“The Talking Cure” by Margaret Talbot in The New Yorker, January 12, 2015,
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/12/talking-cure
An introduction to an article that Mr. Woods believes all parents should read on the importance of talking to your child and having screen time (TV, computers, iPads, gaming) limited to an hour a day:
In this article in The New Yorker, Margaret Talbot summarizes research showing that the poorer parents are, the less they talk to their children – with serious consequences once children begin school. The original studies on this were done in the 1980s, when Betty Hart and Todd Risley of the University of Kansas analyzed verbal interactions in professional, middle-class, and low-income families with children who were just learning language. There were many similarities among the families – parents all showed affection, disciplined their children, and tried to teach them good manners – but the social-class differences in the number of words children heard each hour were dramatic: 2,150 in professional families, 1,250 in middle-class families, and 620 in poor families. “With few exceptions,” Hart and Risley concluded, “the more parents talked to their children, the faster the children’s vocabularies were growing and the higher the children’s I.Q. test scores at age 3 and later.”
But it’s not just the quantity of words, Hart and Risley noticed. More-affluent parents used a wider range of nouns, modifiers, and past-tense verbs, and more of the conversations were initiated by children. Catherine Snow, a Harvard literacy expert, has followed up on this finding (both Hart and Risley have since died). “Families that talk a lot also talk about more different things,” says Snow. “They use more grammatical variety in their sentences and more sophisticated vocabulary and produce more utterances in connected chains.” They don’t just say, “That’s a teapot.” They say, “Oh, look, a teapot! Let’s have a tea party! There’s Raggedy Ann – do you think she wants to come to our tea party? Does she like sugar in her tea?” These parents ask their children a lot of questions (“Is that a ducky on your shirt?”) and have fun answering children’s “Why?” questions. There’s also a difference in the ratio of statements from parents that are affirming and positive (“Yes, it is a bunny!”) versus corrective and critical (“Stop that!”) – 32 to 5 per hour in professional homes, 12 to 7 in working-class homes, and 5 to 11 in low-income homes.
As Mr. Woods noted last week one of the prime deficiencies that OLQM children have in interim testing is vocabulary. To address this the teachers will now list the week's vocabulary words on the opening page of their blog with the definition. In this way parents may assist in developing vocabulary skills which leads to better reading skills.
Report Cards - February 4, 2015
Dismissal at 12:00 noon -- After School Program Available until 7:00 PM
Report Cards will be distributed by Fr. Antonio to students on Wednesday February 4th. The report cards will only be distributed to students whose tuition balance is up to date.
Parent Teacher Conferences will be held in the school auditorium for students in grades 1-8 from 1:00 PM - 7:00 PM. PreK and Kindergarten classes will be in their designated classrooms.
On this report card the warning of Summer School School or Retention in the grade will be noted so that parents are aware that their child is failing as of today and that there is ample time for the child to improve.
A list of students who are failing one or more subjects will be sent to the regional Superintendent at the end of the week.
Fund Raising - Candy Money
A reminder that fund raising candy money is due to the tuition office. Final date is April 15, 2015
Re-Registration and Tuition rates for 2015-2016 school year.
Mr. Woods will be meeting with the regional board on Thursday February 5, 2015 regarding the tuition rates for the 2015 school year.
Re-Registration forms will then be available on Monday February 9th in the tuition office. Parents who have decided not to return to OLQM in September are requested to inform Mrs. Resto in the tuition office during re-registration. Re-Registration will close on Friday February 27, 2015.
Monday - February 2, 2015
Common Core State Standards Unit IV begins
ELA coach will be working with students today.
Calendars will be sent home today.
Tuesday - February 3, 2015 - Feast of St. Blaise
Interim Assessment # 2 ELA 8:30 AM Grades K-8
Blessing of Throats at 11:00 AM. Parents are invited to join the school community.
Wednesday - February 4, 2015 - Report Card Day
Dismissal at 12:00 noon. After School Program available.
Parent Teacher Conferences 1:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Interim Assessment # 2 Mathematics Grades K-8
Thursday - February 5, 2015
Memorial of St. Agatha
Friday - February 6, 2015
Height and Weight of students will begin to be loaded on to Cornerstone Student Information System.
Sunday - February 8, 2015
9:00 AM - Biology Class
12:00 noon - Communion Class
1:00 PM - Mass for all students
