School Zone
February 24, 2016
A monthly newsletter covering Cottage Grove-area schools
Grant to fund KITS
program for
kindergarten readiness
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
A
new program utilizing
federal grant funds aims
to help the area’s incoming kin-
dergarteners prepare for school
even before the fi rst bell rings
this fall.
Jackie Lester, who began a
new position as South Lane
School District’s P-20 Coordi-
nator this school year, said that
the District will receive about a
$210,000 share in grant funds
for the Kids in Transition to
School, or KITS, program in
Lane County. Lester said the
program, which will gather
new students in two classrooms
each at Bohemia and Harrison
Elementary schools for two
days a week over the summer,
will help acquaint kids with the
academic, social and emotional
changes they will encounter
when they start school this fall.
The program is open to all area
students starting kindergarten in
the fall of 2016, and on Wednes-
day, Feb. 10, schools welcomed
incoming kindergarteners to
tour classrooms and meet their
prospective teachers in addition
to signing up some students for
KITS.
KITS will bring new kinder-
garteners to school twice a week
for two hours.
“In addition to the academic
areas we’ll be covering, the
program also teaches practical
skills and teaches the routines
kids will encounter in schools
— they’ll learn how to work in
table groups, how to make tran-
sitions and work with different
kids and different adults. This
should be especially helpful for
kids who don’t have prior expe-
rience with a preschool,” Lester
said.
“The District has a need for
this added preparedness across
all boundaries,” Lester said.
“We have a high number of kids
in foster care, kids being cared
for primarily by their grandpar-
ents and kids facing other ob-
stacles. We’re hoping to reach
families wherever they are with
this program.”
South Lane worked with the
Oregon Social Learning Center
to pilot the KITS program in a
classroom at Bohemia last sum-
mer, and the grant funding will
allow the program to expand
into three more classrooms. Lo-
cal teaching and classifi ed staff
will be trained to administer the
program, Lester said.
“We’re inviting other organi-
zations with early learning staff
such as Head Start and the Fam-
ily Relief Nursery to apply to
administer this curriculum,” she
said. “This should give us an
opportunity to learn the material
together, and the more we can
learn together, the better we’re
going to be at collaboration.”
In fact, Lester has stated that
creating stronger relationships
Homework help:
Creating a helpful
homework
atmosphere
C
photo by Jon Stinnett
Harrison kindergarten teacher Stephanie Black shows
incoming kindergartener Annabelle Stinnett a banner
that Black's students made to welcome new students.
between South Lane School
District and the organizations
that provide preschool care and
education has been a major goal
of her new P-20 position, which
is designed in part to integrate
kids’ school careers with the
education and care they receive
before entering school and after
they graduate. Lester will over-
see the KITS program in South
Lane, though she said South
Lane is linked with eight other
schools in a consortium through
the Lane Education Services
District. The grant funding is
only available through educa-
tion foundations and cannot be
distributed directly to school
districts, and the ESD agreed to
serve as the fi scal agent for eight
area districts including South
Lane that do not have their own
education foundation.
“It’s an exciting project, and
Lane ESD has been a fantastic
partner,” she said.
About 40 area families at-
tended the Feb. 10 pre-registra-
tion event, and Lester said the
District expects between 165-
200 new kindergarteners next
year. Another event to register
new kindergartners will be held
in April, and in the meantime,
Lester said the District wants
to hear from families with kids
about to enter school.
“If we don’t know about
them, we want to,” she said.
“Every year, there are families
that don’t register their kids
until about the fi rst part of Oc-
tober, and they’re typically our
highest-needs kids. We need to
fi gure out ways to attract them
and check in.”
Partnerships aid learning at Latham
As a small school, staff and students at Latham School say they're always looking
for ways to support one another as a community of learners:
lassrooms conducive to
learning may go a long
way toward helping students
understand the subjects they
study in school, but the environ-
ment kids encounter at home
also plays a big role in how
well kids do in their studies. A
homework-friendly atmosphere
at home can facilitate learning,
and there are many ways parents
can create such an environment
for their school-aged children.
Designate a homework zone
in a distraction-free area of your
home. Some youngsters are eas-
ily distracted, and those distrac-
tions come in many forms. A
living room where the television
is blaring, a noisy kitchen where
dinner is being prepared and a
room where pets can roam free
are not ideal homework areas,
as each can take kids’ attention
away from their assignments.
Designate a room in your home
that is quiet and well lit so kids
can do their homework free
from distraction.
Choose the right location
for the homework room. When
choosing an area of your home
where kids will do their home-
work, avoid rooms adjacent to
the kitchen and living room, as
these rooms tend to be popular
and subject to heavy foot traffi c.
But don’t choose a room that’s
too far away from the hustle and
bustle, such as the basement,
as that may make kids feel as
though they are being punished.
In addition, you want to be able
to periodically check in on kids
to see if they need help and
make sure they aren’t spending
their homework time surfi ng the
Internet or procrastinating.
Keep the homework room
clean. A cluttered homework
room may be less appealing to
children, and such disorganiza-
tion also can distract kids from
the tasks at hand. Encourage kids
to keep their homework rooms
clean, and help them clean up
if need be. Supplies and other
items kids need should be eas-
ily accessible in the homework
room so kids are not wasting
time looking for items they need
to complete their homework.
Let kids rest or relax before
starting their homework. An-
other element of a good home-
work atmosphere is letting kids
unwind between getting home
from school and cracking open
the books. A break between
school and homework time can
help kids focus better on their
studies. In the interim between
arriving home from school and
starting on their homework,
give kids a healthy snack that
can provide an extra jolt of en-
ergy they can use once they start
their homework.
Evaluate how the homework
zone is working. Once an ample
amount of time has passed, ex-
amine how kids are performing
on their homework assignments.
If they are doing well, then
there is no reason to break up
the current routine. If they are
struggling, ask them if there is
anything about the current setup
they dislike and address those
issues accordingly.
Kids rarely look forward
to doing their homework. But
the right atmosphere can make
homework seem like less of a
chore and more of an opportuni-
ty for kids to apply themselves.
Ms. Bower’s fourth-grade students pair up with
Mrs. Pabst’s kindergarteners once a week to par-
ticipate in PE activities.
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Cottage Grove Sentinel
Several times a week, Ms. Bower’s fourtth-grade stu-
dents go into Mrs. Prichard’s third-grade classroom to
help the students learn their multiplication facts through
song.
To help fi rst-grade students in Mrs. Chapman’s
room practice their reading skills, Mr. Bower’s
fi fth-grade students read with them twice a month.
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