THE NUMBER ONE BEST Question to Ask Your Kids in the Morning
by K.Kvols
Most of us ask our kids, “Did you brush your teeth? Do you have all of your homework done? Do you have your backpack?” These are all important questions to help your child be prepared for their day. HOWEVER the number one best question to ask your child is (I feel there should be a drum roll here!): “How is your heart this morning?”…a little attitude check goes a long way.
How your child starts their day often sets the mood for their WHOLE day. If your child is angry, stressed, afraid, had a bad dream, or worried that someone will take his lunch today, it will be difficult if not impossible for him to learn. When our brains, researchers say, are flooded with negative emotions, it is hard to concentrate on anything else. You know the feeling, right?
So here is how you do it:
You and/or your child put your hand on your heart and get really quiet and ask, “How does my heart feel today?” You may have to prompt your child by asking, “Is your heart happy, sad, angry, scared, loving, excited or something different?” If their answer (or yours) is something negative, ask, “What could you do to make your heart feel better?” Use your best non-judgmental, curious tone of voice. Be careful to not put your words into their mouth. This must come from them for it to be most effective. After you get familiar with this method, you can simply ask, “Heart check?”
Setting the Stage
So do a “Heart Check” every morning. You want to set the stage for this morning ritual. This is an important matter of the heart so you don’t want to do a rush job on this. Deliberately set some quiet time aside so if your child’s heart is not in a good space, you have time to turn it around.
You are teaching the very valuable life skill of being at choice of our emotions. Our emotions don’t control us. We control our emotions. Think about this as though you were making an investment in your child’s future. It is that important!
You may want to do your own “Heart Check” before you address the rest of the family or you may want to do with your child. Try it both ways and see which one works the best for you.
PARENT REMINDERS:
* Sign in each day with time and initials. Thank you for being mindful of pick up times with traffic and weather to allow yourself extra time to pick up before your slotted pick up time.
* Careful in parking lots with winter. Please do not allow children to climb on ANY drifts around cars- hand holding safety always:)
* Thank you for sending in and labeling warm winter clothing. All day students should have 2 pairs of water proof mittens please.
* Check your child’s mailbox daily for important communications and receipts.
* Thank yourself for being a great parent! It’s tough work and you are doing a great job!
ENROLLMENT INFO:
Summer Camp Countryside 2019 enrollment is underway and spaces are filling up fast! Please submit your form and activity fee SOON if you plan on sending your child for all or any of the sessions. Camp is a really fun way to enjoy the summer! If you have any questions please check in with a teacher.
2019-20 School Year: Register Now!
The Letters of Intent for ’19-’20 went out in mailboxes a couple weeks ago (orange handout) with the rates for the coming school year.
1. Please be sure to send back your completed form with material fee ($100.00) to get your spot.
2. You may also include the first week tuition payment now or by the 1st of April to complete your registration for fall.
3. If enrolling a new student or sibling remember to request additional enrollment papers and include the $50.00 enrollment fee + material fee + first week tuition.
4. We will be accepting/offering a discount for semester and school year prepayments for the 19-20 school year. If you are interested and haven’t let Debby know please email her.
Additionally, any enrollment questions please get in touch with Debby.
PARENT ADVISORY BOARD NEWS:
The meeting minutes from January can be reviewed: PAB Meeting Minutes Shout out of appreciation to our fabulous Secretary Andrea for recording all the info from our meeting!
Fundraising and Planning:
Our Little Lambs Cookie Dough Fundraiser just finished up and orders will be delivered in early March. Thank you to those who solicited sales and participated! Every penny helps support CMP classroom needs!
Countryside Montessori Preschool will be hosting their first ever Touch-A-Truck this spring! Our
Touch-A-Truck fundraiser will be a family friendly event where children of all ages are
allowed to explore various machines that are an integral part of our community. Children
will be allowed to sit, touch and learn about each vehicle. The money raised from this event
will go toward the many needs of our school.
In addition, we will host a charitable giving collection for a partner northside organization
in conjunction with the event. Co-Chairs Erin and Jennifer will announce more information and save the date announced soon!
Social Planning:
We have a lot of great ideas for parent social gatherings. Would you be interested in helping organize?
* Ladies Night Out – Faded Roots Boutique
* Escape Room Night – Parents Night Out
* Northside Trivia Night
* Intro to Curling Part II – Dad’s Night Out
* Coffee time – Morning Meet
* Willy Street Coop Thursday $5 Family Meals
We would love to plan all of these wonderful events but are looking for more parent volunteers to help organize and schedule! Please feel free to email Amy if you have any additional ideas or an interest in helping!
CMP Scholarship Fund committee forming
We would love parents from our community who could help explore funding options through commercial and philanthropic donors, grant writing, and complementary programs. Those with experience in this work, finance, marketing or legal background would be especially valuable and no one is required to commit to more than one meeting if that is your availability. All are welcome to come discuss and learn more! Please reach out to committee chair, Andrea.