Activities to Learn at Home!

This week as you work with your child on their curriculum, you may want to focus on your child’s ability to think critically.  Critical thinking is important in each area of the curriculum, whether your child is working on mathematics, science, language arts, history, physical education, foreign language, or fine arts.  Here are some ideas to help you work with your child to improve his or her critical thinking skills.

Ask your child to identify similarities in various objects in the room.  Take turns choosing two or three objects in the room. The items may not appear to have anything in common, like a picture and a tennis shoe.   Your child could say that both the picture and the shoe have body parts: the people in the picture have heads, arms, legs and more, while the shoe has a heel and tongue.  Your child may focus on the colors in the picture and in the shoe, for example, the people in the picture all have something white on and the shoe has white stripes.  You may include preschoolers in this critical thinking activity.

Children like learning from fairy tales.  Whether your child is able to read a fairy tale, or she listens to you read, she can increase her ability to think critically through this activity.  Motivate your child to edit a well-known fairy tale through the opinion or voice of another individual’s view.  For example, in the story of Little Red Riding Hood, your child could tell the story through the voice of the wolf.  He or she could give various details and new information that would help the wolf look like the good guy, rather than the big bad wolf.

Most of us have played Connect Four, Risk, checkers, chess, Chinese checkers, or other strategic games.  These games are not only challenging, but they build critical thinking skills.  When you play these games with your child you can help them process some of the thinking skills they are learning.  You may help them learn to look two or three moves ahead.  You may also want to introduce your child to singular strategy games, like solitaire, Rubik’s Cube, and Sudoku.

By supporting your child as he or she builds his or her critical thinking skills, your child will become more successful in his or her core curricular areas.  As you help your child work on academics, make sure to check in regularly with their teacher’s websites, the Columbia School District Live Feed on the myeagles.org website, and your individual school site.  If you have questions about Columbia School District, email me at Pamela.Campbell@myeagles.org or call 5162905747.

STEM at Columbia School District!

Although none of our students were born in 1992, most of our community members, teachers and parents remember the incredible devastation that Hurricane Andrew caused in Florida.  The hurricane came ashore a category 5 level storm and damaged many homes and businesses.  Following the storm, 1.4 million were without electricity and 150,000 lost their telephone service (Wikipedia.org).

As the community struggled to rebuild itself, scientists and researchers focused on determining and analyzing the effects of the storm on the ecological continuity and natural surroundings.  Researchers were excited about having a living laboratory to examine the recovery of the tropical fish population in the area and the destructive forces impact on the reefs and sea grass.  In addition, researchers worked to determine the psychological impact on the children who were affected by the storm, while forensic analysts with the police departments studied the increased lawlessness in the form of theft and criminal price overcharging.

In the Columbia School District our students receive the basics so that they can become individuals who have the ability to research, analyze, and measure or determine changes things have on their environment.  Beginning in kindergarten, the students work with their teachers to observe and graph changes in the state of water from solid to liquid.  As our students grow, they learn more about scientific facts and natural effects of weather.  Combined with our Columbia Central High School teachers, our students have the opportunity to take advanced courses in chemistry, biology, anatomy, engineering, and psychology. 

For example, in anatomy our students recently cooperatively and collaboratively worked together to dissect and examine minks.  As they studied the skeletons and musculature structure they could understand the connection to other mammals, including humans.  Much like the scientists who studied the psychological effects of the storm on children, our introductory and advanced psychology courses give our students an opportunity to learn the techniques of research and investigation into how the human mind works and processes information. 

As an extension of the scientific learning activities at Columbia, our students have the advantage that they can access college courses through the Jackson County Early College.  Many of our Columbia Central students are taking free classes at Jackson College.  Other students are taking dual enrollment classes at no cost at Baker College or Adrian College.  At Columbia our students are being prepared to make a difference in their community and in the world around them so that when the next scientific event such as a hurricane like Andrew happens, they can make a difference!  Interested in learning more about Columbia Schools?  Email me at Pamela.Campbell@myeagles.org or call 5175926641.

Many website designers are innovative and creative.  Customers who want to have the best website, want to work with the best designer.  The website designers focus on marketing with an analytical flair.    The websites may link to others, keep track of information, and have detailed analytics for their customers.

As their customers focus on checking the analytics, they gain a snapshot of their website users.  Those snapshots tell a story and show patterns.  What themes will be evident from the analytics?  Will patterns emerge?  Just like the website analytics creates a picture, Columbia families think about the mosaic of their lives, see small snapshots of their families, their children, and their lifestyles. 

At Columbia School District we care about our students and their families.  In the mosaics of our  

lives, the time we are living in is unique and hopefully we will never have to repeat this intense concern for the health of our loved ones. As we work to support each other throughout the next weeks and months, please know that Columbia School District will continue to care for our students and their families.

Our teachers and staff members have prepared child friendly educational resources that may be accessed through the school’s website.  Our custodians are working to sanitize all of our buildings while our children and staff members are out.  Our food service staff members are preparing meals for all area youth (ages 18 and under) on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Columbia Elementary School.  Those arriving to pick up the meals will not have to exit their vehicles, but will need to give the names of the youth the food will be going to.  The food backpack program will be provided to families on Friday, March 20^th at the Columbia Elementary meal distribution between 9 am and 11 am.

During the Corona Virus concern the Brooklyn Food Bank will be providing extra food for our families on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 am to 2 pm behind ReMax at 131 N. Main Street.  This extra food will not count in the regular six times per year distribution. Families from the area may come one time per week and must bring a picture ID and a piece of mail with their name and address printed on the envelope.  Families will drive up and not exit their vehicle.  The bonus food and forms will be brought directly to the family vehicle.  This plan will remain in effect until the Corona Virus situation comes to a close.  Food donations can be dropped off at the Village Peddler, downtown Brooklyn, Tuesdays through Saturdays.

As we continue to move through this new piece of the mosaic of our lives, we will learn and grow from the challenges.  Continuing to support each other through tough times can bring us closer.  Just like the best web designers, our community is innovative, creative and cares about excellence.  If you have questions about Columbia School District, please email me at Pamela.Campbell@myeagles.org or call 5175926641.

Using Cooking to Enhance Your Child's Reading Skills!

Cooking may not be your forte or you may be a person that is so good in the kitchen that you could win a baking competition.  Years ago as a young wife I did not have a long list of items I could prepare.  In fact my husband and I have many funny stories about the craziness that happened in the kitchen while I was learning to cook.  After years of practicing and experimenting, along with learning from others, I can cook for a small family or even up to 400 people in a commercial kitchen. 

Without instructions in the form of recipes or information off a website, it would be difficult to turnout a great meal for our family and friends.  In a similar way, we follow instructions or a recipe for student success.  Reading is a key to a successful tenure as a student, no matter what grade your child is currently in.  As a parent or grandparent you may be wondering how to support your child as they learn to read or improve their reading skills. 

One way to keep your child interested in reading while you are reading to them, or they are reading a book, is to identify options from the story for your work in the kitchen.  Teaming up with your child in the kitchen is a good way to support not only their cooking skills, but reading, mixed in with a bit of mathematics!   For example, the book “Dragons Love Tacos” talks about why Dragons eat tacos and how hot sauce makes them snort smoke.  Your cooking lesson could begin with tacos and spread to the condiments and other supporting items for the meal.  When your child helps you search for and read recipes, they will learn so much about various types of food and how to measure the items.  You can even sneak in a bit of math when talking about ½ cup or ¼ teaspoon.

If you are interested in reading Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham to your child, it is a fun time to make eggs, whether they are green or regular.  Even if you did not make green scrambled eggs, you could talk about adding green food coloring to other recipes like cupcakes, tropical fruit punch or pancakes.  It will be so much fun working with your child and helping them to learn how to read the recipe, cook and bake.

Each March Columbia School District celebrates Reading Month!  Our students will be focusing on reading this month and will be bringing home interesting ideas of how to make reading more fun.  Give your child the gift of reading by creating extraordinary ways of encouraging them.  Remember: Reading if the key to success!  If you are interested in learning more about Columbia School District email me at Pamela.Campbell@myeagles.org or call 5175926641.

Math Can Be Fun! Let's Try Fractions!

Math can be fun!  Columbia School District teachers use mathematics each day and help acquaint their students to information that will provide connections to everyday occurrences.  Sometimes students have a difficult time when they first learn about fractions.  You can make your child’s understanding of fractions deeper and more common sense.  Being able to see and experience fractions and their use through examples will help your child gain confidence. 

Each day we use fractions in many ways.  When we go to the grocery store, we experience fractions.  When we split a candy bar in half with our child, we are using fractions.  As the parent or grandparent, we can keep a list of how we use fractions in our daily duties and experiences.  Help your child keep a list of the fractions he or she uses in their daily activities.  Your child may list that he or she had an extra half hour of recess, or he or she only drank one-third of his or her milk at lunch.  In addition to a list or tabulation of how they use fractions, they may want to illustrate the examples.

