Determination

We have traveled the Tri-Cities this month to find out who the strongest principal was!

okay, okay.... not really.  But we did have a lot of fun learning about determination and how we each have special gifts to share with one another to encourage one another and to help us reach our goals.  Due to snow and school closings we had to miss 3 schools.  Sorry principals, we will let the rest of you break boards with Mr. Brown from Red Dragon Karate another day :)

No one has a bigger influence on a child than his or her family!
That's why it's so important to share the values at HOME and at SCHOOL.

This month your child is learning about DETERMINATION in school:
deciding it's worth it to finish what you've started.

We hope you'll enjoy this monthly ezine
(ezine = emailed newsletter!)
and get some ideas for talking about DETERMINATION with your family.

   
Car Time -
Enjoy a song about DETERMINATION while in the car.
Listen to a preview HERE of "Finish What I Start." 
It's also easily downloadable to your phone or iPod for $1.39 a
song!

 
Open Wide - Just for Fun:   
Can you guess how tall the world's highest mountain is?

DISCUSSION STARTER:
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain. The summit is 29,029 feet-that's almost five and a half miles straight up! Climbing Mt. Everest is incredibly dangerous. In fact, no one had ever done it until Sir Edmund Hillary reached the top in 1953. The crazy thing is that two men almost reached the top only three days before him, but they turned around only 300 feet from the top because they were too exhausted!

 
WHAT DO YOU THINK? 
Why do you think it would be hard to climb a mountain like Mt. Everest?
What is the payoff for all the hard work that climbers of Mt. Everest have to do?
What are some tasks you have to complete-at home, at school, or with your friends?  Why is it sometimes hard to finish these tasks?
What good might come from our determination to keep doing those things?

Rest Time - (K-2): The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by: Mordicai Gerstein; In 1974, French aerialist Philippe Petit threw a tightrope between the two towers of the World Trade Center and spent an hour walking, dancing, and performing high-wire tricks a quarter mile in the sky. 

(3-5): The Incredible Journey by: Shelia Burnford; Instinct told them that the way home laid to the west. And so the doughty young Labrador retriever, the roguish bull terrier and the indomitable Siamese set out through the Canadian wilderness. Separately, they would soon have died. But, together, the three house pets faced starvation, exposure, and wild forest animals to make their way home to the family they love.


Experience: We all know that overwhelming feeling of being at the beginning of a huge project-homework, room cleaning, or home renovations to name a few. It can be discouraging. But when you get to the end and see your accomplishments, it's totally worth it! Learn this great lesson together as a family this month by setting up a complicated looking jigsaw puzzle. Work on it throughout the month, as a family and don't give up until it's finished!