As we are about to embark on our last week of school, we are already looking ahead and sharing important information for you about 2017/2018 supply lists and important dates for next school year. Save this information to plan your summer supply shopping and travel dates! Be sure to click on the Grade 1 list!

Important Dates

Wednesday, September 6th: Elementary Parent Orientation Evening – MPH:
This is a Parent Only Meeting with the Principal, David Dorn, and ES’s new Assistant Principal, David Jones. We will host a Parent Only evening to review the school’s goals for 2017-18 school year; introduce new faculty to the ES and review the Parent-School Handbook.

Thursday, September 7th: New Student Orientation in the MPH
All new students should join us @ 8am it the MPH!

Monday, September 11th: First Day of School for Students in Grades 1 – Grade 5
We look forward to welcoming back returning students and all new students today in grades 1 – 5!

Monday, September 11th and 12th: GROUP 1 of PreK & KG1 Orientation Days
September 11th is ‘Get to Know Your Child’ time. Your child’s classroom teacher will schedule a 15 minute session with you and your child to learn about your child.

On September 12th your child will come and spend their first full day in school with their teachers and ½ their classmates (if they participated in the orientation the day before, September 11th). Parents can pick up their child from the classroom at 12:45.

GROUP 1 does not have school on September 13th or 14th.

Tuesday, September 13th and 14th: GROUP 2 of PreK and KG1 Orientation Days
September 13th is ‘Get to Know Your Child’ time. Your classroom teacher will schedule a 15 minute session with you and your child to learn about your child.

On September 14th your child will come and spend their first full day in school with their teachers and ½ their classmates (if they participated in the orientation the day before, September 13th). Parents can pick up their child from the classroom at 12:45.

GROUP 2 does not have school on September 11th or 12th.

Monday, September 11th and 12th: GROUP 1 of KG2 Orientation Days:
On September 11th, students in KG2 with their last name starting with A through H, may “drop in” on Monday with their parents to meet their teachers and learn about the classroom. Parents AND students may come to school at anytime from 8-11. We ask that parents stay with their children during the “drop in” day to provide stability and support for their children.

On September 12th your child will come and spend their first full day in school with their teachers and ½ their classmates. Parents can pick up their child from the classroom at 3:00.

GROUP 1 does not have school on September 13th or 14th.

Tuesday, September 13th and 14th: GROUP 2 of KG2 Orientation Days
Students in KG2 with their last names starting with I through Z, may “drop in” on Tuesday, September 13th with their parents to meet their teachers and learn about the classroom. Parents AND students may come to school at anytime from 8-11. We ask that parents stay with their children during the “drop in” day to provide stability and support for their children.

On September 14th your child will come and spend their first full day in school with their teachers and ½ their classmates. Parents can pick up their child from the classroom at 3:00.

GROUP 2 does not have school on September 11th or 12th.

Sunday, September 17th: First Full Day of School for ALL Students in PreK, KG1, KG2

• Parents can drop off their child KG2 child on the big playground in between 7:30- 7:45. KG2 students will begin their whole class first full day of school and will be dismissed from their classroom at 3:00.
• Parents can drop off their PreK and KG1 child on the small playground with the climbing equipment in between 7:30 and 7:55. Children should be wearing their colored t-shirt that they will receive from the classroom teacher on orientation day. Parents can pick up their child from the classroom at 12:45.

Sunday, September 17th: First Day of After School Care for PreK and KG1 students
If you have registered your child in the after school care program, then September 17th will be their first full day. If you would like information about this program please click on this link.
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Supply Lists 2017-2018

PK Supply List 2017/2018

KG1 Supply List 2017/2018

KG2 Supply List 2017/2018

Grade 1 Supply List 2017/2018

Grade 2 Supply List 2017/2018

Grade 3 Supply List 2017/2018

Grade 4 Supply List 2017/2018

Grade 5 Supply List 2017/2018

Dear Parents;

I can’t believe school is over. Thank you for such a great year. I am so proud of the children and how well they did. It is such a pleasure for me to see them grow and develop into such wonderful, independent children. They have grown so much, not only academically but socially as well. Please be sure to stop by my room anytime next year as you walk by to say hello. I was lucky to have such great parents and all of the support you showed to me and your child.

