Kentucky Department of Education

In this issue:

*A strategy for teaching your child to set goals

*Columbia Gas of Kentucky awards Kentucky Scholars Initiative

*Important dates/terms from act.org

*Online pledge against bullying

*Fruit, vegetable program gets results

*Halloween safety

 A STRATEGY FOR TEACHING YOUR CHILD TO SET GOALS
*From “The PTA Parent” newsletter and the National PTA
Children as young as 5 can be taught to set simple goals that yield quick results. This skill will help your child and prepare him or her for adult life. The important thing is to instill the habit of setting goals and show a child how to plan actions to achieve them. Here are five steps to get started, according to Terri Khonsari, author of Raising a Superstar: Simple Strategies to Bring out the Brilliance in Every Child:

1. Define the goal: Help your children define their goal and what they want to achieve. Resist the urge to set goals for them. Your job is to listen and help them find and define what THEY want to do. Their goals might include learning a new sport or musical instrument or even simply baking a cake or getting an "A" in math or history.
2. Put it on paper: Ask your children to write down their goals or draw a picture of them. You then have a way of putting their goals on a wall or a door where they can see them every day. Everyone else can see them, too, and show their support.
3. Lay out an action plan: Help them understand the importance of having a plan. Ask them how much time they want to put into it every day, who they want to talk to that could help them succeed, and if they need to read or educate themselves to achieve the goal. Help them create a road map showing how they plan to get to their destinations and set a date for the goal to be reached.
4. Teach persistence: Help your children when they get discouraged and frustrated. This is when they learn to overcome failure. Talk about the lessons they learn when they face challenges to achieve their goals. Encourage them to visualize success in their mind every day, create excitement during the process and keep them motivated until they achieve their goal. Give your children the motto of "when you believe it, you can achieve it!"
5. Celebrate success: Acknowledge your child’s good work and celebrate success! Prepare an appropriate and meaningful reward. You know your child and can find ways to reward him or her that can create great memories, like going to an event or a game - it doesn’t always have to be material.

When you teach the process of goal setting, it is essential for your children to see you as their role model. They learn from you and what you do more than what you tell them to do. Share your own goals with your family and brainstorm with them when you create your personal action plan. Get them involved and practice mutual support in helping each other. This way the benefits of goal setting and hard work are clear to the whole family, and you can all share in the rewards.

To learn more about Khonsari's work, visit RaisingASuperstar.com and sign up for more free tips on raising happy, healthy and successful children.

 

COLUMBIA GAS OF KENTUCKY AWARDS KENTUCKY SCHOLARS INITIATIVE

Students considering the Kentucky Scholars Initiative (KYSI) will have an added incentive to participate thanks to a $20,000 gift from Columbia Gas of Kentucky. The gift will be used to create “Columbia Gas Scholarships” and will award students across Kentucky who graduate having completed the Kentucky Scholars Course of Study.

KYSI engages community business leaders to help motivate middle and high school students toward the kind of rigorous course taking that will help them succeed in college and the workplace and then, compete for tomorrow’s best jobs. KYSI is an initiative of the Partnership for Successful Schools, which recently merged with the NewCities Institute, a national non-profit organization focused on civic education.

The Columbia Gas award complements a newly established partnership between KYSI and the Kentucky and Community Technical College System (KCTCS) in which KYSI will work closely with the communities served by the 16 KCTCS colleges to begin or broaden Kentucky Scholars programs there.

The role of KCTCS will be to help districts build an understanding among students and their families of the importance of planning and preparing for postsecondary education.

The Kentucky Scholars Initiative also is supported by the Kentucky Department of Education, whose officials helped launch the initiative in 2004. KDE continues to be a strategic partner and furthers KYSI’s mission to spread the word about the value of rigorous courses in the high school experience.

The Kentucky Scholars Initiative is a program of the Partnership at New Cities, formerly the Partnership for Successful Schools. For more information, please contact Polly Marquette at (859) 321-6512.

 

IMPORTANT DATES/TERMS FROM ACT.ORG

Act.org wants parents to know about some important dates coming up concerning the ACT and the college application process. Also below are common terms used when planning for a college education.

