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PRINCIPALS CORNER

DIVINE SAVIOR ACADEMY10311 NW 58th StreetDoral, FL 33178305-597-4545www.dslca.org

January 7, 2011VOLUME 7 ISSUE 3

January 8 School Spelling Bee

January 10-14 Middle/High School Exams

January 14 End of 2nd Quarter

January 17MLK Day, NO SCHOOL

January 21Report Cards Sent Home

January 31Cyber Crime presentationsfor parents, 9:00 a.m. and

7:00 p.m.

2010-2011 School-Year Theme2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus

Christ.

Dates To

Remember

Quotes of the Month

Anyone who has never made

a mistake has never tried any-thing new.

Albert Einstein

If we do not plant knowledgewhen young, it will give us noshade when we are old.

Lord Chesterfield

Scripture of the Month

I am the vine, and you are thebranches. If a man remains inme and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me youcan do nothing. John 15:5

As the father has loved me sohave I loved you. Now remainin my love...My command isthis: love each other as I haveloved you. John 15:9,12

Homework is something that all parents recognize as part of the educational processof their children. Yet, there are many misconceptions about homework, some of which can have a negative effect on your child.

Homework is typically defined as any teacher -assigned task intended for students toperform outside school hours (Marzano, 2007). The purpose and benefit of home-

work is varied. Homework is good for teaching discipline. Homework is also goodfor reinforcing what was taught in the classroom and extending the learning opportu-nities outside of the classroom. According to Fraser, Walberg, Welch, & Hattie(1997, p. 234), schooling occupies only about 13 percent of the waking hours of thefirst 18 years of life, which is less than the amount of time spent watching television.However, homework can also be misused. Homework must not take the place of materials or curriculum not covered in the classroom because of various factors suchas crowded classroom or pressure to prepare students for a specific task (FCAT).Homework does not take the place of a balanced curriculum.

Also worth noting: There is good homework and bad homework. Good homeworknot only reinforces what was learned, but also uses what was learned as a base to

develop critical thinking skills. Good homework will be returned to the teacher, cor-rected, and then returned to the student. Good homework will also help create a dis-ciplined mind and a good work ethic. Bad homework are assignments that are morebusy work than a genuine complement to the learning process and often are not cor-rected and returned to the student.

So, what is an appropriate amount of homework? As Marzano (2007) states, Itis...important to remember that the amount of time spent at homework is fairly mean-ingless in itself. ...it is not time per se that has a positive effect on student achieve-ment. Rather, it is the proportion of homework completed that appears to producethe strongest achievement gains. A simple rule of thumb is: 10 minutes for eachgrade level beginning with Kindergarten plus 20 to 30 minutes of daily reading time.

That would mean that a third grader should have about 40 minutes of meaningfulhomework. Parents who are impressed because their third grader has two hours of homework each day are misinformed. Excessive homework is counter productive,tends to burn children out, and gives them a negative attitude towards learning.Conversely, having little to no homework is also counter productive to the learningprocess.

Homework is also beneficial when parents participate in an appropriate manor. Thekey is to make sure that parents know their role; primarily being an encourager andquestioner. Continued on page 2...

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Page 2VOLUME 7 ISSUE 3

Counselors Corner by Connie Rodriguez-Leyrer

Helping Children Take Ownership For Their ActionsMost of us when asked what we want our children to become include "responsible" among other things such as happy,respectful, and caring. We want our children to learn to make wise choices, be responsible for their actions and live re-sponsibly.

Do we teach children to become responsible by simply giving them chores to do? That's part of it for sure but only part of it. What about learning to be responsible for their actions? What kind of messages do we give out that either encourageor discourage a child to become responsible? How are we at taking responsibility for our actions?

It's important to teach our child to take responsibility for their actions. If you do, you'll be helping them out, now, and inthe future.

1. First off, look to yourself. Do you take responsibility for your actions? Do you try to blame others for your mistakes? Or

rationalize them away? "If you don't, your child will see how you're not taking responsibility for your actions. So whyshould they!

