If your student has a change in their health or has a healthcare need at school, please contact Susan Martin via email at susanm.martin@oshkosh.k12.wi.us. or contact the office at 920-424-0165.

If your student will need to take a medication during the school day, please have your child’s provider fill out and sign the appropriate form below. These can then be returned to the office or faxed by the provider to: 920-424-7583.

Over the Counter Medication Form *parent signature only required

Prescribed Medication Form 

Inhaler/Asthma Action Plan  

Epipen/Allergy & Anaphylaxis Form

*Reminder: The directions on the medication bottle/box must match the written order on the medication request form.*

REMINDERS:

• Stock Epi-pens do NOT go on field trips. 

• Please fill out an Emergency Epi-Pen/Anaphylaxis Plan even if you don’t have a personal Epi at school.

• PRN medications (Ibuprofen, Tyelnol, Tums etc.) must come in a New and  unopened Bottle.

• Is your child up to date with their immunizations? Please contact the doctor for physicals and immunizations! All students at Jefferson are required to have their Tdap, Polio, MMR, Varicella and Hep B! Please check with your doctor to see what wellness requirements are needed for your child.

Cold and Flu Season - Tips for keeping yourself safe and healthy:  

Wash your hands - Washing your hands (at least 20 seconds) is the first and best defense to protect yourself against germs.

Use Hand Sanitizer to help the spread of germs.

Drink lots of water to keep your body healthy and safe.

Get your flu vaccination shot yearly to help reduce the risk of illness.

 

Fire Safety (Smoke Detectors and Carbon Monoxide Detectors)

Practice fire safety. Most residential fires occur during the winter months, so don’t leave fireplaces, space heaters, food cooking on stoves, or candles unattended. Have an emergency plan and practice it regularly. 

Smoke Detectors and Carbon Monoxide Detectors should be checked on a monthly basis and make sure you change out the batteries.

Benefits of Exercise and Eating healthier foods

Just like adults, regular exercise is extremely beneficial for children.  Some of these benefits include managing a healthy body weight, prevention of disease such as Type II Diabetes, and reducing stress levels.  It is important to exercise about 1 hour a day.  

Eating your fruits and vegetables will help pack nutrients and help lower the risk for certain diseases. Limit your portion sizes and foods high in fat, salt, and sugar.  Drink 8-10 glasses of water daily 

Benefits of Sleep and Less Screen Time

School age children should get between 9 to 12 hours of sleep a night.  Children ages 5 and older are recommended to have no more than two hours per day of screen (videos, tv and tablets/ipads) time , except for homework.

 

 

Winter is here and students are wearing boots to school. Please remember that boots are not appropriate shoes to wear in the gym and all students need to have a SEPARATE pair of gym shoes to wear for Physical Education class. If this is an issue, please contact me so that we can work something out. Also, please ask your student(s) if their shoes still fit! Elementary students grow quickly and their gym shoes may not fit them the entire year. You may see reminder notes coming home with students that pertain to these items.

 

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION?

December flew by in Physical Education! Third, fourth and fifth grade students spent the first few days in the music room getting ready for their holiday concert. After that, all students got a chance to play under the giant colorful parachute. We spent the middle of the month doing station work which included the rock wall, hula hoops, tossing and catching, as well as a lot of equipment exploration for the younger grades. We ended december with some winter and holiday games such as Reindeer Races, Sleigh Ride, Decorate the Snowman, and Holiday Light Fight!

 

WHAT’S NEXT IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION?

In January, students will complete another day or two of stations to ease them back in from break. After that, Kindergarten students will be learning soccer skills while the first through fifth grade students work on their striking skills which can be completed with a lollipop paddle, their hand, or even their forearms if thinking about volleyball. 

 

KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE KIDS HEART CHALLENGE AS IT WILL BE APPROACHING VERY SOON!

 

#SPORTSMANSHIP

Ask your student(s) about our sportsmanship board in the gym. Students are selected based on behaviors that show good sportsmanship and a short sentence is written on a paper sports ball and stapled to the board. It is really starting to fill up! Our goal is to have the whole board covered by the end of 2nd semester. 

