Self-Esteem
Healthy self-esteem is a
child's
protection
against the challenges of
the world. Kids who feel
good about themselves
seem to have an easier
time handling conflicts
and resisting negative
pressures. They tend to
smile more readily and
enjoy life. These kids are
realistic and generally
optimistic.
In contrast, kids with
low self-esteem can find
challenges to be sources
of major anxiety and
frustration. Those who
think poorly of themselves have a hard time
finding solutions to
problems.
Parent Workshop
How You Can Help
Build Your Child’s
Self-Esteem
Hosted by ELAC
and Triple P
Thursday,
November 17,
8:30 AM
Sespe
Cafeteria
Box Tops for
Education
Please start clipping “box
tops” and sending them
with your student. Thank
you and see the office or
our website for more information
Volume 1, Issue 3
November 7, 2011
Sespe Cougar Newsletter
The Love of Reading
By Robert Needlman, MD
I can’t really remember being read to as a young child. But I’m sure it
happened, because when I became a father I discovered that some picture
books would make me emotional. I’d be reading to my daughter, and all
of a sudden find that my voice was choking up and my eyes were tearing.
And it wasn’t because the stories were especially sad. It happened with
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton, and with Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey, and with lots of other books, too. It was
actually a little irritating.
This annoyance taught me something important. I didn’t have a clear
memory of having been read these stories, but I had an emotional memory that came back as soon as I started reading to my own child. And,
despite the minor irritation of sometimes finding myself teary-eyed, I kept
reading and reading. Finally, sometime around the middle of High
School, my daughter told me, politely, that she was too busy with her own
reading to listen to me read aloud. And by then, of course, I’d passed on
the gift—that is, the love of stories, pictures, and books -- and probably
also the annoying emotional baggage, too. We’ll see, I suppose, if my
daughter ever has a child of her own.
Since I’ve spent a lot of my professional life urging parents to read to
their young children, and urging other doctors to urge parents to read
aloud, I often get asked, Is reading aloud necessary? What if some parents
don’t read aloud at all? Are their children doomed to never love books?
Of course, this isn’t so. There are people who never saw a children’s
book, who discover literacy later in life, and fall in love. There are people
who come to a love of books and reading through storytelling, or drama,
or the natural world, or athletics. Any deeply felt interest can lead to a
love of reading, although this doesn’t always happen.
Of course, everyone knows that adults need to be able to read well in
order to graduate from college and make a good living; that’s the hard
economic truth for most wage-earners in the 21st century. But what I’m
talking about is the love of literature that contributes to the experience of
living, not just the means of staying alive. If you are lucky enough to have
acquired that love, by all means pass it along. If you love doing something else – cooking, dancing, playing the piano – be sure to pass that on
to your child. It may yet lead to a love of reading (my wife reads the
sports pages every day; her dad read the sports pages.) Or it may lead to a
love of cooking, dancing, or music, all things that make life worth living.
One day I was talking with the mother of a bright two year-old girl about
reading. ―Well, Dr. Needlman,‖ she confessed, ―Of course, I do read
books to her, but what we really like to do is sing. We sing every day. We
love it!‖ And, sure enough, that girl is now a singer. And a reader.
Join the Sespe Parent Club Facebook Page
Search “Sespe School Parent Club” and Like Them!
What is the English
Language Advisory
Committee (ELAC)?
The purpose of the ELAC is
to provide parents of English
Learners opportunities to:
1) Participate in the school’s
needs assessment of students,
parents, and teachers
2) Advise the principal and
school staff on the school’s
program for English Learners
3) Provide input on the most
effective ways to ensure regular school attendance
4) Advise the school on the
annual language census (R-30
Form)
5) Advise the school site
council on the development
of the Single Plan for Student
Achievement.
The ELAC committee at
Sespe consists of 5 elected
parents. This committee
meets monthly. The Sespe
ELAC also hosts parent
workshops. The next parent workshop is Thursday,
November 17th at 8:30 in
the Sespe Cafeteria
Check out our Newly
Updated Website!
http://fillmoresespe.sharpschool.net/
Sespe Cougar Newsletter
Kindergarten-Kindergarten has been
hard at work this past month learning
letters, sight words, and rhyming. During November, we'll continue working
on our sounds, and some of us are already blending, because in January
we'll begin reading on our own.
Halloween was lots of fun, and we're
looking forward to making pumpkin
pies in a few
weeks!
November 7, 2011
First Grade-This month in first grade
students are learning about transportation. They are continuing learning phonemic awareness in Language Arts.
In Math they are learning how to add
and
will
begin learning subtraction.
The
students will
also
be
learning
about
the
early life in
the United States.
Second Grade-The fall season reminds
us that November will be a short but busy
month! We have been learning many new
skills that will benefit our students even
more, if practiced at home. They include:
double digit addition with regrouping in
math as well as grammar such as synonyms,
antonyms, commas in a series and where
quotation marks belong. Your child’s homework pertains to these skills, so please review with them at home as we continue
practicing in school. Conference week will
be the week of November 14th, so we look
forward to seeing you
then. Thank you for
your ongoing support
and have a wonderful
Thanksgiving!
What’s Happening At Sespe?
Third Grade-We had fun and important
Fourth Grade-It’s time to begin prepara-
discussions during Red Ribbon Week! In
Language Arts we completed a district test
on paragraph writing. We will continue to
work on writing skills all year.
tions for Fort Tejon! As many of you know,
fourth graders at Sespe go on an overnight
field trip to Fort Tejon each spring. Students
go back in time and live in the 1850s. All
students get to help cook supper, churn butter, do laundry on wash boards, work in the
carpentry and blacksmith shops, and make
adobe bricks. They experience what life was
like 150 years ago. This amazing trip demands lots of parent participation to be a
success. Therefore, we have scheduled our
informational meeting for November 8th, at
6:00pm, in Room 14. Come and see what
you need to do to be a parent chaperone or
volunteer to help behind the scenes.
We are now preparing for district ―skills‖
tests in Language Arts and Math. These
scores will be on our report card grades.
Please make sure to
respond to your child’s
teacher for an appointment to schedule a
conference. Encourage your child to work
on multiplication
facts!
Fifth Grade-Fifth graders have been
busy preparing for important district
tests these past few weeks. We have also
been finishing up our unit on the human
body systems, and learning how to add
and subtract fractions. The better your
child knows the multiplication tables,
the easier it will be to master this skill.
Also, please help your child by making
sure he/she reads at home each night!
We are looking forward to meeting with
all of you during parent
conference week!
Principal’s Corner- Scott Carroll
Welcome to November and the fall season! Hard to believe that the holidays are quickly approaching and we are finishing up our
first trimester of school. It has been a busy and exciting school year so far. I am excited about the progress we are making with our
students and their level of dedication and hard work. We ask that you continue to work with your child nightly to guarantee they are
finishing homework. We have a new look report card that you will see for the first time at your parent conference in a couple
weeks. Conference week is from November 14th-18th.
You child’s safety at Sespe is our number one priority. As we look at ways to ensure student safety, we will continue to closely
monitor anyone on our campus. All gates into Sespe will be closed and locked at 8:05 each morning. If you
are coming in after 8:05 you will need to bring your child through the front office. Please make sure your
child is on time to school everyday. Our first bell rings at 7:58 and we expect all our students to be in line by
this time. Thanks for your help with this important issue.
You can reach me by calling the office at 524-6161 or emailing to [email protected]