CHALK TALK how to keep your kids safe online

On Wednesday, February 29 we hosted a Chalk Talk at our Mable Campus on the topic of Online Safety. We welcomed expert Monique Nelson, the Chief Operating Officer at Web Wise Kids to present to our families. Web Wise Kids is a Southern California based non-profit with the mission of teaching kids, parents and the community the value of making safe and wise choices in a technologically evolving world. The organization does this by creating and distributing interactive content through the same media that kids and adults use on a daily basis. 

Monique has years of experience speaking on this topic, and she approached our audience with nonchalance and humor (much appreciated after a long day). She touched on some great points that we wanted to share here on our blog... 

• Age 11 is when kids really begin using the computer and when parents need to become cognoscente of online behavior 
• Kids are making the trends online, so there is a definite need for parents and teachers to understand those trends 
• What happens online stays online, and more people than just your immediate social network see your posts (friend of the friend of the friend rule) 
• Teens feel safer online than in real life; being online gives them a sense of anonymity that often results in them sharing very personal information 
• Parents should know the "Net Lingo." For example, PIR means "parents in room," POS means "parent over shoulder." Visit netlingo.com for more acronym definitions. 
• Photos taken on cell phones are automatically geo-tagged, and child predators sometimes use those tags to find children. Be sure to disable location services for photos on your cell phone. 
• When creating household internet safety rules, involve the children in making the rules and be consistent in enforcement. 

Visit www.webwisekids.org for more parent tips and resources. 

(Image from AssociaLiving.com)

Contributed by Alyssa, Fairmont Private Schools

EVENTFUL oc egg hunts

If hunting eggs is part of your family's springtime celebration, then you'll want to mark your calendar for some eggciting events coming your way the first week of April:

• OC Fairgrounds 6th Annual Easter Festival and Treasure Hunt
• Irvine Park Railroad's Easter Eggstravaganza
• For a list of egg hunts and other Easter festivities by city, visit orangecounty.net.

Photo from Microsoft Office clip art gallery.

Contributed by Danyelle, Fairmont Private Schools

TEACHER'S PET ms. bauman's canine family

After a long day at school, Ms. Patsy Bauman enjoys some downtime with Pizmo her Boston Terrior, Sadie Mae her rescue Cha-weinie, and Don Cheto her rescued Chihuahua.

Contributed by Ms. Bauman, Citron Campus Kindergarten Teacher 

FRIDAY FOLDER march 16

Highlights From This Week

Upcoming Events 
Chalk Talk: How to Parent Your Kids (Without Losing Your Mind)
Tuesday April 3, 2012, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Fairmont Edgewood Campus

If you've ever dreamed of being a better parent or educator, this is the event for you! Learn how to make the most of your parent/child/school relationship from acclaimed speaker, Scott Peebles, M.A., MFCC, H.B. Scott was one of the youngest licensed Marriage, Family & Child Counselors in California, and he has been deemed one of the most exciting and entertaining parenting speakers in the country. Scott calls his method "Slightly Off the Wall Parenting." We think you'll call it amazing! All Fairmont parents, faculty and friends are welcome! 
Click here to RSVP

Fairmont Parent Survey 
Look out this coming week for an email with the annual Fairmont Parent Survey. Your feedback is valuable and we appreciate you taking the time to provide it to us. When you take the survey, you will be eligible to win $1,000.00 off tuition discount good for the 2012-2013 school year. One winner will be drawn from each campus and all survey participants will be eligible. 


Become a Homestay Family! 
Why Should you Host an International Student? Here is what some our Fairmont Families have to say about the Homestay Program.

"Not only is it a rewarding experience for the student, it also is for the Host Family. My son now has two new playmates. They can get another brother or sister at home to teach them about their customs and even a few words of their language. My son is just attached to his host sister.

Looking at it from your child's viewpoint, they become a part of the family. You're not just parenting a kid, its adding to the joy of your family."

