Friday, May 12, 2017

OB Weekly News 5_12

MAY
15 2nd Gr. Zoo Trip, 9 a.m.
17  4th Gr. Party @ Stacy Park 11-3 p.m.
18  4th Gr. Transition Ceremony, 7 p.m.
19  Last day of School, 1:15 p.m. dismissal
End of Quarter 4
24 Report Cards mailed
Announcements:
PTO NEWS
As we come to the end of the year, the PTO board members would like to thank our chairs, volunteers, and community for making this year so successful. All of our events could not be possible without your time and energy.
Please help us to make next year even better by taking our End of Year Survey. It will help us plan for the next school year. 
OBPTO End of Year Survey
Also, we are still looking for some volunteers to chair a few more events. Please consider donating your time to make our events/fundraisers a success.
Back to School Bake Sale

Dance A Thon
Giving Assembly
Schnuck's E-scrip
Spirit Wear
Fun-Raiser (sign-up parties and online auction) Dad's Club

Trunk or Treat
If you have any questions, or would like to volunteer for a position, please contact
oldbonhommepto@gmail.com

THANK YOU
We have some mighty talented students at Old Bonhomme. A huge thank you and great job to all of you that shared your talents with us! The Spring Fling could not have been possible without the help of Lizzie Berman, Lauren Murov, the Dad's
Club, Ms. Ladue and all of the volunteers (including the freezing 4th graders). Thank you everyone!!

Summer Reading
Are you looking for a good book to read this summer? Check out How to Raise an Adult by Julie Lythcott- Haims. This semester a few of us met to discuss the book and had the opportunity to hear Dean Julie speak. She made us feel better about parenting by being honest and real with us. She gave us tips to improve our relationships with our kids and strategies to prepare them for success. Here are a few of the things that stuck out for our book study group.

"You are not your child's concierge. It is not your job as a parent to make everything in your child's life smooth and comfortable. If we do everything for children, they do not learn that they are competent and independent people with hopes and aspirations parents may not even be able to imagine.”
- Melora Pruneau (OB teacher and parent of three adults)

"Perfectionism is not only the enemy of the good; it is the enemy of adulthood.” (p.174) Allowing our kids the freedom and safe space to fail encourages independent thinking.
- Stephanie Afful (OB parent of 2)

“Dean Julie got me thinking about how I greet my son the minute he walks in the door from school. Do I bombard him with questions before he even gets a chance to sit down? Putting myself in my child's shoes, how would I feel if every day when I got home from work, I was questioned. i.e. How was work today? Did you turn in all your projects? Did you listen to your boss? How was your behavior? Now, I give him a chance to relax, and ask a simple "How was your day?" or "Tell me something good about your day." Not interrogating him about every little thing every day shows him that I trust him to do what's required each day without me checking up on him and I am genuinely interested in what he chooses to share with me about his day.”
- Camilla Wilson (OB parent of 1)


“If we teach our kids not to talk to strangers, then they leave home as adults and literally everyone is a stranger. Teach them how to discern among the 99.9% harmless and 0.1% creepy.”
- Stacy Jurgiel (OB parent of 4)

“You have to be brave to do the right thing for your kids. Julie talked about letting them fail now so they learn how to be resilient as adults. It's hard to do, but letting them learn how to deal with forgotten homework or lunch boxes in elementary school is a far kinder place to learn that lesson than high school or beyond.”
- Stacy Jurgiel (OB parent of 4)

“It's not healthy to set unrealistic goals for your kids, such as is done at the high school level competition to get into the very few most prestigious highly selective colleges. If they only accept 5% of applicants, it's like taking an umbrella when the chance of rain is 5% - it's foolish!”
- Stacy Jurgiel (OB parent of 4)

“Dean Julie told us to stop cutting our ten year olds meat. I felt like she was talking directly to me. Ever since then I have let my son cut his own meat. He is getting pretty good.”
- Hayley Arnold (OB counselor and parent of 2)

“Julie had me at....I'm not really into this parenting thing....and yet she adores and loves her children fiercely. I have thought many times how draining this whole parenting thing is...and how much happier I am as an individual, and thus as a parent and spouse, when I do NOT hyper focus on parenting, but rather on GOTR, the Race for Refugees, friends etc. I really think it's important for us to understand that our kids are not obligated to be the one and only source of our joy - that if our children do not have a good day then we do not have a good day. Too much pressure on our kids! I felt very relieved that yes, it is possible to love our children so much but not really be into this parenting thing. And that what we are really trying to do is help humans to thrive."
- Heather Huewe (OB parent of four)


Read this New York Times Article and check out Julie'sTed Talk to learn more about the book. You can follow Julie on Twitter @DeanJulie and learn more about her work by visiting http://www.howtoraiseanadult.com/.
The Ladue School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, socioeconomic status, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age or any other characteristic protected by law in its programs or activities. Inquiries related to the district’s employment practices may be directed to Ken Rossics, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources. Inquiries related to district student programs may be directed to Dr. Derrick Wallace, Director of Student Services. Both administrators can be reached at Ladue Schools Administrative Center, 9703 Conway Road, Saint Louis, MO 63124; 314-994-7080.