Classroom Needs, Health and Safety Day Debrief, and Valentine's Day

Classroom Needs and Wants:

• Guest speakers for our unit on the human body.
• Are you a doctor or nurse?  Would you like to come share your knowledge of the human body and what you do for work with our class?  If so, let me know!
• Food magazines for our human body unit (i.e. Food Day, Martha Stewart Living, etc.)

Health and Safety Day!

Cascade Heights had its first Health and Safety Day, full of wonderful guest speakers.  We learned about:

Hygiene and the importance of effective hand washing: the new rule is cough or sneeze into your shirt (NOT your elbow or hands!); disaster preparedness and winter safety preparedness; the four components of physical health; dietary know-how and mindful eating; electric safety; Leave No Trace ethics; fire safety; internet safety; bus safety; police officers.

This day was emotionally taxing on first grade: there were some scary noises in the electricity presentation, and many of the first graders were thinking of frightening "what if" scenarios about stranger danger, fires, etc.  This is a natural response for inventive children who have any amount of exposure to the wider world.  The intent of this day is not to scare children, but to help them and their families know how to prevent, prepare for, and respond to possible dangerous situations.  Common sense goes a long way, and there are many people whose job it is to help us when we need it.

Please use this great opportunity to talk with your family to create a disaster plan, designate a meeting place for fires, and other important health and safety topics.

One thing that came up talking with the police officer is that every child should be able to recite their address and the phone number of a trusted adult.  This is something that when children master it, they feel a greater sense of control, power, and preparedness in facing the world.  Just like tying shoes, this is an essential life skill is learned at home.

Some suggestions to help your first grader memorize their address:
1.  Tape it to the bathroom mirror and they can study it while brushing teeth.
2.  Put it on a Post-It at the spot at the table so they can study it while eating.
3.  Tape it to the back of the front seats in the car and they can study it while riding around.
4.  Turn it into a little song.

Valentine’s Day/Oregon’s Birthday
Valentine's Day is coming up, and might be on the minds of Cascade students!  If you have not done Valentine's Day with CHPCS, or if you would like a refresher, please observe the guidelines below:

• Valentines should be handmade.  Start on them now!  They can be straight up Valentines, or bookmarks, origami, little books, cartoons, jokes, etc.  
• Students do NOT have to bring Valentines in.
• If students DO bring Valentines in, they need to bring one for every student in the class (we will make a class list in the upcoming days).
• PLEASE NO CANDY!  If you would like to include a little something, consider fruit snacks, pencils, trail mix, etc.
• We do NOT have a Valentine's Day party.  We will instead have a little fun observing Oregon's birthday, which also happens to be on February 14.  
• We will make "mailboxes" in class.  
• Valentine's Day is typically only "observed" by the primary classes; you should have your older students check with their teachers.

Thank you for reading!

-Mrs. Varis