WHAT’S INSIDE: 1. letter to a parent 2. themes from the past months 3. our community events 4. parents share 5. did you know that? 6. health & yummy
SUPPORTS HELPS ANSWERS RECOMMENDS
JANUARY 2019
A welcome note to parents: Dear ACS Athens community, Please enjoy our first SHARE newsletter of 2019. We, the PTO board are honored and delighted to be part of the ACS Athens community. We are continuously working towards creating a nice friendly school environment where we can all share our thoughts and learn from each other to better support our children. In this issue of SHARE, we will be featuring an article “letter to a parent” written by an ACS Athens mom, journalist, educator and family counselor, Rania Thraskia. Throughout the year we are continuously trying to organize nice events and your ideas are always welcome! We are at your disposal, you can reach us at pto@acs.gr or checkout our PTO page on ACS athens website which is updated with minutes of meetings, pictures of past events and upcoming events calendar. Best wishes! Your PTO Board
LETTER TO A PARENT:
10 important facts about setting limits with kids
01 02 03 04 05 06 07
Setting limits with kids means that you provide a stable environment that allows your child to feel accepted and safe, both physically and emotionally. Limits teach our children appropriate behavior and give them opportunities to sharpen their skills. Setting limits can be tough and challenging for parents for several reasons. Most of the times parents feel guilty about saying no because they think that they make their children sad and mad. Partners don’t always agree on what limits to set with kids mostly because they have been raised differently and they copy family habits and behavioral models. Because of the limits parents set, children learn how to control themselves, to take responsibility for their actions and they get to learn what is socially accepted or not. Limits teach kids how to keep themselves safe when they begin doing activities independently and when they are using the internet! It is very important that parents create behavior management contracts to help your child understand concrete ways you will recognize when she/he needs to fewer limits. Limits should expand as your child matures.
08 09 10
Kids are impulsive and enjoy immediate gratification. Therefore, they need adults to teach them how to stay healthy. Limits should be set with a child’s eating habits and with electronics. Many kids would eat junk food and watch tv or play on the computer all day if there are no family rules regarding those matters! Limits help kids cope with uncomfortable feelings. Learning how to deal with emotions it’s an extremely important skill for children and helps them throughout their entire life! Each limit you set is an opportunity for your child to practice managing his /her emotions. It is crucial that you coach his/her efforts as he/she tries to deal with frustration, anger, boredom or sadness but don’t try to cheer him up or calm him down because you are having trouble understand that feelings.
ACS ATHENS SHARE NEWSLETTER //JANUARY 2019
LETTER TO A PARENT:
10 important facts about setting limits with kids
The ultimate goals when we set limits, is for kids to learn 1. how to manage all their responsibilities 2. how to take care of themselves by making healthy choices, physically and emotionally and 3. how to handle unpleasant emotions so they will be better equipped for the realities of adulthood When the consequences and the boundaries don’t apply regularly, children often test and challenge them in order to find out what is acceptable or not for them to do. Sometimes when a kid breaks a rule there is a possibility that he doesn’t get the attention he needs or that he is struggling with something that the parents ignore. It is better for parents to avoid treats, negotiations and long conversations about the limits they set and try to be in touch with their children’s feelings. It is important to remember that kids who live with few or no rules, experience anxiety. Kids don’t’ want to be in charge. They want to know that you are the leader and that you are willing to invest time and energy into keeping them calm, safe and loved.
Take care, Sincerely, Rania Thraskia
Educator, Family Counselor MSc.
THEMES FROM THE PAST MONTHS Thank you Note for the Holiday Bazaar A huge thank you to everyone who came to our Holiday Bazaar, to every volunteer who helped us, to every community member who donated to our Bake Sale and to every staff member who supported us. Hope you enjoyed our event and hope to see you in our next ones! All suggestions and ideas are welcome!
ACS ATHENS SHARE NEWSLETTER //JANUARY 2019
THEMES FROM THE PAST MONTHS Thank you to all the ACS Athens community members who donated prizes for our Pick a Prize raffle. We offered a small portion of the proceeds to “Ena paidi enas cosmos” or “ένα παιδί, ένας κόσμος” in form of supermarket vouchers. In addition, the donated toys for the Toys for Tots movement were offered to “Kibotos tou kosmou” ARC a non profit organization for mother and child protection.
