Turtle Tales THE NEWSLETTER OF TURTLE LAKE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
NOVEMBER 2016
Principal Perspective November, 2016 Life these days can be pretty hectic for a kid Every once in awhile, life circumstances cause you to stop for a moment and reflect. For me, this happened one evening last week. As some of you may know, while I am an elementary principal by day, I am a husband and father by night. My wife, who is a kindergarten teacher in the St. Paul Public School District, keeps it all rolling for our family of four, which also includes our two sons who this year are in fourth and eighth grade. My moment of reflection came after a week of after school meetings, multiple nights of hockey practices and games for both boys, and a weeknight family event. Exhausted, having finally ushered the boys through the evening routine, my wife and I crashed on the living room couch and let out an exhausted sigh. We were both feeling the stress of raising two school age children in today’s busy world. I wonder if any of you have ever felt like that? After we chatted for a bit and collected our thoughts, we started to discuss our core beliefs about what our priorities were related to how our children spent their time during the week. Here is what we came up with as our pillars: 1. Reading each night is important, no matter their age. You don’t need to look far for the data to support this practice. Twenty minutes each night. Sometimes they read independently, sometime we read together. When I am able, I model for them my joy of reading. While they rarely take an interest in my books on public school administration, they do notice that I am reading. 2. Time for free choice (PLAY) is encouraged. I’m not talking about a practice run by a coach or a 30 minute piano lesson, I’m talking about allowing children the chance to create, explore, build, invent, collaborate, design, and problem solve on their own or with a sibling or friend. Kids can do AMAZING things if we give them some space and time. Building living room forts, although a bit messy, definitely checks a lot of these boxes, for example. 3. You need to keep up with your schoolwork. For different families, how this gets accomplished looks a bit different. Some kids need to burn off some energy after they get home, and other children do better by getting their homework done right away. Generally speaking, the ten minute rule (3rd grade = no more than 30 minutes a night, for example) for homework still applies. If your child is regularly spending more time than that on homework each night, please contact your child’s teacher. While each family has their own priorities, schedules and expectations, it is important to keep the bigger view in mind. Academic growth, while very important, represents only a part of the bigger picture of whole child development. Life indeed can be pretty hectic for our kids these days. As parents, you ultimately have the final say as to what this looks like in your home. Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership.