Monday, September 30

HOW TO strengthen math skills at home

Math exists all around us in almost everything we do, and it's important to stop and use everyday math to help children improve their math skills.  When children use math in a real world application, they are far more likely to understand and remember the skill used.  This real world application alongside a consistent math regimen allows children the comfort and precision necessary to build a strong foundation in all areas of math.  

Have fun! Don’t be afraid to make a game out of some of the more mundane math activities such as math fact flash card drills.  For every fact a child gets correct, they get to keep that card and later can try to throw their correct cards into a hat or bowl.  The more cards they get into the hat, the greater rewards they can earn.

Let’s bake!  Rarely will you find more math involved in an everyday activity than in baking. Whether it's counting chocolate chips, doubling recipes, or just learning units of measurement, baking will teach children important math skills...and the end result is delicious!

Let’s shop!  Stores are excellent places to reinforce estimation, percentages through sales or taxes, and money.  Include children in every part of the process from budgeting to cost analysis. Let them decide which size package is a better buy at the market or what the price of an item on sale will be.

Let’s travel!  Using distance, speed, and speed limits, children can find out how long a trip will take. With so much information available online, children can look up the speed of airplanes and find distances from one locale to another.  Make a game of seeing if Google Maps has made a correct estimation of travel time.  Children can also use math to deduce whether their parents have violated a speed limit or two! Travel games can be used on a daily basis on the way to and from school.

Unfortunately, learning math doesn’t always involve yummy treats, shopping, or speeding. Math is one of the few subjects where extra practice and repetition is the key to success.  All subjects require understanding, but math requires hard work and diligence at home in order to attain speed, skill, and mastery.

There is never any substitution for a child carefully attacking his or her math homework each and every night.  Fairmont provides home access to Accelerated Math and Math Facts in a Flash.*  These programs along with excellent math instruction at school have allowed our students to take classes such as Algebra II and Pre-Calculus in 8th grade. *There are other great no-cost or low-cost math apps available such as XtraMath and Operation Math.

A love for math needs to be established both at school and in the home.  Math can be a burden or an adventure.  It is all about the positive attitude we create in the home for our children.  If we help keep math entertaining and meaningful our children will be more excited each and every day when math class begins.

Photo credit: www.movingwithmath.com

Contributed by Matt, Fairmont Private Schools

Friday, September 27

FRIDAY FOLDER September 27

Preschool Celebrates Johnny Appleseed Day

Highlights From This Week

Fairmont Family Football Night
Saturday, October 5, 2013 
Please mark your calendars and join us as we cheer on the 
Prep Academy Huskies at:
Yorba Linda High School Stadium
19900 Bastanchury Ave YL, CA 92886

Fairmont has a long-standing tradition that Junior Kindergarten & Kindergarten students from AH, NT & HAC sing the National Anthem before the Huskies take the field. In preparation, all JK/K students have been practicing the National Anthem. If you are interested in having your student participate, we are asking singers to arrive at Yorba Linda HS Stadium at 4:30 PM. All students participating should wear their white button down or red polo shirt with any bottom (jeans/blue pants). National Anthem singers along with their families will receive FREE admission into the game. Face painters, balloon artists, along with various craft and game booths will be available FREE of charge. Come out and support the Husky football team! Fairmont student athletes who come in their Fairmont team uniform will receive FREE admission into the game. At half time, all DSL/JH Flag teams and cheerleaders from all campuses will be introduced.

2:30PM     JH Flag Football Game- Anaheim Hills 
                  vs. Historic Anaheim 
4:45PM    JK/K students sing the National Anthem 
5:00PM     Fairmont Prep Huskies vs 
                    Calvary Chapel Downey Grizzlies 

Historic Anaheim Campus Celebrates Johnny Appleseed 
Everyone at Historic Anaheim Preschool joined together yesterday Thursday, September 26th to celebrate the nurseryman Johnny Appleseed.  He told stories to the children in how he started to collect apple seeds from cider presses. He also told the children about his various journeys to different places. Right after story time with Johnny Appleseed, each class was able to meet and take a group picture with him.  Some were able to ask questions while others enjoyed looking at his hat.  Once meeting Johnny Appleseed was over, students went back to their class and enjoyed more apple treats such as apple chips, apple pies, and applesauce.  They were able to learn about different kinds of apples.


September Lunch Menus

Wednesday, September 25

FAIRMONT FIVE non-scary diy halloween costumes

It's only September, we know, but the cute Halloween costumes popping up on Pinterest are "screaming" out for a blog post. Halloween is a great excuse to indulge in some good-natured make-believe with your children. Whether it's decorating the house or dreaming up the coolest costume, it's fun to get in the trick-or-treat spirit. We've steered clear of spooky get-ups and found some great DIY costumes for boys and girls to inspire your Halloween creativity. What will you be this Halloween?

  1. Raggedy Ann Mother and Daughter (from A Beautiful Mess)
  2. Clark Kent/Superman (from The Berry)
  3. Sweet Snail (from Oh Happy Day)
  4. Alice in Wonderland (from Misha Lulu)
  5. Jack in the Beanstalk (from Better Homes and Gardens)

Contributed by Danyelle, Fairmont Private Schools

Monday, September 23

BOOK REPORT johnny appleseed by steven kellogg

It's Johnny Appleseed time for most students this time of year. Kindergarten and early elementary school students get to hear about Johnny Appleseed for the first time. But if you have elementary-aged kids who want to learn more about Johnny Appleseed's life, Steven Kellogg's "Johnny Appleseed" is a great place to start. 

