Updates from the Principal

May 2018

May 2018

Thank goodness spring has finally sprung! It is so nice to be able to welcome the warm weather. Our students continue to work hard each and every day; they are showing pride in their work and a passion for learning! Most exciting is the growth that I am seeing them make in the area of writing. Our students are actively engaged in their writing tasks and are motivated to work on elaborating their writing by expressing their opinions and adding details. They are reflective of the progress they are making and are diligently using the student rubrics to set goals for further improvement.

For the past two weeks, our grade 3-5 students have been taking the SBAC assessments. With each session, the students have demonstrated perseverance as they remained focused and have worked diligently to show their work, explain their answers and provide evidence to support their responses. We are extremely proud of their efforts!

As a school community, we continue to work on helping our students to gain a deeper understanding of the character traits we value at Tashua School. Every two months, one of the letters in the T.I.G.E.R. acronym has been highlighted.  From now until the remainder of the school year, we will be focusing on the character trait of RESPONSIBLITY. We will continue to ask the children to think about their actions and to make good choices all day, every day. As students go about their days, we will recognize them for exhibiting these positive behaviors in school.

You can support us at home by helping your child establish responsibility and independence as they work to develop self-sufficiency skills. Research shows that when children start to develop self-sufficiency at an early age, they are more likely to become successful, independent adults.  More and more often, young adults are returning to live back at home with their parents. In fact, A Pew Research Center study found that nearly a quarter of 25- to 34-year-olds are living with their parents or grandparents, up from 11 percent in 1980.

Madeline St. Jacques, a New Jersey-based certified parent and family coach states that, “It’s never too young to start teaching self-sufficiency skills.” At an early age, children can help with meal prep, laundry, pet care, packing their lunch boxes, cleaning their room and begin doing their homework independently. “We want our kids to be happy, and we want to spare them discomfort,” St. Jacques states. “But if we rescue them too early and too often from the safe, everyday struggles, we’re denying them opportunities for growth.”

Kids love to feel proud of their accomplishments whether it is for picking out an outfit or completing a task; they need to reach for attainable goals that allow them to feel good about themselves each and every day.

In addition to these academic and social goals, we continue to focus our efforts on helping our students to strengthen their Emotional Intelligence. Students are participating in classroom lessons and mindfulness activities to enhance their social interactions and personal skills.

We thank you for your continued support for our work at Tashua School!

Fondly,
Mrs. Neumeyer