FCPS School Board Update - Jan 5th
Hi Common Ground Community,
I watch the FCPS School Board Meetings so that you don’t have to!
The School Board had a work session today that began at 3pm and ended around 8:45pm tonight. First, let me say that I have been listening to these meetings since July and every single member of our school board, whether you agree with each members politics or not, is doing the very best they can to represent their district, our community, and with the best interest of our students and teachers in mind.
And if you are curious, the board, after hearing from the principals associations that 75% were not comfortable with the proposed return to school timeline and the uptick in cases/percent positivity, urged the leadership team to work on a new plan. The school board voted to table return to school until the next work session, on February 2nd, with an update in 2 weeks at the budget work session. At this time, there will be no change to the virtual learning in Fairfax County - including no change to the new bell schedule.
While the topic was ‘Return to School’ for this school year, Dr. Brabrand was asked if he thought that the 2021-2022 school year would begin fully in person. His answer sited the Washington Post article “The Health 202: When will 2021 feel normal again? Here's what eight experts predict” and said that it could be April, but it could be January 2022. With that in mind, Common Ground is going ahead with plans for a Kindergarten for the 2021-2022 school year! We will share more information on our plans later this week!
Vaccination was also discussed at length. Educators - including childcare providers - are in group 1b, the next group that will be eligible for the COVID vaccination. While Dr. Gloria and the Fairfax County Health Department doesn’t have a timeline for group 1b - that guidance will come from the state - we know that we will be soon! The school board voted to send notice to the Governor to ask that educators be prioritized. While I am in full support of our county teachers being prioritized for vaccinations, I’m concerned that child care providers, who aren’t unified under a large body, like the school board, might get lost in the shuffle.
With that in mind, I am communicating with the health department, the department of social services, and even school board members today, to advocate for childcare providers. Earlier this week, however, I was more concerned with making sure that Common Ground’s staff could access the vaccine, but after the meeting last night, I think my voice needs to be used to advocate for all childcare providers!
Once 1b is a “go” for vaccination, we will share our plan with you all. I am hopeful that we can get all of Common Ground’s teachers vaccinated on the same days, hopefully on a Friday, so it may necessitate two “vaccination teacher workdays.” This will allow our teachers to get vaccinated and then stay home over the weekend while we recover from any of the vaccines effects.
Again, we have no time line at this point, but wanted to make sure you were aware of a possible vaccination process. Please, feel free to reach out if you have any questions, concerns, or ideas!
Tomorrow I will share some email templates and email addresses that you can use to help advocate for the vaccination of our childcare providers!
Thank you for supporting our teachers!
Liz
CG Challenges: A Mile a Day
Hello Everyone!
Miss Liz and I have been noticing the incredible benefits of daily, extended outside time on our students. They’re sturdier and more resilient. They have more energy but are simultaneously more able to pay attention.
With shorter days and bitter winds it is often harder to get out, especially after school and work. We totally get that. It is why we have started our own mile a day challenge. One mile of walking or running each day. That’s a twenty minute walk on average! It has been such a refreshing incentive to get out there even when we want to stay under our blankets and cuddle our dogs!
THEN we thought… do you know who would love this challenge? Our school-aged kids. They have to sit in front of the computer all day for school. Even if it’s cold, there is no better way to shake the sillies out than a brisk walk in the fresh air.
Monday through Friday, every day, we are going to get those kids out there, and we want you to join us! Walk a mile on your lunch break. Take a walk after work around your block or cul de sac. You’d be surprised how much energy you have for the rest of your Saturday if it begins with a mile in your shoes! It’s as good as a cup of coffee.
What do you think? Join us? We still have 26 days of January to go! You could also go from January 10 to February 10, or March 15 to April 15, every day is a new day to start something wonderful for yourself.
We will be posting our journey through January. Every day will be a little adventure, and while we are sharing ours, we hope you will share yours too! Do you have a little park by your house? Do you walk the trails? Do you prefer to bike the mile with your kiddos? Do you have a four-pawed companion that comes with you?
Post pictures or stories and use the hashtag #CGMileADay so we can see them all!
Show us what your mile looks like!
One mile a day… take that first step!
Miss LJ
Winter Reading Challenge!
All right Common Ground, the challenge you’ve been waiting for is HERE!
What: It’s the Fairfax County Public Library’s Winter Reading Challenge!
When: January 11 -January 25, 2021.
Step 1: Go to fairfaxcounty.beanstack.org to register for the challenge.
Step 2: Log the time you spend reading using Beanstack. You'll earn a badge for every 20 minutes you log.
Step 3: Complete activities to earn activity badges. Complete 3 challenges within each badge to earn an activity badge.
Step 4: Earn any 5 badges and you'll complete the program! You can do any combination of reading or activity badges. You could earn 5 reading badges, 5 activity badges or a combination of both. It's up to you!
Find answers to your Beanstack frequently asked questions here: Beanstack Winter Reading Challenge - All Ages - Reading Challenges for Youth and Adults.
CG Challenges: Mathematical Reading Recommendations!
Fairfax County’s WINTER READING CHALLENGE is such a fantastic idea!! We will be posting recommendations all winter! Today, the recommendations are all Math-based. A deep foundation of number-sense is key to a lifelong love and understanding of mathematics. This is easy to achieve because math is everywhere! It’s in nature. It’s in music. It’s there to help you share a muffin and build the best fort. By embracing all the opportunities to experience math, especially in beloved stories, we are giving our kiddos a leg up while spending quality time with them!
Here is a “top-ten” list of our favorite math books! Buy them for your bookshelf, or help us by picking one up for our classroom! Tangible, physical books that the kids can touch are especially good for growth.
1,2,3 to the Zoo by Eric Carle: A classic, colorful story that encourages kiddos to count to ten with their favorite animals. Also provides an opportunity for number pairs. (example: There are five animals! Two lions, three tigers! There are five animals! Four birds, one rhino!)
Feast for Ten by Cathryn Falwell: A count-to-ten book that ties numbers to food and family. Gives the opportunity for a class to have snacks and count them, or to “share” the food they pull together.
Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins: Introduction to subtraction from 10-0. Can be paired with an art project
Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert: This covers shapes as well as numbers, and it uses shapes to create bigger pictures.
Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews: Number names and sequences! Number comparisons! General number sense and subitization.
One Red Sun by Ezra Jack Keats: Simple 1-10 book, incredibly lovely, inspires art through mathematics
Five Creatures by Emily Jenkins: A whacky story that is so good for number pairs and comparisons!
Quack and Count by Keith Baker: This is perfect for subitization and number pairs, which is the beginning of addition.
Pattern Fish by Trudy Harris: Excellent for pattern recognition and repetition, as well as how to create patterns on your own.
Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins: This is more for spatial awareness along with distance and proximity. It’s also just a relaxing, fantastic story
Save the Date: Spirit Nights
In 2021 we will be having MONTHLY SPIRIT NIGHTS!
What’s a Spirit Night?
A Spirit Night is when a local restaurant supports Common Ground Childcare by giving a percentage of their sales profits for one evening! All you have to do is order food and let the restaurant know you are there to support Common Ground Childcare, and VOILA! You are helping us fundraise just by eating a good meal with your family!
It used to be we would gather at a restaurant and all eat together. These “Spirit Nights” were some of our absolute favorite evenings, especially in the cold months! The kids loved seeing their teachers and each other in a non-school setting.
These times will come again. And while we are waiting for them to return, we have decided that getting into the habit of scheduling them once a month will assure we all remember to save the dates!
We will post them as we get them, so be on the look out. SEE YOU THERE! And don’t forget to say “we’re here to support Common Ground.”
Our January and February Spirit Nights are on the calendar already!
