Van Meter Home & School Club

Wishing all our Van Meter Bulldogs a Happy & Healthy Thanksgiving! We are so grateful for our incredible community of parents, students, teachers and staff. #LUCKY

District Board Meeting. Please attend tonight's board meeting @ 6:30pm. They will review the back-to-school plan documented here: https://agendaonline.net/public/Meeting.aspx

This year Van Meter Elementary will team up with One Warm Coat to hold a coat drive and we need your help! From November 9-20, stop by the front of Van Meter to drop off gently worn coats. You can learn more about One Warm Coat by visiting their website at onewarmcoat.org. Thank you for your consideration!

Support your reader & Van Meter!!

Warning- Long Post but worth the read! Curious about school meals? November Fridays are particularly great days to give them a try... ...Continue reading

Swing by & pick up your supplies! * your child does not have to be with you when you pick up your FREE meal(s) at Fisher

Friday’s Tips: Connecting with Others Today is the last day for our Red Ribbon Week. We hope you have found these tips helpful. The fifth pillar of health is "connecting with others." Our global pandemic has created barriers for people to connect socially. Today we are going to highlight a few ways we found to connect to others in a safe manner since having social connections is a way that people of all ages stay healthy. Send flowers or a hand-written note to a friend or s...omeone you care about. (If your child doesn't write, simply sending a drawing or a handmade paper snowflake in an envelope will be well-received by friends and family! Technology can be helpful. Try a zoom call with friends or family around a theme. Bake a pizza or cookies together through technology. Have a family dance party to kick off the weekend! If you are lucky enough to have a kindergartner now at Van Meter Elementary you may be inspired daily with this Jack Hartman song. We love it in our family, and we hope that kids and adults of all ages can let loose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cswroZoOjv8. Another song that may be inspiring some of our Blossom Hill Families is this song, by Queen, for the students in the upper grade chorus (Thank you Mrs. Milos!): (You're My Best Friend") https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaZpZQG2z10. Acknowledge feelings. It is hard to be away from certain friends or activities during this time. Here is an article that has tips for how to help a child cope: https://www.babysleep.com//how-can-i-help-my-children-con/. Please read more about CASA and Red Ribbon Week at casalg.org and redribbon.org. See more

Thursday’s Tips: Getting Enough Exercise. Red Ribbon Week is all about "Being Brave, Being Healthy and Being You!" The fourth pillar of health is to get enough exercise. Everyday it is important for us to move! Here are some games that you can try at home! "Everyone is a coach" where everyone gets to be the coach and get the family moving with the activity of their choosing. Kids will love coaching their parents and siblings. Fit Deck Shuffle where you assign an exerci...se to each suit in a deck of cards (i.e. spades are jumping jacks, hearts are squats, diamonds are push ups, and clubs are sit ups.) Shuffle the deck, draw a card, and then do that exercise to match the value of the card (a 2 of clubs would be 2 sit ups, a 8 of spades would be 8 jumping jacks). Face cards can equal whatever you want them to equal. Source: https://www.todaysparent.com//our-favourite-family-fitnes/ https://www.parents.com///10-ways-to-exercise-as-a-family/

Wednesday's Tips: Maintaining a Healthy Diet This Red Ribbon Week is inspiring us to "Be Healthy." Today let's focus on maintaining a healthy diet. We have found a few new recipes to get the whole family involved: Team Nutrition Cooks! - Team Nutrition Cooks! is a series of cooking-based nutrition activities for children ages 8 to 12 years old. These activities can spark children’s interest in trying new foods and help empower them with skills for independence. Cooking can ...also help kids become more interested in making healthy food choices that can help build and support good eating habits throughout their lifetime. A new smoothie recipe from CASSY: Making Healthy Smoothies (CASSY is a Silicon Valley nonprofit agency that partners with local schools to support students' social and emotional well-being through crisis intervention, ongoing counseling, and proactive mental health education.) Please don't forget there are resources in our community to help provide balanced meals for families, such as the nutrition plan meal service found LGUSD Food Services webpage. Complimentary breakfast and lunch services will be extended through December 31, 2020. Drive thru service will be offered at R.J. Fisher Middle School. The hours for pick-up Monday through Friday 8:00am -9:00am for breakfast and 12:00pm - 1:30pm for lunch. All meals are free to those 18 and under regardless of income. Sources: fns.usda.gov and cassybayarea.org