Below I have sent some ideas for you to help keep your child busy and happy this summer. There are many different links to some fun activities. There is nothing better than being with family and spending time together, but it is a long summer so reading and a little work is great as well. At the bottom of the letter is a link to a summer work packet if you would like to purchase, download and print it. It is under $10. US dollars.

Summer Learning:Here are some summer activities for students to do over the summer:

1. READING and being READ to every day!
2. Writing journal: Make a summer writing journal and have the students write sentences about the fun activities they do every day.
3. Websites for kids to use over the summer can be found here.
4. Having time for physical play- running, jumping, climbing, swimming. (gonoodle.com is a great website for staying active inside when temperatures are hot).
5. Make playdough together with your child (the recipe can be found here).
6. Use blocks, puzzles, legos and playdough to build and create with. Encourage your child to maintain focus on the activity for at least 20 minutes and tidy it up themselves afterwards.
7. Coloring, cutting, painting, to create their own projects.
8. Play-dates with other children.
9. Stay on a good routine and schedule.
10. For fine motor development: for information and ideas of how to work with your child, click here.
11. Practice Dolch sight word list- Find the list here. Practice reading and spelling the words in a fun way. Some examples are found here.
12. If you are interested in practice worksheets, you can find a good packet here (you will need to purchase, download and print it yourself).

Have a safe, relaxing summer.

Lois

Dear Parents;
Be sure to ask your child about going to Grade 1 today!! We went to visit all 5 of the Grade One classes to learn a little bit about similarities and differences between KG2 and Grade 1. We spent an hour visiting the different classes and meeting the teachers. They are very excited about science and knowing that they can buy lunch in the cafeteria. Listen and see what else they are looking forward to next year!

I hope you are ready for our show on Wednesday at 10:15 in the music room. The children have worked very hard learning their lines, writing, drawing and learning their songs. Everyone is invited. You may bring Grandma, your sister or your child’s nanny. Be sure to have a camera as well. This is a celebration so your child should wear their “pretty clothes”. You may take your child home with you when we are finished if you would like.

Please let me know if your child is leaving early for summer holidays so we can be sure to send all of their things home with them.

Thank you, see you on Wed.
Lois

Dear Parents;

Only a little more than a week left until our end of the year celebration (Wed. June 14th 10:15). The children are doing well learning all of our songs. it’s going to be great!

Today we practiced our “show” and only 4 children knew their lines. Please practice your child’s line with them as it should be memorized as soon as possible.

Congratulations to Ava, Lyana, Gabriel and Roman for learning their lines already!

If for some reason you are not returning to UAS next year please be sure to notify our admissions office as soon as possible as there is paperwork to be done before withdrawing.

Have a good week.

Lois

Good afternoon,

Please see the article below from Mr. Fields, our wonderful counselor. I found so much of the information helpful and think you will, too.
PARENT/CHILD BOUNDARIES

May 31, 2017 by escounselors

Ramadan Kareem! As the year is slowly coming to a close, both Ms. Jen and myself have noted an uptick in conversations with parents about setting clear boundaries with their child. We thought some information on the nuances of this process might benefit all.

Kids are built to test limits, especially as they grow and mature. At the elementary age, children begin to quickly develop self-confidence as they more fluently perceive and interact with the world around them. They begin to read menus, road signs, papers on the fridge. They can do math and understand the natural processes of the world around them. And although this blooming confidence is something parents are right to encourage, it can cause problems when children begin to test where the line is between their responsibilities and privledges, and that of their caregivers.

When children start pushing back on the rules at home, remember that your most important job as a parent is to love your child, but also to keep yourself separate from them. This boundary-testing can make us as adults feel stressed, anxious, frustrated, sad, and sometimes even hopeless. Its easy to make the child’s behavior about you as a parent. However an important part in setting clear boundaries with children is reminding yourself that your child’s success and failures are a part of their development, and not a direct reflection on you.