To help your child learn more about fractions, you may play a game.  Gather ten pennies.  Put out three of the pennies on a piece of paper.  Ask your child to draw a circle around 1/3 of the pennies.  Try various combinations, such as 2/5 or 3/7. 

Another game can be played with paper where you draw various fractions.  Begin by drawing a circle and split the circle into thirds.  Ask your child to color in 2/3 of the circle.  Draw a rectangle and split it into five equal parts.  Ask your child to fill in 1/5 or 3/5 of the drawing.  You may continue by experimenting with various fractions.

For the next game you will create a set of cards with fractions written on them.  You and your child will put one fraction on each card, ¼, ½, ¾, 1, 1 ¼, 1 ½, 1 ¾, 2.  Mix up the cards and challenge your child to put them into order. 

By practicing, playing games, and connecting the use of fractions with everyday activities and experiences, your child will learn that fractions are ordinary and help us explain various relationships and interactions in everyday life.  If you are interested in learning more about Columbia School District or any of our programs, call 5175926641 or email me at Pamela.Campbell@myeagles.org .

Columbia Cardiac Emergency Response

 The Columbia School District vision is “Learning Today, Leading Tomorrow”.  An encouraging, positive and safe learning environment is pertinent to the success of our children.  Columbia has focused our efforts on providing a safe, secure environment for our students and staff members to properly deliver a positive beneficial learning environment for our school family.

This past week the Columbia teachers, staff members and administrators learned about our Cardiac Emergency Response Plan and how it benefits our students.  The Cardiac Emergency Response Plan was created with a partnership with the Columbia Township Fire Department and Project ADAM.  Since 1999, Project ADAM has provided schools with the resources necessary for planning and implementing school cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) programs.

The orientation to the Cardiac Emergency Response Plan included an overview of the plan and an example of an emergency scenario to help guide and direct responders, teachers and staff members.  The plan includes the creation of a Cardiac Emergency Response Team.  The teams are made up of five to 10 people in each building who are designated to respond in the event of a cardiac emergency.  The team members are located in various areas of each school building to ensure adequate coverage.

Sudden cardiac arrest events can vary greatly.  Faculty, staff and Cardiac Emergency Response Team (CERT) members must be prepared to perform the duties necessary in an emergency.   Immediate action is crucial in order to successfully respond to a cardiac emergency.  The Cardiac Emergency Response Plan orientation was led by Dr. Campbell who is a certified American Red Cross CPR and AED instructor. 

Over the next month the students in each building will become more acquainted to the Cardiac Emergency Response Plan and how to support the effort to increase the safe environment in our district.  In addition, the groups who are using the Columbia School District facilities will be able to access the plan and instructions.  The idea is to provide an increased level of safety for our students and community members while using our buildings.  If you are interested in learning more about the program or any other Columbia School District initiative, please email Pamela.Campbell@myeagles.org or call 5175926641.

January is School Board appreciation month.  Our dedicated Columbia School District board members share a common goal to provide a positive learning environment for our children.  With deep care and compassion our board members put in hundreds of hours focusing on the well-being of each student. Their time is well spent attending extracurricular activities, joining professional development sessions, and volunteering at school community events.  Continually advocating for children, they work diligently alongside parents and community members to set policy and create a vision to help our students experience educational success.

Education is very important in the history of the United States and the volunteer members of local school boards have been essential in the progress towards excellent learning environments for our children.  Complex challenges and serious issues, along with financial ambiguities face our board members as they collaborate with community members and parents. 

Our citizen school board leaders, President Robert Wahr, Vice-President Mark Fish, Treasurer Garrick Zuver, Secretary Jodi Collins, Trustee Brian Knapp, Trustee Dave Slusher and Trustee Chris Holbert, consistently rise to the occasion in their challenging duties with extraordinary dedication.  Their concerted efforts are the key to establish policies that will prepare our children to become future leaders.

I congratulate the Columbia School District board members for their success in providing an excellent educational experience for all of our children.  During this month of appreciation, join with me to applaud our school board members who provide enthusiastic support and caring for our students, teachers and administrators. 

There are many ways in which you may express your gratitude and support for our school board members: Email them a note of appreciation, send them a letter of support, express your thanks in a phone call, or make a donation to your favorite school program in their name.  Your positive feedback to these unselfish leaders will be greatly appreciated.  If you are interested in learning more about the Columbia School District, please contact me at pamela.campbell@myeagles.org or call 517-592-6641.