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Letter from the Superintendent

Forming New Habits

August 11, 2023

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Parents,

The start of the 2023-2024 school year is right around the corner.  Next week all staff return and students' first day of school is Wednesday, August 23rd.  Over the next couple of weeks you will be receiving additional communication from building principals and staff, but in the meantime I wanted you to be thinking about creating some good habits for your children and yourself to start the school year. 

 

Many of you have probably heard the statement that it takes 21 days to form a new habit.  Perhaps in the context of a diet, working out, New Year’s resolution, and so on.  Well that is not necessarily a researched based statement, but common sense would lead us to believe that if we did something for 21 days we would likely form a new habit, so let’s go with that assumption.

 

The 21st day of school this year is September 21st, which is toward the end of the 5th week of school.  Knowing this I would ask you to think about and prepare yourself, your children, and your household for those habits you would like to be firmly in place by the end of the First 21 Days of School.  Some of these habits start with some of the basic necessities and others are habits to help us grow as learners.  Consider the following when developing the list of habits you want to focus on before August 23rd and beyond:

  • Get plenty of sleep - start early with preparing yourself and your children for routine bedtimes and wake-up times.  You will not regret working on this for all ages of students.
  • Breakfast - think about the start of your day.  It sets the tone for the rest of your day.
  • After school - what will be the expectation for your child when they get home from school?  Homework, play, chores, etc.
  • Be involved - yes this can mean students involved in clubs and activities, but I would like to focus on how parents can get involved.  Too often we think parent involvement is volunteering at school, working an event, etc.  Those activities are extremely important and our schools could not function without you volunteering your time for those activities, but I’m talking about the involvement that occurs from being involved with your child’s learning.  I’m not necessarily saying sitting and doing homework with your child every night, but your help is greatly appreciated, but rather having meaningful conversations with your child about their learning.  Whether that be at dinner, riding in the car, or just a quick conversation, make sure you are asking them about their learning.  Be specific.  Start with a broader open ended question and drill down to more specific questions about the content and their learning.  Even ask them to show you some of their work.  These conversations show you care, what is important, and provide a level of accountability and support that help all of us work together to help your child, any age, be successful in school.
  • Reading - regardless of your child’s age, ask them what they are reading. They will always have assigned reading, but in addition to their assigned reading ask them what they are reading on their own.  Reading can be the gatekeeper for learning in school and the more you read, the better you read.

 

I’m sure you get the idea.  The start of the school year is right around the corner and it is time to begin some of those habits for a successful school year and routines you want established in your family by the end of the First 21 Days of School.

 

From the entire Treynor CSD family we are wishing you the very best start for the 2023-2024 school year!

 

Thank you for your support and Roll Cards!

 

Dr. Joel Beyenhof

Superintendent

jbeyenhof@treynorcardinals.org

 

Reminders: