Dear Parents,
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Even with a shortened week, much still took place behind the red doors. The sixth graders performed their play, Fractured Fame last night for their parents, and again this morning for the rest of the school. This play was a five-act performance in which each 6th grade advisory group wrote their own version of a well-known fairytale, such as Rumpelstiltskin or Goldilocks and the Three Bears. T heir humorous, rather fractured, adaptations of these tales, kept everyone laughing.
One of the hallmarks of the New City curriculum is its emphasis on using multiple ways to allow students to show their understanding. The use of PEPs (projects, exhibitions, and presentations) was well illustrated this past week during the 4th grade's Living Museum project. This particular project was conceived to help fourth graders learn about the genre of biography, reinforce students' research, note taking, and report writing expertise, as well as offer an opportunity for the boys and girls to hone their presentation skills.
After learning about some Citizens Who Have Made a Difference (the fourth grade year-long theme), each student chose someone whom they feel has made a difference to conduct a more in-depth study of that individual's life. After learning as much as they could about that person, each student created a two-to-three minute monologue from the perspective of the individual they chose to research. The students then took on the persona of their chosen citizen, dressing as he or she would, and becoming part of the fourth grade's Living Museum. Other classes and adults came to the exhibition, pushed a button on the box on which the person stood frozen like a statue, and suddenly, that statue came alive and told the listener about his/her life, interests, and accomplishments. At the end of the presentation, the "famous person" responded to questions from the visitors. The photos shown here are of some of the various Citizens Who Have Made a Difference who were portrayed in our library on Wednesday.
Even after having his leg amputated, Terry Fox ran across Canada to raise money for cancer research. He died in 1981 at the age of 23. At the conclusion of the Vancouver Olympics, an award will be presented in his honor to the athlete who most displays his unwielding spirit.
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(The banner above includes the following historical figures: Elizabeth Cady Stanton (suffragette; H. A. Rey, author of Curious George books; and, Zora Neale Hurston, author of 20th century African-American literature.)
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Grade Level Performances Now Available on NCS Website
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Did anyone record the grade level performance? WE DID!!!!!! And, now you can view it through the New City School website. Simply go to www.newcityschool.org, click on the Parent Login (now, conveniently located a the TOP right hand corner!). If you’ve forgotten your username and/or password, click on the forgot password button and it will be e-mailed to you. 
(Vincent Van Gogh, artist)
The "Videos and Pictures" link is only viewable if you are logged in - the average person visiting our website WILL NOT see it. Once you've clicked on Videos and Pictures you will see the names of the videos with a link which will direct you to a host site. In order to view the video, you must enter the password given to you next to the link. You can also download these videos to your own computer.
The videos that are uploaded to the host site are viewable only by those with access to the link and our password. Our IT Director, Scott Boyles, has set up a New City School account so that if you searched New City School on the host site – you won't find these videos. If you have any questions, please send Scott an e-mail at scottb@newcityschool.org.
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| What's a Parent to Do about Homework? |
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How many times have you asked yourself if there was something you could do to help your child deal more successfully with homework? How often have you searched for just the right words or just the right actions to end your family's nightly homework battles forever? If you're like most parents, you've tried a lot of different strategies - off and on - only to find you and your child falling back into the same ineffective routines. You know that your child needs to do the homework, and yo u want to help, but you just aren't sure how much and how to help.
(Elizabeth Blackwell,
first female physician)
Why have homework?
When your child was very young, you made most of the decisions for her. You structured her activities, planned her meals, and made sure she got to bed on time. Since she has entered school the classroom teacher does not guide her in the same way.
For many children, homework is the first time they have a responsibility all their own. It's up to them to bring it home. It's up to them to do the work. And, it's up to them to see that the work gets back to school. From the moment the teacher gives the assignment to the moment it is turned in again, the responsibility rests with your child.
Through homework children learn skills that they must develop if they are to grow to be independent, motivated and successful adults. They learn to follow directions, work on their own, begin and complete a task, manage their time, and work to their full potential. They learn it’s all up to them - that they are accountable for their own actions.
Don't dismiss homework as unimportant. Even assignments that seem to be meaningless have a bigger purpose. They are teaching your child valuable lifeskills. Life, after all, is filled with tiresome details that must be dealt with appropriately.
