From the Principal...

Reading to Your Child

Listening to stories is one of the greatest pleasures in a child’s life. Not only is it an enjoyable experience, but a very valuable learning time. The physical closeness that comes from snuggling up with a book provides an opportunity to talk about the way books work and to learn new words in context, but also to develop a shared joy in the content of the book. Some things you can point out with your children are: the use of different fonts or text size to indicate emotion or volume; the use of a variety of words in place of ‘said’; the use of punctuation throughout the story; the way the text tells a story but the illustrations help the reader to understand it.

During or after reading the story, ask your child to find: the page with the word ‘____’ on it; the page with the most capital letters; a question mark or the most interesting spelling of a word. In this way, you are reinforcing what your child already knows about the way books work in a meaningful, but relaxing situation.

Research shows that children who are read to often, are better readers. Mem Fox, author of Possum Magic, says that children should have been read at least 3000 books before they begin formal schooling. That sounds like a lot of reading, but is actually about two a day. If you can’t manage two, try to share at least one book with your child every day!

“You may have tangible wealth untold; caskets of jewels and coffers of gold,

Richer than I you could never be – I had a mother who read to me.”

Gillian Strickland

The Importance of Sleep

Just like adults, children and teenagers may need more or less sleep than their friends. Children aged 6-9 years need about ten to eleven hours of sleep a night; once they reach the age of 10-12 years, they will need about nine to ten hours sleep and as an adolescent they will need between eight and nine hours of sleep. Of course, there will be times in their lives when they need much more than this: recovering from an illness, a day in the sun, a particularly active day, a party, a late night etc.

It is easy to recognise the signs of overtiredness or lack of sleep in others; irritability, short-temper, emotional, limited concentration, frequent blinking and yawning, general lack of energy and a tendency to rub the eyes. If your child is suffering from sleep deprivation it can affect their performance at school. They will have difficulty retaining new information and will struggle to complete the simplest of tasks. They will ‘tune out’ when instructions are given and spend a great deal of time ‘day dreaming’ instead of doing their work. This can cause them to fall behind in their work and sometimes be asked to complete it in their own time.

Sleep deprivation can add up over time; an hour less each night can equal a whole night by the end of a fortnight. Help your child by establishing regular bedtime routines and sleep patterns. There is no one way to help your child become a good sleeper, but every child can become a better sleeper with the right support.

Absences

I am alarmed by the number of ‘days absent’ some of our students have had this year. The vast majority of students have very good attendance and this occurs because most of our parents realise the importance of regular school attendance and do not allow students to be absent for minor reasons. However, there are still a number of children who have unexplained absences for an unacceptable number of days across the year. The major problem is the amount of time children are having off with what is termed ‘parent-condoned-absences.’ Things such as: a day off because of your birthday, aunty is visiting, thought we’d take the kids shopping, can’t be bothered having an argument to get them to school etc. are all unacceptable.

If children constantly miss a day here, a couple of days there, over a period of time they begin to feel disconnected from their class and their school work. One way to explain this is to imagine a jigsaw puzzle with a whole lot of pieces missing from it. Children who constantly miss ‘pieces’ of the ‘big picture’ are then forced to try and function back at school- something that is difficult for them to do, and it often becomes a pattern that sets children up for failure at school and affects their social relationships as well.

At school we understand that children do become ill and need time to recover or that occasionally there are situations where there is no alternative but to have time off school.  The important message here for parents is that every time your child is absent from school without a legitimate reason, it is costing him or her a learning experience.

Holidays

Now that the holidays are approaching, it’s time to think about keeping the kids entertained through the days. There are many activities you can do with your children which are inexpensive and good fun. You don’t need to entertain them every moment of every day, but if you plan a couple of special family activities with them, it helps to break the monotony as well as building relationships with them.

Have you taken the kids fishing lately or tried rollerblading or bike riding with them? What about yabbying or a picnic in a park or by the creek? Had a barbecue in the bush recently? Take a picnic lunch to the local gardens and relax under the shady trees. Throw in the frisbee for some fun and games with them. Have you been out on a boat with them? Try canoeing or kayaking . Or just lie on the banks of a river and watch the clouds float by.

You can do some very simple activities with them on those rainy days when you are stuck inside. Consider these ideas: write or email a friend to come over and play; write a shopping list together; draw a map of the neighbourhood, your house or the way to Grandma’s; plant some seedlings; look at photo albums and tell stories about when you were a child; design, make and fly a kite; estimate, compare and count collections of things; visit the local library and borrow a book, or buy a new one to share; teach them to play hopscotch or a board game; ride a bike, throw a ball, kick the footy; cook some biscuits together or make a yummy fruit salad.

Most importantly…..TALK, TALK, TALK with your children.

Have a great holiday and enjoy spending time with your children; they’re very special young people!