco, the main character, travelling to the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia to visit his friend Trevor. Together they journey around the island stopping at the picturesque seaside towns and villages while visiting some of the more popular attractions. During his stay on the island, Marco gets to experience the rich and diverse Saint Lucian culture with its English, French and African influences, the kwéyòl language, the local food and a popular flower festival.
The primary goal of the Marco's Travels book series is to expose children between the ages of 4 and 9 to world culture, geography, travel and friendship.
|
The Cathedral of St. Thomas More Vacation Bible School is a fun and energetic week where children learn about Living in the Kingdom of God. For children going into kindergarten through fifth grade, each exciting day will be packed with music, teaching, skits, games, crafts, snacks, and more. The Cathedral Religious Education Program will be offering two camps this summer to be held in Burke Hall:
- June 25 - 29, 2018 from 9:00 am - 2:00 pm
- July 9 - 13, 2018 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.
We hope your child can join us!
Cost:
The cost of program is $50.00 per camper per week. There are multi-student discounts as well. Campers can sign up for both weeks.
How to Register:
There are two ways to register - download the Registration Form or use this link to
Register Online
. This year we are also offering online credit card payments through Faith Direct.
|
|
|
Parenting by Dr. Rene News
|
Parenting Workshop Schedule
Encouraging Independence & Responsibility
Wed. Apr. 18 7:00 - 9:00pm
Learning through Play
Thurs. Apr. 26 8:00 - 9:00pm
Children's Anger & Frustration
Sat. Apr. 28 9:00 - 11:00am
Raising an Only Child
Sat. May 12 9:00 - 11:00am
|
How Choices Work in Positive Discipline
|
When offering choices in discipline, the goal is to offer two positive choices for the child that both meet your goal in parenting.
Choices work because the child gets to have some power. Choices elicit cooperation; the child willingly does what you want her to do because she gets to make a decision.
The choices don't have to be important ones. For that child who is hesitant to take medicine you could offer, "Would you like it with juice or water?" The next night ask, "Standing or sitting?" The next night ask, "In the kitchen or in the bathroom?" None of these choices are terribly important in the process, but they tend to gain compliance for the parenting goal of downing the medicine.
To be fair, both options must be good for the child. Steer clear of offering one positive and one negative option. I think of Alicen who makes a lot of noise throughout the day; she hums and whistles and sings. By the end of the day, it can be a bit much. When we are all in the kitchen getting ready for dinner, I might say, "You can do that in here very quietly or out in the foyer loud." Neither of those options is particularly bad. If I offered one positive and one negative, I might say, "You can do that in here quietly or go to your room." In this case, my language is manipulative. I am saying, "Here is a bad and here is a good; now which do you want?" Children typically understand this and think, "Well, duh! Nobody wants the bad." They are forced to choose the one you want them to choose. That is not a choice; it is a consequence and should be stated as such: "If you do not quiet down, I will send you to your room." When there is one positive and one negative, it is a given what will happen; it is not a choice. Rather than provide a false choice that is actually a consequence like "You can mow the lawn today or be grounded; which do you want?" parents will get better results by stating the cause and effect clearly: "If you do not mow the lawn, I will ground you."
In most discipline, choices come after any needed "I" messages or empathy but before consequences. As you enter into discipline, it is best to address emotions first. Help yourself and your child to calm and manage emotions before you try to discipline or to fix the situation. Once that is done or if that is not needed, think choices before consequences. Choices work because they elicit cooperation. Children are often happy to do the thing you want them to do. Negative logical consequences work because you are putting your foot down. Children are often resentful of the process or angry that you just trumped them. The order of response would be to lead with the choice.
First: "Do you want the red or the blue sweatshirt?"
And then, if necessary, follow that up with a logical consequence.
Second: "If don't get dressed now, we will lose our time for the playground."
This puts the happy option first and follows up with the less agreeable way if happiness fails. The other order - consequence first followed by choice - is usually less effective. Children will be less willing to choose if you were just firm with them. An example would look like: "If you do not get dressed right now, we'll lose our time for the playground. Now which do you want the red or the blue sweatshirt?" You already put your foot down, so it is far less attractive to take you up on a choice. Choices should come first because they are flexible and open. Consequences are closed; there is a built-in outcome.
There are a few exceptions to the "choices first" guideline. Aggressive behaviors tend to go straight to consequences. Hitting, kicking, biting and screaming in someone's face are behaviors that do not have choices available; they just don't. In those cases, I tend to think consequences first after attending to and offering empathy to the "victim."
Around six years old, children tend to push for more control over their schedule and routines. It can be helpful if parents offer choices such as "Would you like to read books or color now?" or "Let's invite a playdate. Would you like to call Lindsey or Emily to play?" Around the eight years old, children may push for more physical independence. Choices such as, "Would you all like to sit with us or a few aisles away?" can be helpful. In the pre-teen years, children tend to need more privacy. Parents can offer choices such as, "Would you all like some time alone in your room or in the basement?" If children feel thwarted in their push for independence, they may become evasive in their efforts. If you feel struggles happening over these pushes for new independence, it is most helpful to examine the amount of control you are exerting over your children.
Children benefit from practice at making decisions. Kohn states that children "learn to make good decisions by making decisions." Ideally, you are offering these choices throughout the day, not just in discipline. Asking questions like "Would you like peanut butter or ham and cheese?" or "Do you want to play blocks or balls?" provides children with safe opportunities to practice making choices. These opportunities are out of the moment of discipline. There is less hanging in the balance. The better children get at weighing the options and making decisions when the decisions are not weighted with importance, the better they'll handle choices within discipline. When my children came to me at seven years old and ask, "What should I do about this?" I wanted to be able to give it back to them by asking, "What do you think you should do?" To gain experience problem-solving -to come up with and weigh options - children need practice.
It is fine to reiterate choices. If this strategy still doesn't work, you can choose for them, but you have to let them know that is coming. You could say, "This is taking a long time. You can choose or I will choose for you." Most kids will choose immediately because they don't want to lose that power. This shift should not sound like "Okay. This is taking too long; I choose the blue." If you swoop in and take their power without warning, you will surely be met by upset or tantrums.
Choices are flexible and work because they share power with the child. They also teach decision-making and often result in a more peaceful exchange than consequences.
|
|
BLAST SUBMISSIONS
STM Blast items
must be submitted to [email protected] by noon on Monday
in order to be included in that week's edition.
All submissions must be in print-ready form.
Items received after this deadline will be held until the following issue.
Thank you for your cooperation.
|
|
| |
|
|
Upcoming Events
Thursday, April 19
Welcome New Families
Rising 1st to 8th
7:00
pm in Lee Hall
Friday, April 20
Report Cards Distributed
Monday, April 23
Summer Uniform Begins
Saturday, April 28
1st Communion Retreat
STM Cathedral and Burke Hall
8:45am-1:30pm
Monday, April 30
CPK Fundraiser
Saturday, May 5
First Communion
St. Thomas More Cathedral
11:00am
|
|