Tuesday Tips: Reducing and/or Managing StressWith everything that is going on, let’s Be Brave today to try something new to increase our coping skills for stress. One way to help children with stress is to model how to cope with it ourselves. We found this helpful starfish breathing exercise that can help reduce stress in the moment: https://www.projectplaytherapy.com/starfish-breathing-help/. Also, we found this article by the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI...) that provided a menu of ideas: Accept your needs. Recognize what your triggers are. What situations make you feel physically and mentally agitated? Once you know this, you can avoid them when it's reasonable to, and to cope when you can't.Manage your time. Prioritizing your activities can help you use your time well. Making a day-to-day schedule helps ensure you don't feel overwhelmed by everyday tasks and deadlines.Practice relaxation. Deep breathing, meditation and progressive muscle relaxation are good ways to calm yourself. Taking a break to refocus can have benefits beyond the immediate moment.Exercise daily. Schedule time to walk outside, bike or join a dance class, even if via Zoom in current times. Whatever you do, make sure it's fun. Daily exercise naturally produces stress-relieving hormones in your body and improves your overall physical health.Set aside time for yourself. Schedule something that makes you feel good. It might be reading a book, watching a movie, or taking your dog for a walk.Eat well. Eating unprocessed foods, like whole grains, vegetables, and fresh fruit is the foundation for a healthy body and mind. Eating well can also help stabilize your mood.Get enough sleep. Avoid alcohol and drugs. They don't actually reduce stress: in fact, they often worsen it. If you're struggling with substance abuse, educate yourself and get help.Talk to someone. Whether to friends, family, a counselor or a support group, airing out and talking can help.Van Meter Elementary has counselors available to help support students. Their information can be found at LGUSD Student Wellness Supports webpage. Whether it’s the lunchtime Buddy Ambassador Program, reaching out to your child’s teacher, or finding a mental health therapist for your child or yourself as a parent, there is help out there. Be Brave and reach out. We are here to help you connect to the resources you may need to cope with today’s stressors. Please see casalg.org for additional lists of local resources, including the 24-hour county crisis line for parents or teens (1-855-278-4204). Sources: https://www.casalg.org/parent-resources/, redribbon.org, https://www.nami.org//Taking-Care-of-Your-/Managing-Stress. Additional Resources: For kids, ChallengeSuccess offers this PDF to discuss the need for elementary school students to experience downtime, playtime, and family time: http://www.challengesuccess.org//CS_Flyer_K-5-2019_121719_. See more

Red Ribbon Week is a national campaign against drug abuse which promotes education, prevention and healthy lifestyle choices. For more information visit casalg.org or redribbon.org. Monday's Tip: Healthy Sleep Habits... https://vanmeterhsc.org/red-ribbon-week See more

Share your Movie Night Pics!

Van Meter Drive In Movie Night- So wonderful to be together again!

NO PLANS TONIGHT? It's not too late to join us! :) www.vanmeterhsc.org/family-picnic-and-movie-night

Dear LVM Parents, The leaders of our parent organizations - Home & School Clubs, LGEF, and Music Boosters - have a special message to share about a single campaign to support our schools. This is a challenging year for our community, teachers and our children. By coming together, we can weather these difficult times.... Learn more and contribute at - http://onecommunitylg.org

Enjoy Firenza Pizza today & tomorrow and help support LVM!

Don't forget to buy your Van Meter Movie Night at the Drive-In tickets before they sell out at www.vanmeterhsc.org/family-picnic-and-movie-night

REMINDER to Van Meter Families: Please fill out the Bulldog Way Engagement Survey for each child. This is not a district survey. It is specific to Van Meter students and families. The feedback you provide will be used to assess student engagement and help identify areas for improvement. https://docs.google.com//16HsrExLIhzyhqiVIuPH7Ni6ey1ORvbiX