When our children struggle its our natural inclination to jump in and solve that problem for them. We feel an inherent desire to remove the stress and anxiety children feel when faced with adversity. However, doing so blurs the line between you and your child. Adversity is large part of what turns children into resilient, independent, and fully-functioning adults. By not allowing your child the opportunity to try to solve their own problems (and occasionally fail), you are denying them a very important experience. Remember, the point is not to excuse yourself completely from your child’s life, but to guide and coach, rather than remove and rescue.

Debbie Pincus, MS LMHC, in her article “Parental Roles: How to Set Healthy Boundaries with Your Child,” explicitly outlines clues that you might be setting ambiguous boundaries with your child.

Doing for your child what he can (or should) do for himself.
Constantly asking questions; interrogating your child over everything.
Letting your child invade your boundaries as a couple—making your kids the center focus at all times.
Over-sharing with your child about your life; treating them like a friend rather than your child.
Giving up your parental authority and allowing your child to take control of the household.
Living through your child vicariously; feeling as if their achievements are yours, and their failures are yours as well.
Your child is upset, and you fall apart.

She also shares four solid tips on how to more clearly define the boundary between you and your child.

Define your boundaries: Explain for your child what the differences are in your relationship. Let them know what their role is and how it differs from your own.
Make your expectations known: Defining the role is helpful, but being specific about the lines you draw is important for children. Do not assume your child knows what they can and cannot do. Just like math, reading, or any academic subject, behavior is something that must be taught and retaught, before kids clearly understand what is expected of them.
Get your focus on yourself instead of your child: Although your child is your own, frequently remind yourself that they are a separate person, with the right to live their own lives, including experiencing uncomfortable and difficult feelings from time to time. Saving your child from tough experiences might feel like its helping them in the moment, but it can hurt them down the line. Taking inventory of your own reactions to your child’s successes and failures helps you to become more aware of when you may be blurring the parent/child boundary.
Let your child feel the impact of a crossed boundary: Set those limits with your child and then ensure you adhere to them. Nothing is a greater recipe for disaster than making promises to your child, be them positive or negative, and not following through on them. If they do not adhere to your expectations for their behavior, have pre-made, clearly defined consequences that are consistent, and routine. For instance, if your child often demands items at the store, sit your child down before you head out next time and make clear your expectations. You might say, “You may ask for an item in the store, but if I say ‘no’ that means no and you must accept that. If you ask a second time it will mean a 5 min timeout when we get home. If you ask a third time, we will leave the store right away and its a timeout and loss of a privilege later in the evening, etc.” Then make sure you actually do those things. Be preventative and consistent.

Parenting is difficult. Its easy to read these tips and think about how you might enact them, but in the moment, when emotions are running high, its difficult to stay the course. Be prepared to forgive yourself for missteps. But just like we teach the students here at school, recognize your mistakes and use them to grow. Stop yourself occasionally and ask yourself where you’re at in this process, and where you still need to go. Remember, your children are their own people, and should have the right to make mistakes themselves.

You can read more about this topic at Empoweringparents.com

SOCIAL SLEUTHS

What Do Feelings Look Like?

In KG1 and KG2 the last few weeks, Mr. Fields has been in classrooms teaching students about becoming Feelings Detectives. Feelings Detectives are people that can look for clues in faces and bodies that let them solve the case about how someone is feeling. Recognizing these clues in other people’s faces, and in their own, is the first step towards being able to better regulate mood and emotional responses.

I encourage you to challenge your child at random times to look for clues in people’s faces and bodies that help them recognize how they might be feeling. Ask them to look at the person’s eyes. “Where are they looking? Straight forward, or at the ground? What is their mouth doing? Is it smiling, frowning, or neither? What are their shoulders doing? Are they scrunched up, relaxed, or down low? What do those clues mean about how they feel?”

The materials for this lesson are a part of the Second Step Program, an evidence-based social-emotional learning curriculum from Committee for Children, based out of Seattle, Washington. Mr. Fields and Ms. Jen are piloting this program in grades PreK-5 this year, and hope to include teachers in lesson instruction for 2017-2018. Feel free to contact Ms. Jen or Mr. Fields with any questions you may have about our use of the Second Step Program or any of our social-emotional learning (SEL) classroom lessons.