(Milton Hershey, chocolate manufacturer and humanitarian)
Schedule Time for Homework
There is probably no issue relating to homework that causes more parent-child conflict than when homework will be done each night. The children try to put it off as long as possible, complaining, procrastinating, and making excuses until bedtime. Meanwhile, you are pushing them to do it as quickly as possible. Most children today have extremely, even complicated, schedules...soccer practice, dance lessons, karate, religious studies....If a soccer game starts at 6:00 that's when the child is there. That's because these activities are scheduled. They are built into the child’s and family’s daily routines.
The solution to doing homework is similar: HOMEWORK MUST BE SCHEDULED INTO YOUR CHILD'S LIFE, TOO. Children cannot do homework effectively late at night, nor, should kids be allowed to regard homework as something to be done after all other activities have been attended to. Homework must be a priority; it must have a definite place in your child's schedule.
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Schedule Mandatory Homework Time
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 (Susan Blow, educator and founder of first public kindergarten program.)
Is your child a Speeder...someone who races through their homework with little or no effort, wanting to get it done, and get back to more pleasurable activities as quickly as possible? As a result, the homework is messy, incomplete, or incorrectly done. Is your child a Forgetter...someone who frequently fails to remember to bring work home, or forgets that they have homework at all?
You can help Speeders and Forgetters become more responsible by instituting Mandatory Homework Time (MHT). This means they must use their entire scheduled time for academic endeavors, whether it's finishing homework properly or practicing math facts or reading a book for fun. The purpose of MHT is to teach your child that there is not an advantage to rushing through work or forgetting it altogether. It's not going to buy them any more free time.
It's Not Your Homework
Caution: Do not do the work for your child! If your child finds the work too difficult, guide her, prompt her, encourage her, but don't tell her the answer. Or, if you must, put a notation on the homework communicating to her teacher that your child required much assistance from you to finish the assignment. This kind of feedback is very important, because for the most part, homework should be review practice of what has been covered in class. It should never be something so new that your child is completely in the dark as to how to accomplish the given task. If your child turns in a masterful paper, but has no idea how to do the work on her own, the teacher assumes your child understands the material and moves on. If, on the other hand you alert him/her to your child's difficulties, then the teacher now knows that more review and practice is needed. 
(Alexander Graham Bell,
inventor of telephone)
Encourage - Reward Independence
Independence is the ultimate goal for our children, but keep in mind that all children are different. A first grader might already be an independent, responsible worker, while a 5th grader still can't get down to business. If that's the situation, you need to step in a little. Start by going over the list of what needs to be done, and helping your child prioritize the work to be done. It is usually best to start with the least favorite subject, getting the hard stuff finished before fatigue and emotions set in.
Another strategy is to break down the overwhelming assignment into simple steps you know your child can do successfully. Provide encouragement each time she succeeds at any step. Once your child begins to gain confidence, have her do a small part of the assignment without any intervention from you. This process will take time, but your are doing more than helping with just one assignment. By encouraging - step-by-step - her to work on her own, you are helping her to developing a greater confidence in herself.
Parent Power
Many children who lack the motivation to do homework don't feel secure in their ability to succeed in things related to school. Consistently praise your child's efforts. Tell your child SPECIFICALLY what you like about what she is doing or has done. Specific comments show that you are really noticing exactly what she is accomplishing. Remember, a hug or a squeeze will increase the impact of your message.
 As a parent, you have a tremendous influence on your child's sense of self-esteem. What you say (or don't say) makes a big difference in how your child feels about herself and about everything she does. Don't ever underestimate the power of your words or your actions!
(Jane Goodall, primatologist,
studied chimpanzees)
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| Volunteers Needed for the River Kids Polar Bear Pickup |
 River Kids is hosting their 2nd Annual Polar Bear Pickup, a river cleanup designed to clean our rivers at a time when most people aren't paying much attention to them; unfortunately, there is always a ton of trash, no matter what time of year you go! This year's pickup will take place next Saturday, Feb. 20th, from 9:00am - 2:00 pm at North Riverfront Park, 9811 Riverview Dr. This park is approximately 1/2 mile south of I-270 near the old Chain of Rocks Bridge.
