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Newsletter for the Taylor Prairie School Community
November 1, 2019
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Greetings Taylor Prairie Families,
A growing body of evidence suggests that family engagement matters for student success. Research shows that family engagement improves school readiness, student achievement, and social skills. Family engagement does not happen in isolation. Rather, it takes commitment from both families and schools by working together through activities such as Parent-Teacher conferences, as-well-as, other activities to support student success. Schools and families have something in common; we all want your child to learn and to do well. We would like to extend our appreciation to all the families who attended parent teacher conferences and shared information about your child with our school staff. We had 98% of our families attend conferences! Speaking of conferences - a thank you to PTO and the families who brought in items for pre-conference meals! The meals are much appreciated by teachers who have a very busy and long day.
We appreciate all the support you have shown to our staff and programs at Taylor Prairie School.
Connie Haessly, Principal
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Calendar/Important Dates
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Please check all upcoming events by clicking on the Calendar image to the left.
Bookmark that page
for future reference!
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Pupil Services ...
Kelsy Dieckhoff, Corinne Truxal
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At Taylor Prairie, we believe that students significantly benefit from having a growth mindset. Families can significantly influence the development of a child's mindset, thus boosting their achievement. Below is a chart that outlines attributes of a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.
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Fixed Mindset
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Growth Mindset
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Believe intelligence is a fixed trait
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Believe that talent alone creates success
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Avoid challenges
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Give up easily
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Ignore feedback
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Threatened by other people's success
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Believe intelligence is a quality that can be changed and developed through hard work and dedication
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Embrace challenges
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Give their best effort
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Learn from feedback/mistakes
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Become inspired from other people's successes
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Here are some strategies you can use to help promote a growth mindset in your child:
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Talk about it.
Talk with your child about their day. Guide the discussion with questions such as, "Did you make a mistake today? What did you learn?" or "What did you do today that was difficult?" Additionally, research suggests it is important for parents to share what they have learned too and model for children that we learn new things every day, even from failures.
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Praise the Process.
Praise effort, goal setting, being creative, and persistence. You may say, "Wow! You must have worked really hard on this." Avoid praising personal abilities like being smart or pretty.
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The Brain can Grow!
Explain to your child how the brain can grow stronger and that intelligence can improve throughout life. Remind them that when things are difficult, the brain grows when they persist and give their best effort. Each time a child learns something new their brain is making new connections!
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Help Change their Self-Talk.
The way a child talks to themselves significantly impacts their mindset. If they say, "This is too hard!" you can help them change their self-talk to "I can't do this
yet
, but I will keep trying." Model using positive self-talk when you are working through a challenge.
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Encourage Failure and Learning from Mistakes.
Your child needs to know that it is okay to fail and will often throughout life. Remind your child each time they fail and try again, her brain is growing stronger! Now is the time to let your child fail - this is how he learns to persevere through challenges.
Here are some children's books you may want to explore with your child.
Beautiful Oops
- Barney Saltzberg
The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes
- Mark Pett
Fantastic Elastic Brain
- JoAnn Deak
The Most Magnificent Thing
- Ashley Spires
The Dot
- Peter H. Reynolds
The Check In, Check Out (CICO) program is designed to help students who have been identified as needing a little extra help in following our school-wide expectations for behavior. Check-in check-out provides participating students with positive adult attention and structured feedback to meet behavior goals. Students will check in with an adult at the beginning of their day and then check out with an adult at the end of the day. They will receive frequent and positive feedback with regards to their goal. CICO will give participating children numerous opportunities to strengthen relationships and build positive connections at school.
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Taylor Prairie & MG Spirit Wear
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A portion of the sales goes back to Taylor Prairie for various student needs.
The order deadline is
Wednesday, November 6th
, and the items should arrive to Taylor Prairie for distribution about 3 weeks after the window closes.
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Winter/Holiday Donations & Assistance
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The winter season is almost upon us.
That means there are many needs for winter-weather gear
(coats, boots, hats, etc.), meals, holiday gifts, and more.
See the information and links below for ways to give or receive.
Winter Wishes
(at TP)
 A display has been set up at Taylor Prairie for families who need a little extra help during their holidays. Most tags are already gone! If you have taken a tag to get a gift for someone, please have it wrapped gifts (please wrap gift cards too!) and returned to the Taylor Prairie Office by December 6th. Please tape the display tag to the gift. Thank you so much for helping to make the holidays bright for another family.