November

• The deadline to register for the December ACT test date is Nov. 7.

December

• Some early admission decisions are available, so check with any schools to which your child submitted an application.

• The ACT is administered on Dec. 13.

• Complete and mail college applications with Jan. 1 deadlines.

• Prepare for the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), because it will be available Jan.1.

January 2009

• File the FAFSA as soon after Jan. 2 as possible.

• Registration deadline for the February ACT test date is Jan. 6.

College planning terms

·        Common/universal application – form that allows a student to submit one application to many different schools. Both are available online at http://www.commonapp.org and http://www.universalcollegeapp.com. Some schools also require supplemental forms.

·        Early decision – a binding agreement between your child and the school. You apply early, and if admitted, are bound to attend the school. The application deadline occurs early and the admission decision is delivered early.

·        Rolling admissions – a process in which a school reviews applications and makes decisions on them throughout the year.

·        Early action – students can apply to an early action school and receive an admission response early. The decision is usually non-binding, but a student may agree to forgo applying to other early action/early decision institutions. When conditions apply it is sometimes called Restrictive Early Action.

·        Open admissions – an admission decision, usually made by public junior and community colleges, without regard to your academic performance.

·        Transcript – the official record of your child’s educational achievements, provided by his or her high school.

·        Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) - the key to unlocking student financial aid, it should be completed and submitted as soon after Jan. 2 as possible. The form and supporting information can be found at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov.

You can find glossaries of college and financial aid terms on several Web sites, including:

·        Finaid.org: www.finaid.org/questions/glossary.phtml

·        College Confidential: http://tinyurl.com/4vfskn

·        FastWeb: http://tinyurl.com/545n5f

 

ONLINE PLEDGE AGAINST BULLYING

Over 1,000 students, parents, educators and community members have taken the Kentucky Center for School Safety (KCSS) online pledge against bullying.

Children can still take the pledge, and parents are encouraged to do so, too. After pledges are made, certificate can be printed out, and you can view your county statistics.

Oct. 19-25 is Kentucky's Safe Schools Week so join schools across Kentucky as they pledge to make the learning environment healthy and nurturing for everyone. Click here to see how many people in your county have taken the online pledge against bullying. Hopkins County is currently leading with over 500 pledges.

 

FRUIT, VEGETABLE PROGRAM GETS RESULTS

Paul McElwain, director of the Division of Nutrition and Health Services, is hearing good feedback from several of the 48 Kentucky schools participating in the federal Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program implemented through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“It’s been a big hit,” said McElwain. “I’m getting e-mails and phone calls from the participating districts, and they are thrilled with the program.”

Funded through HR 6124, the federal Farm Bill, the program is providing free fresh fruit and vegetable snacks to students in eligible schools, serving more than 16,000 Kentucky students.

It is intended to increase children’s fruit and vegetable consumption for their better health. Eligible schools receive funding from USDA to purchase their choice of snacks, which are made available during the school day outside regular meal times.

Kentucky received a total of $836,044 for the program, and each participating school is reimbursed approximately $50 per student to provide the snacks. Eligibility criteria for the program targeted elementary schools in which high percentages of students qualified for free or reduced-price meals.

 

HALLOWEEN SAFETY

Parents of trick-or-treating kids can get so caught up in the fun themselves that they might forget some simple safety ideas that could save everyone some trouble. Having a fun and safe Halloween will make it all worthwhile.

Below are just a few common sense tips from Halloween Safety Guide that can help.

·        The best bet is to make sure that an adult is going with them. If you can’t take them, see if another parent or a teen-aged sibling can go along.

·        Know what other activities a child may be attending, such as parties, school or mall functions.

·        Make sure you set a time that they should be home by. Make sure they know how important it is for them to be home on time.

·        Explain to children the difference between tricks and vandalism. Throwing eggs at a house may seem like fun, but they need to know the other side of the coin as well; that clean up and damages can ruin Halloween. If they are caught vandalizing, make them clean up the mess they’ve made.

·        Explain to your kids that animal cruelty is not acceptable. Kids may know this on their own but peer pressure can be a bad thing. Make sure they know that harming animals is not only morally wrong but punishable by law and will not be tolerated.