In Today's Newsletter



Upcoming Events:
 
Nov. 4 - Daylight Savings
Nov. 12 - Veterans Day Chapel
Nov. 20 - Thanksgiving Feast
Nov. 21 - 23 - Thanksgiving Break (No school)

Glimpses of MCS from Mrs. Obbink:


The Best Part of Me written by Miss Lord's 3rd-5th grade class (photographs by Wendy Ewald) was the catalyst for Mrs. Brown's classroom assignment.  Each student in the book and in Mrs. Brown's classroom chose a part of themselves that is "the best part of me."  Teeth, hair, feet, and necks were all chosen in the book.  Here is a sample from Mrs. Brown's class:
 
"I like my heart because when I have anxiety, my mom can feel it and I think it might be fun to learn about.  And I like my heart because it is cool to feel.  And I wonder what it looks like.  I also like my heart because it helps me stay alive.  These are the reasons I like my heart." (3rd grader)
 
What is the best part of you? 
WALK-A-THON CHALLENGE
Who:  A generous donor, remaining anonymous, has challenged each of us to meet our Walk-A-Thon goal.  Our shortfall for the first fundraiser of the year is $6,000.00.  The donor has promised to match, up to $3,000 total, any funds that come in.  
What:  Contact the people you sent letters to in September to see if they are up to the challenge.
When:  Beginning today 10/29/2018 through 11/05/2018. 
Why:  To meet our annual budget.
AMAZON SMILE - SHOP THIS WEEK!
AmazonSmile is increasing the donation rate 10x from Oct 29 - Nov 2!

Through Nov 2, AmazonSmile is donating 5% (ten times the usual amount) to Monroe Christian School Society when you shop at smile.amazon.com/ch/91-0653991. 
OCTOBER 31st
Students may dress up as their favorite characters on Wednesday if they would like to.  Please note there will not be any contests or special celebrations that day.
POPCORN DAY
This Wednesday, October 31, is Popcorn Day.

The cost is $0.50 for popcorn or $1.00 for popcorn and a Capri Sun.  Please bring in-full payments to the office. Individual payments will go directly to the teacher.  Thank you.
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS
Don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour for daylight savings day on November 4, 2018!
GLOBAL EYEGLASS MINISTRY
Do you have old prescription eyeglasses or readers that you would like to donate?  MCS is one of the donation locations for Global Eyeglass Ministry which conducts vision clinics and provides glasses for those in need.  Just bring your glasses to the front office.
THANK YOU
Thank you, Laurie Ukrainetz, for leading Moms Time Away To Pray.  Thank you for the notes of encouragement that you send each week to all the staff members.  And a special thank you to all the moms who attend.  You are sincerely appreciated!  Here is just a sample note that the staff receives each week:
 
Good morning to all of you!  I hope you are having a great start to your week!  The Moms group gathered this morning for prayer- it's always an awesome start to the week!  We focused this morning on God as our Provider- the One who supplies what we need, always at just the right time.  Our needs can be so varied at times, we need financial provision, strength for the task ahead, vision and purpose in what we do, health in spite of the sicknesses going around...  the Lord is able and He is good. Psalm 34:10 reminds that "...those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."
 
With this in mind, our prayer for all of the teachers and staff today was from Philippians 4:19:  Lord our God, meet all _________'s needs according to the riches of Your glory in Christ Jesus.
 
May the Lord bless and keep you in this coming week.  We will continue to pray especially for your health, that you will be protected from the nasty bugs circulating already.
 
In Him, Laurie
LOVE AND LOGIC TIP
Does it ever seem like we live in a world of extremes? 

Sometimes educators' comment, "The parents of some of our students spend absolutely no time involved in their children's educations. The end result is predictable: Their kids rarely achieve up to their potential."
 
Other times teachers say, "Some of our parents are so overinvolved in their children's homework, school assignments, and grades that their kids can't seem to function without someone doing most of the work for them."
 
Considering these extremes, perhaps it makes sense to compare and contrast healthy versus unhealthy parental involvement, understanding that the healthy variety is essential for high achievement.
 
Healthy parental involvement means being aware of your kids' assignments, asking questions about these assignments, and offering assistance if they ask. It means giving ideas and allowing them to do the lion's share of the work.
 
Unhealthy parental involvement means constantly reminding and rescuing, essentially taking more responsibility for their work than they do.
 
Healthy parental involvement means consistently allowing your kids to evaluate how they feel about their performance. This might sound like, "You have a sixty-nine in music so far. How do you feel about that?" or asking, "You earned a ninety-eight on that test. How does that leave you feeling?" Kids allowed to own the good and not-so-good feelings associated with their performance are more likely to understand and care about the connection between their personal effort and outcomes.
 
Unhealthy parental involvement means making it all about our feelings. This might go like, "That sixty-nine in music is just not acceptable. You need to bring that grade up" or it may sound like, "You earned a ninety-eight on that test. That makes me so happy. That's great." When we make their grades about our feelings, we run the risk of stealing opportunities for them to think about how these grades personally affect them.
 
Healthy parental involvement means putting most of our energy into providing a healthy home where kids are loved, respected, and expected to complete chores. It's about creating a place where they get to experience an authentic relationship between cause and effect. In other words, they experience the gift of loving discipline.
 
Unhealthy parental involvement means spending so much time criticizing the school and rescuing our kids from their teachers that we have little time or energy left over to create a rock-solid home environment.
 
Healthy parental involvement means allowing our kids to hear us talking with excitement about our own learning. It also means letting them hear us saying positive things about their teachers and their school.
 
Unhealthy parental involvement involves providing plenty of lectures about how important education is while allowing our kids to hear us gripe and complain about our own learning responsibilities and how subpar the school and teachers are.
 
Overall, healthy parental involvement means being good models. It means allowing kids to make mistakes. It means providing plenty of empathy. It definitely means remembering that raising kids who can think and learn for themselves is not for the faint of heart.
Thanks for reading! Our goal is to help as many families as possible.
 
Dr. Charles Fay