OUR COMMUNITY EVENTS CPR/First Aid course This event was very successful, we hope all participants enjoyed the course. We would like to thank the US Embassy Health Unit for offering this training and for their continuous support to promote safety awareness in the ACS Athens community.
Cookies Exchange We would like to thank all the parents who participated in our cookies exchange. #3
ACS ATHENS SHARE NEWSLETTER //JANUARY 2019
OUR COMMUNITY EVENTS
Visit to Roma Gallery
Vasilopita Cutting
Roma Gallery is newly established gallery in Koloknaki and currently hosting its’ inaugural exhibition “Pavlos almost magic” featuring the wonderful works of the famous Greek artist Pavlos Dionysopoulos. He has a very unique and distinctive artistic style as all his works were created by transforming fragmented strips of poster paper into three-dimensional artworks. We really enjoyed our private tour guided by an ACS athens mom Joanna Papadopoulou-Averoff. Thank you all for coming!
Here are a few pictures of our Vasilopita cutting. We were very glad to have Dr. Gialamas who honored us with the cutting. Congratulations to our winner who won a lucky charm bracelet!
PTO General Meeting and Principals’ coffee
March. 12
Save the date Come, get updated about our news and find out about upcoming events. We will welcome a special guest to inform us about an interesting topic related to our children. Stay tuned for more information. Agenda Academy School Coffee 9:00 am - 9:30 am Elementary School Coffee 9:30 am - 10:00 am Middle School Coffee 10:00 am - 10:30 am PTO Coffee 10:30 am - 11:30 am
We are currently organizing few upcoming community events for February. Please take the time to read through our emails as we are planning very interesting gathering and outings for both parents and children.
#4
ACS ATHENS SHARE NEWSLETTER //JANUARY 2019
PARENTS
DID YOU KNOW THAT...?
Each month an Acs Athens parent answers these 10 questions! Please drop us a quick note in our feedback form if you would like to share!
Elisa Ketter Mom to Kaya Ketter (8th grade), and Tim Ketter
What is the nicest thing your children have ever said to you? Naturally, every time she said, “I love you.” What is the most hurtful thing your children have ever said to you? I don’t need you to walk me to the bus. What is the funniest thing you remember your children saying? After watching our puppy poop in the
backyard my husband and I were so excited. We were praising the puppy and our daughter, at 3-years old, said, “I want to poop there too.”
What are your children’s favorite sports or hobbies? Playing the violin and ukulele, soccer, and doing puzzles.
How do you get your children to eat vegetables?
…you can send us your thoughts, ideas and suggestions through the PTO page on the school Website? Or simply click http://www.acs.gr/pto-about/
...January is named after the Roman god Janus, who was always shown as having two heads. He looked back to the last year and forward to the new one. ….Kleenex tissues were originally intended for a gas mask! When there was a cotton shortage during World War I, Kimberly-Clark developed a thin, flat cotton substitute that the army tried to use as a filter in gas masks. The war ended before scientists perfected the material for gas masks, so the company redeveloped it to be smoother and softer, then marketed Kleenex as facial tissue instead. ...Do you know where the phrase “It’s raining cats and dogs” comes from? In the 17th century many homeless cats and dogs would drown and float down the streets of England, making it look like it literally rained cats and dogs. ... Saturn’s density is low enough that the planet would float in water ... Dolphins sleep with one eye open!
HEALTHY & YUMMY
That’s easy ... she loves them.
How did you choose your children’s names?
We looked through name books and it was the only name my husband and I agreed on.
This month we present:
Our best kid friendly snack
What’s guaranteed to make your children smile? Seeing her extended family, amusement parks, roller coasters, and water parks.
What is the best thing you enjoy about being a parent? Every stage of development is thrilling and challenging. Also, I enjoy unprovoked hugs.
What’s the hardest thing about being a parent? Currently, understanding the teenage brain.
Please complete the sentence anyway you like “Being a parent means…” I have a lifelong job to teach my child to make good decisions, have strong morals, dream big, and care about others.
A big THANK YOU to Gefsinus, our cafeteria company, for their generous provision of coffee and tea at our PTO General Meetings!
Spinach & Goat Cheese Quiche with Sweet Potato Crust https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/spinach-goat-cheese-quichesweet-potato-crust/ friendly-snack-recipes #5