On Saturday, January 16th you can support Common Ground by picking up Panera for your family! Delicious soups and hot fresh bread are the perfect combination to combat that cold, winter wind! (Click below for more info)
On Wednesday, February 10th our Spirit Night is at the North Point Baskin-Robbins! They are currently refurbishing their store so it will be EXTRA snazzy for those (almost) Valentine treats… Bring the kids, or make it a date!
Saturday, January 16th from 4pm to 8 pm at the Elden Street location
Wednesday, February 10th from 6pm to 9pm at the North Point shopping center location
Save The Date: Summer Camp Teaser
The Summer Camp you remember that your kids will never forget…
Kids need to be outside. They need to run under the trees, chase each other, skin their knees.
They need to play with rules they make up themselves.
That’s why Common Ground is hosting a classic summer camp that is perfect for any kid from kindergarten to rising fourth grader.
1 in 12 kids are as fit as the average child 35 years ago. Their attention spans are suffering under a sedentary education style. Sensory training, emotional regulation, physical stability, these are as key to learning as letters and numbers, and much harder to master after age 5.
We believe in exploration, reasonable danger, and dirt. Our weekly themes are designed to teach kids about the world and their own abilities. There will be projects, games, and field trips! We are also looking to do swimming lessons.
We will be outside as much as possible, allowing kids to foster independence through child-led lessons that encourage enthusiasm for holistic learning.
KEEP AN EYE OUT! We will begin registration in the next few weeks! Think Capture the Flag. Think trail running and skipping stones in the creek. Think sweat and dirt and sunshine. Your kids deserve a camp experience like you had.
LET’S GO OUTSIDE!
Ms. LJ
Every Day is a Holiday: Pet Costumes and Polka Dots
NATIONAL DRESS YOUR PET IN A COSTUME DAY!
Thursday, January 14th we will be dressing our pets and/or stuffed animals in costumes! Send us a picture of your pet/Stuffy dressed to the nines and we will make a big collage of our Common Ground animal crew!
NATIONAL WEAR POLKA DOTS DAY!
Big dots! Little Dots! Multicolored dots! Dots with squiggles! Dots with stripes! Dots like Dalmatian Puppies! On Friday, January 22nd we will be wearing polka dots here at Common Ground and ask you to do the same!! Send us your pics so we can make our Polka Dot-Palooza Picture Gallery!
Who We Are: Our Teacher Recommendations for Children's Books.
We have read them all! Twenty Times! In silly voices! We present to you Common Ground’s vetted list of children’s books for every age! When asked, the most popular authors were Eric Carle (overwhelmingly) and Anna Dewdney, but these were the personal favorites for everyone!
Ms. Marita, Infants Teacher:
Ms. Nha, Infants Teacher:
Ms. Patty, Infants Teacher:
Ms. Pinky, Toddler Teacher:
Ms. Simi, Toddler Teacher:
Ms. Kisha, 2s Teacher:
Ms. Delia, 2s Teacher:
Ms. Janette, 2s ad 3s Teacher:
Ms. Vanessa, 3s Teacher:
Ms. Petty, 3s Teacher:
Mr. Josh, 4s Teacher:
Ms. Adella, 4s Teacher:
Ms. Victoria, School-Age Teacher:
Ms. Mimi, Assistant Director:
Ms. Liz, Director:
Click Clack Moo, Cow's that Type by Doreen Cronin. I just LOVE how the farm animals organize a union to get better working conditions!
What you do Matters series (what do you do with a problem, what do you do with an idea, what do you do with a chance)
"None the Number" series
Ms. LJ, Teacher:
Chapter Book: The Boggart (The Boggart and the Monster is my favorite, but you should read the first one!)
Chapter Book: The Bailey School Kids — Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots is #1, but they’re all amazing
Chapter Book: The Hobbit — There are graphic novel versions too, but it’s a classic, it’s a charming read, and it’s worth it.