- Carrise Moriyasu, an Anaheim Hills Parent who has hosted for over 2 years and is currently hosting two Russian students

"Homestay was an amazing experience for my family and I!  We really enjoyed learning a lot about the Chinese culture and traditions as well as sharing ours with them. It was so much fun introducing them to things they had never experienced before, such as the beach and bowling. Overall it was a great experience and we definitely would do it again!"

- Michelle Anderson, a Fairmont Anaheim Hills Teacher who hosted 2 Chinese students for 5 weeks

The Fairmont Homestay Program is looking for Fairmont Families to host an international student for our short-term, long term, and summer programs at our Mable, Anaheim Hills, and Preparatory Campuses. Fairmont has a variety of student programs ranging from two weeks to an entire academic year allowing any family the opportunity to participate in this rewarding experience. Families will also receive financial compensation for their participation.       

Interested families are invited to attend our Homestay Program Information Meeting at the Anaheim Hills Campus on March 28, 2012 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Families can RSVP for the meeting by visiting our website at http://www.fairmontschools.com/homestay. For more information, please contact the Homestay Office at714-999-5055 x 1689or email jgubersky@fairmontschools.com.  

Weekly E-Newsletters 

Anaheim Hills Campus 

Citron Campus 

Edgewood Campus 

Mable Campus 

March Lunch Menus 

AH Preschool-1st Grade

AH 2nd-8th Grade

Citron

Edgewood Preschool-Kindergarten

Edgewood 1st-8th Grade 

Mable 

Contributed by Alyssa, Fairmont Private Schools 

SCHOOL NEWS fairmont mable team wins regional toshiba exploravision award

Four fifth graders from Fairmont's Mable Campus demonstrated their talent for scientific innovation in Toshiba’s national ExploraVision Competition. The team, led by science teacher Kathryn Baham, was named one of 24 regional winners in the country and will now take their project “Hearing the World’s Silent Side” to the national round of the competition. The team members include Chloe S. of Fullerton, Taylor T. of Orange, Riya B. of Buena Park and Raj S. of Anaheim. 

The ExploraVision competition challenges fourth through sixth graders to propose how a current technology might be used 20 years in the future. Fairmont’s team of students studied the cochlear implant (hearing aid) and was shocked to discover that with today's technology doctors are still unable to help patients with deafness caused by auditory nerve damage. To find a solution, the students looked to the technology that is currently being tested for spinal cord injuries and wondered if that technology could be re-purposed in deaf patients. The answer, it turned out, was yes.

Applying this creative thinking, the students came up with their product: “Hearing the World’s Silent Side” [HWSS]. HWSS is a mixture of two components: nanofibers used in Spinal Cord technology and a 2012 Cochlear Implant. In HWSS the nanofibers are used to coat the auditory nerve. When sound waves enter the ear they are able to bypass the nerve damage. Combining this nanofiber technology with the regular cochlear implant results in a perfect solution for any type of hearing loss. 

"I am so proud to be coaching this team of students. They are innovative thinkers who explore new ideas with enthusiasm. Cochlear implants and spinal cord procedures are complicated technologies to understand, but these students did their research and became experts on the topic, because they had a passion for helping the deaf to hear," said Kathryn Baham, Fairmont Mable Campus Science Teacher and ExploraVision Coach. 

Each of the regional winning teams receives a Toshiba laptop for the school and each member of the regional winning teams will receive a Toshiba HD Camcorder. Toshiba will visit the Mable Campus to recognize the students in an awards ceremony on Thursday, March 22 at 2:00pm. 

Each of the regional winners will now move on to the national phase of the competition, where they will compete to be named among the eight national winner teams, including four first-place and four second-place winners. Students on the four first-place ExploraVision national winner teams will each receive a $10,000 US Series EE Savings Bond valued at maturity. Students on second-place teams will each receive a $5,000 Savings Bond valued at maturity.The eight teams will also receive an expenses-paid trip with their families, mentor, and coach to Washington, DC for a gala awards weekend in June 2012. Activities will include a visit to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress, a Science Showcase during which the students will display and demonstrate their winning ideas, and sightseeing around the nation’s capital.

