PAWS UP (Updates and Postings) 10.16.21 Part 2
PAWS CARES
From time to time, we can all benefit from some extra kindness. The PAWS CARES Team is comprised of families and staff members who are willing and able to lend a helping hand when one or more of our families is in need of some extra care and support. Please CLICK HERE to view the list of needed items and help if you can. Thank you in advance for your support, kindness, and care.
STEM Week
Next week is STEM week in Massachusetts. PAWS will participate in the district wide STEM activity! Get ready to learn more about it next week! “… STEM concepts help children develop new ways of thinking, encouraging curiosity and analysis. Establishing these at an early age (infancy through third grade), when young minds are most malleable, establishes lifelong thinking skills.” THIS article has more information you may enjoy.
The Boston Children’s Museum STEM Guide offers some great ideas about engaging in STEM activities. This excerpt from the BCM STEM Guide gives some great examples of how using “what questions” can help you to support your child’s learning, observation, thinking, noticing, and wondering.
(Image from the Boston Children’s Museum STEM guide, page 4, listing examples of “What” questions.)
I hope you will have time this weekend and in the weekends ahead to enjoy time outside in nature with your child. While there are many mental health and physical benefits to spending time outdoors in green spaces with grass and trees, you may also find some wonderful ways to create STEM challenges for your preschooler while enjoying nature, too! You might enjoy THIS article about some of the benefits of being in nature and check THIS link to find local parks you may enjoy visiting.
Thank you!
We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful community surrounding us and supporting the work we do in helping every student to thrive, grow and learn!
Thank you to the PAWS PTO for organizing the Staff Snack Sign-up LINK.
Thank you to the Donohue Family, Gibson Family, Mahoney Family, and Hall Family for your wonderful staff snacks and treats for the teachers! The faculty and staff really appreciate your support and kindness.
Thank you to the Cahalane Family for their donation of a Nespressso Vertuo machine with coffee and espresso pods for our coffee drinking teachers and staff to enjoy!
Thank you to the many families who offered to donate a wagon to replace the little wagon that went missing. We were inundated with generous offers for wagon donations and now have 5 lovely wagons for the children to enjoy! We have 3 wagons at PAWS, 1 at Fiske and 1 at Bates! Thank you to the Katz Family, Sisodia Family, Vaysprot Family, Bower Family, and Zajack Family for providing the children with wagons to enjoy!
Thank you to the families who donated beautiful orange pumpkins that line our school walkway at PAWS! I hear the children talk about the pumpkins as they walk into school each day. They count them, discuss the shape, size, and color, and we have noticed one pumpkin has some nibble marks on it! We are making guesses as to what kind of an animal might be enjoying our pumpkin! Could it be a chipmunk, squirrel, racoon, rabbit? It will be fun to continue to observe our pumpkins to see if more animals come to nibble at them as the weather gets cooler.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend! Thank you for your support and positive contributions to our school year and to our wonderful program!
Best,
‘Becca Z.
Important Dates:
October 18 – 22 – Massachusetts STEM Week
October 18 & 21 – Fire Truck and Firefighter Visit Day
October 27 – Parent/Teacher Conferences
October 28 & 29 – Wear something ORANGE Spirit Days
November 2 – Early Release Day for Parent/Teacher Conferences
November 3 – Parent/Teacher Conferences
November 11 – Veterans Day – No School
November 18 & 19 – Wear Something BROWN Spirit Days
November 24 – Early Release Day
November 25-28 – Thanksgiving Recess – No School
November 29 – No School for Students – Teacher Professional Development Day