Koats for Kids
There are a few days left to get a winter coat or other gear, if you are in need. Please see these flyers (
English Spanish
) t
o find out about dates, times, and locations.
Empty Stocking Club
According to their website, "The Wisconsin State Journal Empty Stocking Club has been a cherished Madison-area tradition since 1918. Then Empty Stocking Club's mission is to make sure that every child in the area, no matter how needy, will receive at least one new Christmas gift this holiday season."
You can apply for a toy for your child(ren) by clicking
here
; or if you'd like to donate you can use
this link
.
Toys for Tots
Bring the joy of the holidays to less fortunate children. In 2018 Toys for Tots distributed 36, 549 toys to 6,788 children in Madison. Click
here
to apply for toys or to donate.
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7th Grade Visitors
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Seventh graders from Glacial Drumlin School walked over to Taylor Prairie to meet and interview one of our Eaglets. The seventh graders took the information back to their school to assist them in writing and illustrating a unique book based on their new Taylor Prairie friend. This is the second year that the seventh graders have come over to collaborate us. Our Taylor Prairie Eaglets really look up to these kids and feel proud when they receive their special one-of-a-kind books.
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Volunteer Background Checks
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Now that we are in full swing, many field trips and other volunteering opportunities are popping up. If you (or another adult) plan to accompany your child on field trips or want to volunteer in the school, a background check MUST be completed prior to the event. These can take up to a week to process so please plan ahead!
Here is the link to the online registration.
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Lost & Found
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Lost and found items will be donated to a charitable organization on 11/8. Please check the lost & found boxes by the office prior to then. If you are looking for a particular item, please e-mail your teacher, or call the office at 839-8515 to describe. Thanks.
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Early Learning Fair - February 4, 2020
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On Monday, February 3rd, 2020, the Monona Grove School District will hold its annual Early Learning Fair and
Together 4 Kids
Registration at Nichols School (MG District Office) in Monona. This event is a free service to families of pre-school children. Parents will have the opportunity to meet with a professional to share information about their child's development and to register for the 2020-2021 T4K program. Registration information will be sent to families in mid December. Parents will need to schedule an appointment upon receipt of registration materials. If you have any new neighbors with young children aged birth to 4 ½, please have them call Gina in the Early Education Office at 839-2113.
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PTO: Save the Date & SCRIP
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Mark your calendars for December 14th and stop by between 10-1! We'll be doing the Jingle Jog, which is a lap-run fundraiser to help the CG PTO fund our $20,000 annual budget. That's right, we raise and give back $20,000 to the schools each year!
You can help our cause by getting pledges from friends and family, and then coming to run some laps, eat some snacks, have some fun, and maybe win some awesome prizes!
More information to come!
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The November Scrip order form is
here
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Local Library News
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THE BOOKMOBILE
The Bookmobile stops in Cottage Grove on Wednesdays at the following times:
Dublin Park - 2:00-4:00pm
Piggly Wiggly - 5:00-8:00pm
**Want to pickup a specific Bookmobile item you found in
LINKcat?
We have a large collection and can't fit it all onboard at once. Please call us in advance to ensure we have your item onboard when you visit!
(608) 266-9297****
MONONA PUBLIC LIBRARY
P
ROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Interactive Imaginative Music, and Great Crafts.
Families with children birth to Grade 4. Free.
First come, first served tickets available.
Presenters include children's musician Duke Otherwise, bilingual storyteller Kay Elmsley Weeden, and Coral Conant Gilles, Deborah Proctor, and Ms. Karen!
Sponsored by the Friends of Monona Public Library and Willy Street Coop and complimentary to you.
SUN PRAIRIE PUBLIC LIBRARY
The SPPL is open to everyone!
We have programs for all ages -- from babies through teens (adults, too!) and we're open 7 days a week. Don't have a library card? No problem! Just bring a photo ID and we can issue you one today. From Storytime to Legos to Gaming and more...there's always something happening at the library and you never know what you might find next! Check our website for current program days and times:
www.sunlib.org
SPPL hours:
Monday through Thursday 9am-9pm;
Friday 9am-6pm;
Saturday 9am-5pm; Sunday 1-5pm
PINNEY LIBRARY
The Pinney Library is NOW OPEN in our INTERIM location at 211 Cottage Grove Road. For more information or updates on the progress of the new library being built at Royster Corners, visit
http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/pinney
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General Information & Resources
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