Your student will read about John Chapman's (Johnny Appleseed's real name) early life as a child picking apples in the fall to when he travels into the wilderness and meets native Americans. It is an entertaining biographical story that follows chronologically from childhood to the end of his life when he became a living American folk hero. Kellogg is great at melding fact and fiction while letting us know the difference. His illustrations are lively and help tell the story. If your 1st-3rd grader is interested in learning more about Johnny Appleseed, this is the perfect book. Enjoy with some apple pie, apple cider, apple fritters...!

Contributed by Darcy, Fairmont Private Schools

Friday, September 20

FRIDAY FOLDER September 20

Ava W. enjoying time with her Grandmas!

Highlights From This Week
Grandparents Day
Grandparents play such an important role in the lives of their grandchildren. As a thank you, Fairmont Private Schools honors grandparents in their own special way at each campus. 

At the Historic Anaheim Preschool, students paid tribute to their grandparents by performing a memorable song expressing their appreciation to their grandparents.  After the presentation, all students were able to have a wonderful continental breakfast with their grandparents. At the Historic Anaheim K-8 Campus, our grandparents were honored by Mrs. Luckham's class presenting flag salute with an acoustic poem about grandparents. The Preschoolers at Anaheim Hills enjoyed a yummy breakfast with their grandparents before showing them what they have been learning. Thank you to all the grandparents who came out!

North Tustin celebrates Grandparents Day next Tuesday the 24th.

Anaheim Hills Fall Festival - Friday, September 27 from 3pm-7pm
The Fall Festival is a very special school tradition at the Anaheim Hills campus! Our Parent Association works very hard planning this event for all of our families to enjoy. We will have carnival rides, game booths, food stations, and more--you won't want to miss it! 

Historic Anaheim Campus Inaugural Color Run
The Historic Anaheim Parent Association will be holding their Color Run (formerly known nullas the Jog-A-Thon and the Fun Run) on Wednesday, September 25th.This will not be a formal dress day due to the Color Run. Please see the attachment below for more information.


North Tustin Back to School Picnic - Friday, September 27 from 4pm-7pm
The North Tustin Campus Parent Association (NTCPA) invites you to the North Tustin Campus Annual Back-to-School Picnic. Please join us for this annual tradition event featuring fabulous catered food, desserts, attractions, games and loads of fun in an Old West themed environment! This is a great opportunity to spend time with your kids and meet their friends and their families. Hope to see you all there!



September Lunch Menus 

Wednesday, September 18

THE FAIRMONT FIVE celebrating moon festival

Fairmont has a wonderfully diverse student body and we love it when families share their cultural heritage with our students.  On Thursday, September 19 many of our Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese families will be celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. On the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, the moon is at its maximum brightness for the entire year—thereby the name Moon Festival. During the Moon Festival, families celebrate by gathering together with family and friends, giving thanks for a good harvest, and praying for prosperity and for a good future (kind of like the traditional American Thanksgiving celebration). 

In Vietnam, the Moon Festival is also the country's Children Day. On that day, Vietnamese children parade around the neighborhood wearing festive clothing. Each child carries a uniquely shaped lantern and greets each other with words of best wishes and of good luck. The tradition is not unlike that of Halloween in the United States, without the "trick or treat" part. Here are some fun ways you can share this holiday with your children:
  1. Enjoy a little moon-gazing before bedtime
  2. Read Thanking the Moon
  3. Craft a Chinese lantern
  4. Visit your local China town 
  5. Share a mooncake

Image credit: www.angkorcbd.com
Contributed by Danyelle, Fairmont Private Schools


Monday, September 16

ARTS & CRAFTS pumpkin spice playdough


Don't you love it when all of the pumpkin flavored and scented products start appearing in stores?  It's that time of year, before the rush of the holidays, when there's the slightest nip in the air and suddenly you know fall is on the way.  Won't be long before leaves start changing colors and you head out with your family to pick the perfect pumpkin for the Halloween jack-o'-lantern. Get in the fall spirit with this delicious-smelling homemade playdough recipe from Small + Friendly (it smells good enough to eat--but don't!).

Pumpkin Spice Playdough Recipe (adapted from the recipe found in Unplugged Play)
Ingredients:
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/4 cup of salt (a little more if you use kosher)
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil*
  • 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (or a mix of cinnamon/nutmeg/cloves)
  • optional: food coloring or natural food based dyes (such as beet juice and turmeric)
Directions:
  1. Combine all ingredients (except coloring) in a large pot.  
  2. Stir over medium heat until a big ball forms. (It should be smooth and no longer sticky.)
  3. Remove from pot and allow to cool until the dough can be worked by hand.
  4. Divide the dough into however many different colors you want.
  5. Work the colors into the dough by adding a few drops at a time and kneading. (We used food coloring for red, yellow, and orange and left one brown.  Similar colors could be achieved with natural juices: beet, carrot, turmeric.)
  6. Enjoy!
* Coconut oil is my secret ingredient.  I makes the best play dough ever.  If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it.  
Image credit Small + Friendly
Contributed by Danyelle, Fairmont Private Schools