This is the third consecutive year Fairmont Private Schools has placed in the annual Toshiba ExploraVision competition. Past awards include: 

• 2010: 2nd Place Nationally for Automatic Correcting Eyeglasses by  John W. and Valerie N.
• 2009: Regional Winner for The Smart Cane by Tera G., Justine G. and Victoria N.

Read the story in the OC Register and Parenting OC. 

Contributed by Alyssa, Fairmont Private Schools 

THE FAIRMONT FIVE celebrate pi day

For all you math whizzes out there, today is a very special day--it's Pi Day! 3.14 Pi, Greek letter (), is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi Day is celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world on March 14th, seeing as Pi = 3.1415926535…


Even for those of us whose fortes are more...right-brained, math is always going to be an integral part of daily life (no pun intended). So why not spend Pi Day getting your calculate on?! Here are a few ideas: 

• Test the Domino Effect. Watch the video above and learn how to use pi to calculate the number of dominos used in a domino spiral. Then create your own (slighly smaller) version and test out what you learned. 
• Make (and eat) a Pie. Use your fraction skills and whip up one of these great pie recipes from NPR's Doreen McCallister. It'll make a very festive Pi Day dessert! 
• Count Your Letters. Being a writer, I loved this idea that a teacher contributed to the official Pi Day website: "In class we are using the first 20 digits in Pi and writing a story using the numbers. For example, with 3.14 you would use a 3-letter word, then a 1-letter word, then a 4-letter word and so on." 
• Meet Sir Cumference. Circumference, radius, diameter...if all this circle speak is a little over your little one's head, try explaining the concepts with the help of Sir Cumference! He stars in the books Sir Cumference and the First Round Table and Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi, and he helps turn math into an adventure. 
• Channel Your Inner Einstein. Albert Einstein, the math genius himself, was born on Pi Day--March 14, 1879. The city of Princeton puts on a four-day celebration in honor of Einstein and Pi Day. Check out their activities and re-create some in your own home or school. 

Contributed by Alyssa, Fairmont Private Schools 

EVENTFUL spring family events in orange county

Take advantage of these extra hours of daylight and spend the upcoming weekends out and about at some of Orange County's biggest family events! Be sure to stop by the Fairmont booth and say hi to our Admissions and Summer Programs representatives while you're there! 

The Family Fun & Wellness Fair is in its third year at Pretend City Children's Museum in Irvine. Hosted by Good to From Head to Toe, this event is dedicated to family wellness and offers complimentary health screenings for children. Every child that participates in three screenings will receive a ticket to Pretend City! There will also be live performances (including Irish dancers), food trucks, face painting and giveaways. 

When 

Saturday, March 17: 9am-2pm 

Where

Pretend City Children's Museum

29 Hubble

Irvine, CA 92618

The Parenting OC Jamboree is an annual event that showcases summer activities for families, gourmet food and local youth talent. This year's Jamboree will feature 75 exhibitors in the areas of summer camps, classes and activities, family travel, products and services for health and safety, birthday parties, sports and more. Also be sure to show your support for our Fairmont students who are competing in the Spelling Bee competition! 

When 

Saturday, March 17: 10am-3pm 

Where

OC Great Park 

6950 Marine way

Irvine, CA 92618

The Summer Camp & Activities Fair is sponsored by OC Family magazine and is held in the heart of the Irvine Spectrum shopping center. This event is the perfect place for families to preview summer school and camp options in Orange County while enjoying live entertainment, balloon artists, face painters and more. 

When 

Saturday, March 24: 11am-4pm 

Where

Irvine Spectrum Center 

Irvine, CA 92618

Contributed by Alyssa, Fairmont Private Schools