We will have our end of year celebration on June 14th 10:15-11:15. Please be sure to mark your calendar. This is a very important day where your child can shine. All are welcome. Don’t forget your camera!!

Today your child will bring home a small slip of paper. On this paper is the line for them to memorize for the show. Please help them to practice every day and keep it in a safe place.

Lois

1. Thursday, May 25th will be the last day of swimming. After that we will be in the gym for PE.
2. School timings for Ramadan will be 8:30-1:30. Kindergarten will still have a small snack and lunch during Ramadan. We will go outside in the morning for a short play. We will not go out after lunch.

Have a nice weekend,

Lois

Dear Parents;                       
Spring has sprung in KG2. You may be noticing a few changes in your child, as I am in the classroom. This is very common for this time of year in Kindergarten. The children are finally developing that independence that we have been working so hard to achieve! Now they see themselves as big, independent and “in charge”.
What can we do?
In the classroom:
We have made a class “kindness tree”. When someone sees a child saying or doing something kind they get to put a leaf on the kindness tree with their name on it.
Every child also has a punch card that they are wearing around their neck. When they make a wise choice concerning their behavior the teachers will punch a hole in the card. Once they have 10 hole punches they are able to go to the Golden Art Lab during free choice time and make any kind of Art project they would like. This is a reward that the children chose.
Both of these programs are shared with the specialist teachers as well.
I am working very closely with Mrs. Hanna and Mr. Fields. They are stopping by the classroom, being vigilant in the cafeteria and on the playground. We have had some lessons with Mr. Fields about ways to show kindness and respect to others.
At home:
Talk about other’s feelings, how we treat others like we want them to treat you.
Ask your child to tell you one kind thing they did today.
Giving them choices helps them feel more empowered.
When they start whining and complaining, listen carefully, let them know you hear them and support them. Ask them to then also tell you three positive things that happened today.
Try not to talk too much about the summer with them yet. They do not have a good concept of time and now that it is so hot they think summer is here. We still have 6 more weeks of school.

Developmentally this is a stage many children go through at the end of Kindergarten. They will get through it (so will we). Be loving yet firm that we will not tolerate any bullying, name calling or hitting from anyone for any reason. We have a great group of children in KG2LF, I am looking forward to seeing our kindness tree blooming with lots of leaves.

If you have any questions or concerns please let me know and I will be happy to talk to you individually.

Tomorrow is a dress down day to raise money for various charities. Your child will need to bring 5 dirhams and can wear any of the colors listed below.

Green/Blue – supports recycling efforts around the school
Black – supports families coping with cancer or kidnapping
White – supports the education of children living in poverty
Pink – supports breast cancer research

Our end of the year program will be on Wednesday, June 14th at 10:15 am. I will last approximately one hour. Please try to arrange your schedule so you can attend. It is a very nice way for all of us to end the school year.

Have a great day!
Lois

Elementary School Dress Down Day to Support Grade 5 Exhibition Projects: May 15th

In support of the Grade 5 Exhibition projects, the elementary school will have an optional Dress Down day on Monday, May 15th. Students may choose to wear blue, green or black. If students dress down, we ask that they bring in 5 AED to participate in this dress down day.

The Grade 5 students will use the money to:

• promote more recycling within our community
• support families of kidnapped children
• support an organization who has had loved ones impacted by cancer

We are so proud of our Grade 5 students and their Exhibition projects. Please help them take action by supporting their causes by contributing during the upcoming dress down day.

Optional Memory Book Promotion

Students in grades KG1 – Grade 5 will have the opportunity to create a memory book to mark their current time in the journey of life. If you are interested in the Memory Book, please view the slideshow shown below. You will need to sign up online before May 22 and send the required fee to cover the supplies to the elementary office by the same date. Thank you to our volunteer moms for bringing this project forward.

Online Registration Form

Slideshow