2. Set ground rules for your child. So they know what you expect. Make sure your boundaries and expectations areclear.

3. If they break the rules, don't ignore it. Tell them that you are aware of what they did and therefore there will be conse-quences. You can't make your child be sorry for what they did. But you can get them to take responsibility for it by givingthem a consequence.

4. Offering choices for your children provides them with many opportunities to learn about responsibility. Life is all aboutchoices. They learn to live with the consequences of their choices. It says to them that they are capable of making achoice. This in turn encourages mutual respect and a healthy sense of self-worth.

5. Goal setting is one path in helping children learn to become responsible. By setting goals, children take ownership for their actions. Goal setting should be a joint effort between adults and children. It is important that children understandand buy into the need to have goals.

6. Discipline through natural and logical consequences so as to teach your children to become responsible for their be-havior. Our job as parents is to help make children accountable for their behavior.

Its important for parents to find a balance with their children. To create an atmosphere of respect in the home, parentsneed to steer away from being too controlling and authoritarian. You also need to be firm and consistent to ensure theydont become lax or permissive in their parenting style. Know that learning responsibility is a process. Dont give up! Be-lieve in yourself as a worthy role model.

Announcements on page 3

It is not expected that parents know everything the child is doing; rather, a parent should be a facilitator of learning, hold-ing children accountable for getting homework done on time.

Some final key points to remember about homework:

The younger the student, the less homework teachers should assign.

Homework should relate directly to identified learning goals.

Homework should be designed so that students can perform it independently. By definition, homework should bedone by students without the help of a teacher overseeing the process.

Homework should involve parents and guardians in appropriate ways. Parents and guardians should never giveanswers or do homework for the student; rather, the parent or guardian should be a facilitator of learning.

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We will have an open house on Thursday, February 10th from 7:00p.m. until 9:00p.m. for new prospects to DivineSavior. This is a great time to share the blessings you and your children are experiencing at DSA with others, thatthey too might become part of the Divine Savior family.

Parking reminder: Please follow these parking lot rules for everyones safety and pick -up ease.- No Parking along the sidewalk or in the circle. If you have to get out of your car, that is considered parking.- Do not enter the parking lot on the far east side (near the new building entrance). Exit only in the middle or on theeast side.- Unless your child is in PreK or Kindergarten, arrive 10 minutes after your childs release time. School ends at 2:45,3:00, and 3:15. That does not mean children are waiting to be picked up at that time.- If your child is in grades 6-10, please do not arrive any earlier than 3:20. Those parking spaces are essential for the younger students parents.

The Spelling Bee is Saturday, January 8. Notes have been sent home regarding the various times. Some parentshave asked why the 1st and 2nd grade students are together, the 3rd and 4th grade students are together, and whythe 5th-8th grade students are together. The answer is because that is how the National SCRIPPS spelling bee isset up. If you notice the final national competition that is aired annually on ESPN, students from grades 3-8 partici-pate on the same level. (Even students in a grade as low as 1st grade may participate.) The purpose for the group-ing is to expose children to competition and to challenge students on all levels. This is a great opportunity for our children to compete with one another and have fun spelling words.

As indicated on the school calendar, there is no school on Monday, January 17th in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.Day.

On January 31st at 9:00 a.m. and again at 7:00 p.m., DSA will be hosting a guest from the Child Cyber-Crime Unit of the Florida Office of the Attorney General. Our guest will be giving a special presentation on the dangers of onlinepredators as it relates to social networking, online bullying and other related topics. Please make every effort to at-tend this special presentation. This will be followed up with an age-appropriate presentation to our middle schooland high school students based upon grade level. Additional information will be sent home later this month.

Next week is exam week for students in grades 6-10. Students will be released at 12:00 on Wednesday, Thursday,and Friday. Please make sure your children get plenty of sleep, study hard, and eat a well-balanced breakfast eachday.

Finally, in the very near future, the teachers will begin preparing the students to take our Stanford 10 tests in March.Please stay tuned for more information from your childs teacher.

Announcements

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