 

TIPS TO BE FIT AT HOME

The snow is here but that shouldn’t stop you from getting exercise! Here are a few tips for indoor and outdoor fun!

1. Shovel instead of using the snowblower (but be careful not to hurt yourself).

2. Build a snowman! Rolling that giant snowball through the yard is hard work!

3. Go for a run/walk. Sometimes the crunch of the snow beneath your feet after a fresh snowfall is the best sound. Enjoy it while getting some exercise.

4. Make fitness fun by making it a competition! Challenge your family members to see who can do the most jumping jacks before time runs out, or before the commercial during your favorite show is over. 

 

Thank you to everyone who made our Jefferson Winter Concert a success! Everything ran very smoothly and the students sang and played  beautifully! Our 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students had all worked very hard to learn and put together their music and it was great to see all of the families and friends who showed up to support them.

After our concert, the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders got to watch their performance. This gave them time to reflect on how well they did. With all grades, we spent the rest of the month talking about the various holidays that are celebrated all around the world in the month of December, as well as listening to music from those cultures about those celebrations.

 

 

 

Help Kids Make Friends and Interact Safely Online

This month's digital citizenship topics are relationships and communication. Soon after kids start reading and writing, they often begin interacting with others online. Whether they're chatting within games or texting family members, kids need the skills to interact respectfully. These skills will help kids -- and the people they're communicating with -- have positive experiences online.

Check out these 4 tips:

1. Give them the right words.

Kids learn about appropriate verbal and physical communication from watching you. But online conversations can be invisible. Occasionally, narrate as you're writing texts or social media comments when your kids are in earshot.

2. Play a game of telephone.

Discuss how a message can change depending on the person delivering it or the delivery method. Read a question like "What are you doing?" with different tones of voice. Talk about how emoji and punctuation can help communicate tone and emotions.

3. Help kids navigate online friendships.

In the beginning, you might limit all communication with strangers online. As kids get older, you can monitor any online chatting. And once they're more independent, you can discuss which methods of communication are appropriate as well as which types of information to keep private from online-only friends.

4. Develop their instincts.

Help kids trust their guts so they can exit iffy or inappropriate online conversations. Discuss different scenarios and ask how they would feel and what they would do.

“K–5 Family Tips: Relationships & Communication.” Common Sense Education, 5 Jan. 2021, https://www.commonsense.org/education/family-tips/k-5-relationships-and-communication. 

A new year means a chance to start a new reading challenge. A reading challenge is a great way to get children to grow the kinds of books they read. Even as adults, reading challenges help us discover new genres and authors that we come to love. The following URL is a Winter reading challenge from the Oshkosh Public Library to help children find joy in reading. Feel free to give it a go and attempt a couple or all of the items:  https://www.oshkoshpubliclibrary.org/content/wwro2022

Another way to discover new genres and authors is through “best of” lists. The New York Times just released the 25 best children’s books of 2021 here: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/08/books/review/the-best-childrens-books-of-2022.html 

 

 

 

Bridges in Mathematics Family Resources and Support

As the cold January weather has us indoors more often, I want to remind you that there are many family online resources available to you as you learn more about your child’s math curriculum, Bridges in Mathematics. Below are the steps to navigating Math Learning Center’s online resource.

I would like to highlight the Math Learning Center FREE APPS this month. These are wonderful tools for students to help model and work through math problems. Many of the apps are digital models of the hands on tools that the students utilize in the classroom. Be sure to check them out! They are AMAZING!

 Go to www.mathlearningcenter.org  Here you will find six tabs below the title. Start by going to the                 For Families tab which provides two options.

                                                                                                                                                                     

 

 Option #1:  Bridges Family Support tab. Here you will find unit overviews for each grade level as well as free apps and additional parent blogs and article resources. You will need to select the grade level..Check out the FREE Math Apps that provide the tools that students can model and explain their math thinking process as they work through math problems. These are found when you scroll down.

 

              Option #2 Home Learning Resources tab you will find a list of the math skills your child will learn this         year and numerous online math games to build math skills at home.