https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:11:43 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/school-assemblies#post-2928116 Tue, 21 Mar 2023 10:22:31 +0000 pachamama 2928116@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My 1st grader LOVES Music &amp; singalongs, and he's not really even a musical guy<br /> a "bubble" magic guy<br /> storytellers<br /> folk music bands<br /> a yoga class<br /> magic shows<br /> animals<br /> local history people </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/school-assemblies#post-2928106 Fri, 17 Mar 2023 09:47:39 +0000 caitcat 2928106@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My kids' favorites have been magic shows and mobile zoo/reptile assemblies (though as a kid, I remembering being terrified when we all had to walk up and touch a giant snake during an assembly like that!) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/school-assemblies#post-2928101 Thu, 16 Mar 2023 07:53:07 +0000 ElbieKay 2928101@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our school had a mobile zoo come and show the kids a bunch of exotic animals. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/school-assemblies#post-2928097 Wed, 15 Mar 2023 14:33:18 +0000 PinkElephant 2928097@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our schools often have author read-alouds, people who dj/rap/sing/dance about topics like kindness/respect or recycling, visits from local orchestras/ballet companies, visits from zoo/wildlife agencies (complete with animals), and some specific cultural assemblies (ie African storyteller to coordinate with a unit they were doing in class). Oh, and last week my older girls mentioned they had each done an in class project with a "mad scientist" (one made "snow", the other made slime).</p> <p>Generally, something interactive is preferred - the kids like it when they get to stand up to sing/dance, answer questions from the presenter, or actually "do" something (mix slime, touch a snake, etc.) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/school-assemblies#post-2928096 Wed, 15 Mar 2023 12:13:02 +0000 LadyDi 2928096@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I volunteered through our PTA to chair school assemblies next year. There hasn't been an assembly from an outside group since before Covid so I have no experience with this (my son is in 2nd grade). I just wanted to get a sense of what assemblies have been at your schools and what your kids seem to enjoy so I can start researching what's available in my area. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/money-and-ptas#post-2928090 Tue, 14 Mar 2023 18:26:38 +0000 MoonMoon 2928090@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bhbee: I agree with you that the optics of what you described sound not so great. I grew up pretty poor, and I was keenly aware of all the activities and fundraisers my parents were not participating in. Now that we can afford to participate more, I still make sure my kid has perspective. For example my husband and I will volunteer time rather than money where possible. I try to involve my kid in charitable fundraisers like the AHA or adopting families for Christmas. But otherwise, I'd resent feeling pressured to contribute large amounts of money or risk having my kids or other kids feeling excluded. Especially in our urban school district, I'm glad our PTA seems to be sensitive to the different means of different families. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/money-and-ptas#post-2928068 Mon, 06 Mar 2023 14:19:54 +0000 Bluemasonjar 2928068@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son is in 1st grade so we are relatively new to the PTA thing, it is interesting to see the variety of responses. </p> <p>There is a $6 fee to join our PTA but they also offer membership packages that include extras like school t-shirts and signs for an additional donation. The PTA funds a winter party for each classroom and teacher appreciation efforts throughout the school year as well as other small school improvement projects. </p> <p>Most school events are free to attend but they did charge a small fee for a family movie night in the fall and are having a spring carnival that requires you to purchase a wrist band to participate in the games. </p> <p>There is a separate school Foundation that raises money to fund the STEM program (primarily the teacher's salary). They do one big fundraiser which is a field day type event that all of the kids can participate in regardless of money raised. However, they do have a reward system and deliver prizes to students in the classroom based on donations collected. The prizes are small items (keychains, rubber bracelets) but I know the kids are paying attention to what their classmates receive. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/money-and-ptas#post-2928064 Sun, 05 Mar 2023 19:49:10 +0000 Corduroy 2928064@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It wouldn't fly at my kid's school. We have kids from a mix of economic backgrounds in a HCOL area with modest homes (Bay Area). </p> <p>At our school the PTA organization has a $20 suggested membership but they also state on the form how much is spent on the kids during the year - $400 I think). The big fundraiser is a walk a thon. The kids are rewarded on how far they walk, not donations raised. In the Fall they have a fall festival combined with costume parade. Entry to the festival and all the games are free. They only charge for food. In November they usually have a Winter Family Dance which is free to attend. At the dance they offer family photos which I think are free or very affordable (I've never gotten DH there so we haven't done that). The kids are very focused on the dance but there is also a silent auction. Each class cobbles together an auction prize. Honestly all the prizes end up too big (like the 'game night' winner wins 25+ board games) and far out of my financial league. That's probably our biggest area of improvement. I feel bad I contribute nothing but a potluck dish to a fundraiser that's also a fun night. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/money-and-ptas#post-2928062 Sun, 05 Mar 2023 18:14:17 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2928062@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm the PTA treasurer for my daughter's school and ours is very similar demographically and what you're describing sounds gross to me as well. We actually don't do anything that requires people to pay for events, and instead do a couple fundraisers where people can donate as they wish so that we have general funds to support events and we hustle a lot to get as much as possible donated or underwritten by local businesses for those events. We have a membership fee ($10/person) to join the PTA, though our events are always open to everyone, regardless of membership, and we do a donation drive that's just open donations that typically generates around $5-10K, depending on the year, plus a book fair that brings in a few thousand dollars. We also did a Read-A-Thon last year that was very successful but all that money went to the library to buy new books. Our events include a fall festival, movie nights, afterschool programs (people pay the vendor to attend those), book fair (people pay for the books) and we've been thinking of adding a spring event but don't have one as yet. Kids/parents don't pay for access to any of that and we feel very very strongly that it should remain that way. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/money-and-ptas#post-2928060 Fri, 03 Mar 2023 14:44:50 +0000 bhbee 2928060@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>thanks for the replies! Those things sound more reasonable on the whole for sure. </p> <p>Yeah the assembly was really gross. I mean it’s supposed to be an event where intentionally it’s about something all kids can strive for. It just feels like a huge miss for the admin to not think about the optics. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/money-and-ptas#post-2928059 Fri, 03 Mar 2023 14:30:04 +0000 LadyDi 2928059@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So I am not sure how normal it is but I'm pretty involved in our PTA so I'll tell you how ours works. We have one paid event in the fall, it's a carnival and the kids pay but the price is pretty reasonable (I think $10 or $15 per elementary aged kid and that includes unlimited games, we get food trucks so that is additional). Other than that we have two book fairs/year that are fundraisers, a "penguin workshop" around the holidays, and also a "read a thon" where students can raise money per minute read if they CHOOSE to, they are still allowed to participate and are eligible for the same prizes, etc. There is no advantage to raising money and the most money raised doesn't get any kind of recognition. Oh and if you want to be an official member of the PTA you pay dues but if you want to join and aren't financially able the PTA will assist with that. </p> <p>A part of the fall carnival is a silent teacher auction where the teachers auction off different things (teacher for a day, give the class the spelling test, decorate a teacher's door, etc). My husband totally balked at this because he thought it was very exclusionary. I will say though, the winners aren't announced in front of other students...some things went for $5 and some went for hundreds (insanity)...there are also a few "bigger ticket" items (principal for a day, ride to school in a fire truck) that every student gets raffle tickets for that are free so everyone can enter.</p> <p>That auction aside, I do think our PTA does a good job of not nickel and dime-ing parents or doing anything really over the top. They don't do any kind of "buy this wrapping paper or weird candle" type of fundraiser either. </p> <p>Oh and our district is mostly upper middle class. I am not sure the percentage of students on free/reduced lunches. </p> <p>Regarding your PTA, I would be really put off by the winners of the teacher auction being announced at an assembly. I think that's really unnecessary and took the focus off of what it should have been about. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/money-and-ptas#post-2928058 Fri, 03 Mar 2023 14:20:41 +0000 catgirl 2928058@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our PTO holds an annual campaign drive in the fall every year. Their suggested donation is $20 per kid. Most families give that amount or more, but some families give less or nothing. This year they had rewards for each classroom if the overall goal was met - but it was for every single class in the school, not based on who donated. </p> <p>They also sell school spirit wear to raise money. And have a couple of smaller fundraisers throughout the year - like asking for $7 per kid to cover a specific thing. </p> <p>All of the events they hold are then free to attend. Most events will have free raffle prizes to enter. Some will have auction items to bid on. Our harvest fest had food vendors that you had to pay for but there was no entrance fee and all kid activities were free. </p> <p>The adult only events hosted by PTO provide some food but typically have a cash bar and an option to but more food. </p> <p>The PTO also covers all field trip expenses. </p> <p>What you are describing would not fly in our school. And I would be really unhappy with an assembly like that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/money-and-ptas#post-2928057 Fri, 03 Mar 2023 12:00:50 +0000 bhbee 2928057@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So I know people live all over and I’m curious how normal (or not) this sounds to others. </p> <p>My 2 older kids go to public elementary. We live in a zone where about 35-40% of kids are on free/reduced lunch. Many people are also well off. </p> <p>Over the past couple years our PTA keeps ramping up the “pay to play” things. We have a big auction (expensive just to get in the door) and lots of “sign n go” parties where you pay a ticket price (sometimes steep) for the kid or parent to do a special event. </p> <p>This year they added an auction item to bid on teacher for a day, across every teacher and staff member. Today is the day it’s happening. So the kids being celebrated are the kids whose parents were able/willing to spend the most money (several hundred minimum). They had an assembly this morning that was supposed to be for good behavior and school spirit wins, but a friend who went said it was overshadowed by the kids clapping for all the teacher for a day “winners”. </p> <p>The optics of all this have been increasingly gross to me. It’s one thing for parents to bid on a trip or case of wine (although still, the $ amounts are exclusionary) but this happened so visibly in front of the kids (and will all day as those kids get special treatment). </p> <p>I don’t think it’s a bad lesson for my kids to learn we can’t spend on everything (I didn’t bid on anything this year) but I do think it’s unfortunate to glorify kids whose parents spent the most. I know money is how the world works but UGH. </p> <p>Is this normal? Would this fly at your public school? Seriously curious!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-acting-out-at-school-during-nap#post-2922504 Sat, 13 Feb 2021 16:22:01 +0000 cake2017 2922504@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We ordered a behavior chart! </p> <p>Any body have great success with it? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-acting-out-at-school-during-nap#post-2922503 Sat, 13 Feb 2021 16:21:42 +0000 cake2017 2922503@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@meadow: thank you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-acting-out-at-school-during-nap#post-2922473 Thu, 11 Feb 2021 19:54:48 +0000 meadow 2922473@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No suggestions but I will say my DS had the exact same issue at 3.5</p> <p>Our solution was covid hit &amp; daycare shit down...hah ...so i unfortunately can only offer you commiseration. </p> <p>I did tall to him about being his own person ...not copying/following others....and good choices vs bad choices.....to some effect...... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-acting-out-at-school-during-nap#post-2922470 Thu, 11 Feb 2021 16:23:14 +0000 cake2017 2922470@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hello!</p> <p>Need advice- 3.5 DS is not behaving at nap. He doesn’t need to take one but should be quiet. He has options to do different things but has been screaming and making loud noises instead. No changes in class. He has been picking up bad behaviors from other kids because i noticed this the last 2 weeks. He says I want to be bad I want to do this and that and not listen to you....</p> <p>Don’t know what to do. Have an appointment with pediatrician for suggestions.</p> <p>Any ideas to stop this? TIA </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reward-system-for-virtual-learning#post-2920741 Wed, 11 Nov 2020 21:09:11 +0000 Chuckles 2920741@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JennyPenny: I realized after I posted it that my response was kind of a non answer since I didn't have an idea of a different reward or punishment. I guess I was thinking that it will be hard to do anything about it unless you can consistently make sure it's not happening. Is this like the Zoom is open but he's on a different app playing while the teacher is talking? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reward-system-for-virtual-learning#post-2920640 Tue, 10 Nov 2020 09:29:47 +0000 JennyPenny 2920640@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Chuckles: Heh, this is exactly our issue! I've started working in a different room because his meets are too distracting to me, but then that allows him to start doing other things without me noticing! And I agree that I need some sort of different consequence - just have to figure out what makes sense. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reward-system-for-virtual-learning#post-2920630 Mon, 09 Nov 2020 18:22:54 +0000 Chuckles 2920630@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son typically does "fun" screen time for about 20 minutes sometime during the day, but only if he gets enough work done before that (this is non-specific and somewhat based on how the day is going). And then he also can do screentime at 5:00 while I make dinner, but that's only if he gets all his work done. (his school is doing a good job of somewhat limiting Zooms and screen-based activities, so he's not already on his ipad for 6 hours a day like some districts) So that generally is enough motivation for him to do his work. If I knew that he was skipping his Zoom calls to play games or something, I'd probably think of a separate consequence since I'm already using screentime as a reward for finishing his asynchronous work. That sounds like it might be hard to monitor really well unless you're always in the same room, which probably isn't the ideal situation. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reward-system-for-virtual-learning#post-2920629 Mon, 09 Nov 2020 16:09:08 +0000 Jess1483 2920629@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are doing a "pod" that I'm facilitating now with virtual school, so I'm using more traditional classroom management. But in the spring, my boys had to work together to earn pom-poms. If they earned a certain number, they got to watch a show after "school." (They often earned this.) If they did an exceptional job, they got a movie. (They earned this once a week or less.) I had a vague structure for how many they could earn for different parts of the day, but with lots of flexibility to make it turn out the way I wanted ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reward-system-for-virtual-learning#post-2920626 Mon, 09 Nov 2020 14:12:31 +0000 poppygirl15 2920626@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We don’t have a rewards chart, but when I’m finding my DD is having trouble focusing, I make her work at the kitchen table with me. She’s not a fan, so it can help motivate her to stay on task the next day. Maybe something like that would help? GL! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/reward-system-for-virtual-learning#post-2920625 Mon, 09 Nov 2020 13:06:59 +0000 JennyPenny 2920625@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Has anyone implemented a reward or consequence system for virtual school? If so I'd love to hear what's working or not working for you.</p> <p>Our rule has been that once all schoolwork and chores are done he can watch TV at the end of the day. That's worked pretty well. But lately I've been finding him doing other things on his computer when he's supposed to be doing meets. I know his school last year had a daily behavior chart that had some sort of reward and consequence built in but I'm not sure how it worked. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/primerry-reviews#post-2918682 Sun, 30 Aug 2020 14:02:41 +0000 bhbee 2918682@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@brownepiano: thanks so much, good to hear! Off to read the supply list and pick a couple for this week. :happy: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/primerry-reviews#post-2918678 Sun, 30 Aug 2020 05:56:45 +0000 brownepiano 2918678@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have a subscription for my 4 and 6 year old. The videos are marked by difficulty which is really helpful. Sometimes I let my kids pick anything and sometimes I filter the easiest. They are pretty open ended instructions with ideas to personalize each picture. She teaches some techniques in the harder videos but we haven't done much of those. </p> <p>I love being able to do them with my kids and her light-hearted attitude. I think older kids could definitely follow along without a parent. </p> <p>We found out about it and tried some free ones during Covid lockdown. It was helpful for deciding. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/primerry-reviews#post-2918664 Sat, 29 Aug 2020 15:22:31 +0000 bhbee 2918664@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>in case anyone else has this question - just saw they have free art projects every day this week (8/31-9/4) on their facebook page. Should be a perfect way to try it out! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/primerry-reviews#post-2918650 Fri, 28 Aug 2020 14:12:15 +0000 bhbee 2918650@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm considering this for homeschool art! Any reviews? I saw a couple mentions on the boards. My kids who will use it are K and 3rd. </p> <p>We did a bunch of McHarper Manor in the spring and I also looked at their membership, but we found many of those projects to be too frustrating for my 5 year old (they may be different now, we did it back when it was free). I'm looking for something they can both really enjoy doing and feel good about. Bonus if my older one can learn more techniques, as she is getting interested in shading and such, but it has to serve both ages. Thanks for any thoughts! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/teach-your-child-to-read-in-100-lessons#post-2918603 Wed, 26 Aug 2020 10:12:47 +0000 raspberries 2918603@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bhbee: Yes! It's totally and completely normal for him to not be able to pay attention for long periods of time! We just had our kindergarten meet and greet with half the class connected on Google Meet and it was just absolute chaos. If yours is anything like ours, I don't think you'll be missing a ton, ha. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/teach-your-child-to-read-in-100-lessons#post-2918601 Wed, 26 Aug 2020 09:33:49 +0000 bhbee 2918601@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@raspberries: thank you, that link and the strategies are helpful to see! It was amazing ... today I caught him at the right time and he read the second half of the one we had started like it was no big deal ... could answer all the comprehension questions ... still not perfect but so much more fluent. I still think we’re going to try other things because of the attention span issues, but I am trying to remember that he started K five days ago and having no attention span is totally normal for a boy this age! It’s actually a reason I want to drop virtual school for full homeschooling - we are using up his attention on zoom where he’s not learning much new and then it’s harder to supplement after. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/teach-your-child-to-read-in-100-lessons#post-2918599 Wed, 26 Aug 2020 09:12:16 +0000 raspberries 2918599@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bhbee: So after we finished the book, we just moved on to My First or Level 1 books from our library, but my kid is just starting kindergarten next week. He's very self-motivated though - he asked for a book on how to read for his 4th birthday, which is when/how we started Teach Your Kid, and he was the driving force for completing lessons (which helped keep him into it, I think - if he wanted to skip a day, that was totally allowed.)</p> <p>That being said, I thought about what I'd do if my kid was having the same issues as yours, and I found this article that might be helpful for you: <a href="https://www.readinghorizons.com/reading-strategies/decoding/4-steps-from-decoding-strategies-to-reading-fluency" rel="nofollow">https://www.readinghorizons.com/reading-strategies/decoding/4-steps-from-decoding-strategies-to-reading-fluency</a>. I think I'd probably keep encouraging finger tracking and sounding out while reading together - maybe even going back and doing a few of the earlier lessons in the How to Teach Your Kid book where they start blending sounds so those common sound combinations are really drilled in. Good luck, mama! </p>