February 5, 2010

Parents,

You may be interested in reading the Duke Gifted Letter. The link navigates you to the Winter 2010 newsletter A Newsletter For Parents of Gifted Children. The topics include:

Myriad Myths about Giftedness
By Matthew C. Makel, PhD

Sometimes it can be hard to detect the exception from the rule. This article reviews three lists of myths about gifted children and gifted programs.

Administrators of Gifted Programs: Paying Attention to the “Man Behind the Curtain”
By Richard Courtright, PhD

How can parents best advocate for their gifted child with school personnel? This article introduces ways to alter the attitudes, beliefs and practices of those who work most closely with gifted children in schools.

Enjoy,

Faith Shiver

January 27, 2010

Our service project for 2nd - 5th grades will be to help 5th grade collect coins for Haiti.

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January 13, 2010

Remember to click on your child's grade level above to see what we are learning about in the Explo Resource Room!

There still may be time for you (parents & students) to start a Quiz Bowl team. We have a Quiz Bowl at Jerger soon!

January 10, 2010

CONGRATULATIONS to our Jerger JETS FIRST LEGO League Team!!  5th Graders: Kaela Bellamy, Durant Fullington, Ryan Owens, 4th Grader: Jackson Singletary!! 2nd place Championship Award AND the Congressional Recognition Award! Good Luck at the state competition in Atlanta on January 23, 2010. The event will be at the Georgia Tech Student Center.

Parents,

I am working on completing your receipts for the End-of-Year-Trip. If your child is planning to attend, we need to receive your deposit by this Friday at the latest (Jan. 15th).

All EXPLO students received their new Independent Packets (located in the purple folder). The packet is due the week of
January 23, 2010. We will check folders weekly for progress on the completion of the activities.

Thank you for your continued support!

Ms. Shiver and Mrs. Haythorn
 

December 13, 2009

CONGRATULATIONS to our LEGO League TEAM!! 5th Graders: Kaela Bellamy, Durant Fullington, Ryan Owens, 4th Grader: Jackson Singletary!! 1st Place over all!!

Thank you to our competition coaches: Corey Fullington, Brian Bellamy, and Mike Owens

Reminder: End-of-Year Trip down payment is due by Wednesday...

December 2, 2009

END OF YEAR 2010
Explo Field Trip 

We are planning a three day / two night trip to Driftwood Education Center on St. Simon’s Island, GA. We have a link to the center’s website in the table above (End-of-Year-Trip). The dates for the trip are April 26, 27, and 28, 2010. We will leave early on Monday morning and return late that Wednesday. On the website you can view a packed educational schedule for the three days. We are giving you a schedule for payments and the trip meeting so that you can budget and plan ahead. Click HERE to download the forms for the trip - your child should bring home a copy of the forms today. If you have any questions, please email us or call the school (229) 225-2625.
 

Thank you to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Parent Advisory Team for helping plan the trip details!

November 4, 2009

Explo Parents and Students,

Now that the weather is cooler, it is a perfect time to head outside for a little family fun. This link to the Discover the Forest website gives several ideas for outside fun! The site includes a "Book of Stuff to do Outside" that can be printed and completed together. There are a variety of things to do that include using a compass, make leaf rubbings, croak like a frog, and much more. Have fun discovering nature in your back yard or a park this weekend.

October 20, 2009

The recent Duke Tips newsletter provided links to a few great websites to help your child learn about finances - which is another important 21st century skill! Click here to view the page.

Rob Rosenbury, Mack's dad, is interested in the Explo Boosters (our new name for the Explo Parents) hosting a Quiz Bowl at Jerger. In addition, he would like to get several more parents to volunteer to coach new Quiz Bowl Teams. The Quiz Bowl tournaments are an opportunity for our Explo students to meet Explo students from other schools. In addition, one of the gifted traits is a love of competition - which Quiz Bowl also provides. Please email Ms. Shiver if you are interested in coaching a team.

Thanks!
Faith Shiver & Lindajo Haythorn

October 14, 2009

Greetings Explo Parents!

We are excited about getting started with new units for our Explo Groups. Click on your child's grade level for more details about the unit.

Next, we want to thank the parents who are the Parent Contacts for each grade level ....

2nd Grade Contact - Tricia Cooper & Susie Pollock
3rd Grade Contact - Martha Jane Wilson & Christa Carter
4th Grade Contact - Jill Gaupp & Cynthia Beatty
5th Grade Contact - Sharyn Brown & Ceil Teehee

These volunteers have been working to coordinate the Explo Fundraiser during Super Science Saturday. We still need one more parent contact for 5th grade (our largest group).

We will have an Explo Report card inside of your child's regular report card. Please sign and return the Explo Report card to school.

Educationally yours,

Faith Shiver & Lindajo Haythorn