This cleanup is open to the public and to folks of all ages. Volunteers may come and go for any amount of time during the day. We ask that you check in with us at a table in the parking lot on the north end of the park.
All volunteers will be entitled to select an item from our line of River Kids merchandise (t-shirts, water bottles, keychains and more) for their participation. Volunteers who register by sending an email ahead of time to riverkids@newcityschool.org with the number of participating volunteers who want lunch, will be treated to a catered lunch by Orlando's and Ces and Judy's, at noon.
Hope you have a great weekend! See you on Monday.
Sincerely,
Pat
M. Patricia Nuernberger, Ph.D.
pnuernberger@newcityschool.org |
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COMING EVENTS
Pen Pal Breakfast
Friday, Feb 26th
Founders' Hall Lobby
Trivia Night
Saturday, Feb 27th
Sold Out
5th Grade Play Thursday March 11th
6:30 pm
Friday, March 12th
8:40 am
Spring Break
begins March 15th Classes Resume
March 29th
Family...
Delano Art Gallery through March
NCS Auction
Saturday, April 10th
New City School
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SPRING BREAK CAMP
Spring Break will be from March 15th through March 26th this year. We are planning another fun filled camp during this time. Please click on the following link to see the calendar of events and registration forms.
Spring Break Camp brochure
Please turn in completed forms to Aubrey or Tobie in the Extended Day office.
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DIVERSITY BOARD
Check out the latest interactive Diversity Board near the main office. If you were asked or required to choose one social identifier to describe yourself which would you choose?
Race/Ethnicity
Religion
Gender
Socio-Economic Status
Sexual Orientation/ Affectional Preference
Please stop by and share your answers. There are stickers and instructions to guide you in sharing your identifiers.
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Searching for 1-2-3 Magic
Have you borrowed a copy of 1-2-3 Magic or More 1-2-3 Magic from the school's Parent Library? A number of parents have asked Laurie (our counselor) if they could use the DVD, but we are out of all our copies. If you happen to have one still in your DVD player at home, please return it to Debbie or Dena in the main office or put it in Laurie's mailbox. Thanks so much!
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Young Writers Opportunities
The StudioSTL writing community has announced their winter line-up of Saturday writing workshops, geared towards youth ages 6-18. All StudioSTL workshops are free of charge and cover a wide range of topics -- young writers will learn songwriting with an amazing singer-songwriter and create children’s books using real book-making techniques. The workshops are crafted to be fun and empowering for young writers of any ability. Workshops are held at the writing studio at the Centene Center for Arts & Education near the Fox Theatre and Saint Louis University. All writers work with volunteer mentors at a 1:3 ratio and all writers are celebrated!
If your schedule does not allow your child to attend a Saturday workshop, consider having him/her submit written work for publishing consideration in the StudioSTL magazine. The Magazine is an annual publication, featuring poetry, essays, and stories by young writers, ages 12 to 18. All workshop participants and magazine authors will be invited to attend the StudioSTL author party, an annual community event in May to celebrate young voices.
For questions, or to register young writers for workshops, please contact StudioSTL at 314.289.4080, or visit their website, www.studiostl.org
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Please join us on Friday evening, March 5 for a viewing of the documentary Good Hair.
* When Chris Rock's daughter, Lola, came up to him crying and asked, "Daddy, how come I don't have good hair?" the bewildered comic committed himself to search the ends of the earth and the depths of black culture to find out who had put that question into his little girl's head! Director Jeff Stilson's camera followed the funnyman, and the result is Good Hair, a wonderfully insightful and entertaining, yet remarkably serious, documentary about African American hair culture. Good Hair visits hair salons and styling battles, scientific laboratories, and Indian temples to explore the way black hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of black people. What Chris Rock discovers is that black hair is a big business that doesn’t always benefit the black community and little Lola's question might well be bigger than his ability to convince her that the stuff on top of her head is nowhere near as important as what is inside.
*Taken from the Sundance Film Festival's Website.
Following the movie, participants will enjoy dessert and conversation with NCS parents, faculty and friends. Free childcare is available.
For more details and to RSVP, click on the following link:
Spring Diversity Event.
All RSVPs must be received by March 3rd, 4:00 pm.
Questions? Email Sheryl at sreardon@
newcityschool.org.
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