Dear Touchstone Families,

We at Touchstone School want to wish all of you a safe and fun filled evening and weekend! Halloween festivities were a blast today and teachers will be sending lots of photos of our cute students in their Halloween costumes. You are in luck this weekend and will earn an extra hour of sleep! Don’t forget to set your clocks back Sunday Morning, November 2, 2014!

After School Enrichment Classes:

Last month we added Northwest Children’s Theatre class to Fridays! This is an amazing enrichment class that offers students comprehension strategies, creative expression and a whole lot of fun. Interested in signing up for this after school class? See the front desk for a registration form.

I am happy to announce we will be adding a Wednesday enrichment class to our after school line up. Starting November 5 and continuing through December 17 from 3:00 to 3:30(There is no class offered the week of Thanksgiving), we will be offering a dance class through Moonstar Dance Studios. This is the perfect class for your young dancer. Students will engage in dramatic music movements and learn introductory ballet steps. You can sign up for this class by filling out the registration form at the front desk.

Community Service Project:

With the Thanksgiving holiday in November it is a great time to talk to children about being of service to others. This month we will be partnering with the Oregon Food Bank and will be making our donation the Friday before Thanksgiving. Each classroom will be competing to collect the most donations. Best of luck to each classroom!

From the Oregon Food Bank website I found the most desirable foods:

• Shelf-stable milk
• Foods high in protein such as canned meats (i.e., tuna, chicken, salmon) and canned or dried beans
• Foods high in nutrients, such as canned fruits and vegetables (preferably with reduced sodium and reduced sugar)
• Whole-grain foods such as brown rice, whole grain cereal and whole-wheat pasta
• Soups, chilies and stews (preferably with reduced sodium and reduced fat)
• 100 percent fruit juice (canned, plastic or boxed)
• Unsaturated cooking oils
• And other nutritious, “healthy-choice” foods (preferably with reduced fat, sodium and sugar)

The Oregon Food Bank cannot accept the following items due to food safety:

• rusty or unlabeled cans
• perishable items (applies only to food drive donations)
• homemade items
• noncommercial canned or packaged items
• alcoholic beverages, mixes or soda
• open or used items

PLEASE NOTE: If you donate glass products, please box or bag them separately and label the box or bag “GLASS” on all sides.

We are all very excited about this opportunity to assist families in our community!

Warmest Regards,

Alicia Lazz, Principal

November Calendar

November 1-5: Tuition Due
November 5: Moonstar Dance Class Begins
November 10: No School: Parent Teacher Conferences
November 11: No School: Veterans Day
Nobember 27-28: No School: Thanksgiving Holiday

Join us for our next Open House: November 15, 2014,10am -1pm

Tours and Discovery Days

Tours – Please call 877-959-3745, to schedule a tour. We look forward to talking with you soon!
Free Discovery Day – See how much fun your child will have at our preschool. Please call for more details.

From Our Education Department

Promoting Thoughtfulness

“To every man alive, one must hope it has in some way happened that he has talked with his more fascinating friends around a table on some night when all the numerous personalities unfolded themselves like great tropical flowers.” -G. K. Chesterton

In her article, “Best Brains in Science Under Five: Helping Children Develop Intentionally,” which is included in the new Exchange CEU based on the Beginnings Workshop, The Intentional Teacher, Judy Harris Helm suggests one of the challenges for teachers is “to engage children in the intellectual life by supporting the development of traits such as curiosity and the disposition to be thoughtful.” She suggests a number of strategies including the following to help children learn to be thoughtful:

• Listen carefully to children’s conversations and identify topics of interest.
• Choose topics for project work that have potential for hands-on learning.
• Lift up children’s questions by recording on chart paper; review these and add more. Be especially supportive and ask questions that indicate deep thought.
• Add materials to the classroom related to children’s interest as they emerge. Encourage children to contribute materials.
• Don’t jump in and tell children answers or go immediately to a book or the Internet. Today answers can be found in seconds, but this creates child dependence on adults who have mastered the skills of reading and writing and not how young children learn.
• Don’t be afraid to provoke children’s thinking. Challenge them to find an answer, create a model, or do observational drawing.

Source: Exchange Everyday