ACA Newsletter October 2013

NEWSLETTERAlpharetta Christian Academy

October 2013

“They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and

not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

ACA NEWSLETTER www.AlpharettaChristianAcademy.com

ACA would like to welcome Andrea Warren, who is excited to be back in the classroom. Andrea, who has a B.S. in Art Education from Birmingham-Southern University, taught for five years in a public school in Alabama, one year in private school in Atlanta, and various part-time positions, before deciding to stay home with her children.

Andrea is married to Bob and is mother to Robbie, a college freshman; Sam, an 8th grader; Taylor, a fourth grade; Lizzie, with the three year olds; and beagle Bailey. Andrea loves good tennis shoes to help her keep up with everyone! If she finds free time, Andrea loves reading, Pinterest, shopping, and coffee. When possible, she loves to travel.

Most recently, she and her family traveled to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where they took a lot of photographs to use as inspiration for perspective

drawings. While this was exciting, her happy place is sitting on the beach and riding bikes on Hilton Head Island. Most important of all, Andrea loves to teach children about Jesus. She has been doing that for many years in the children’s department at FBCA. She says, “I love the privilege of being able to express my love for Jesus while teaching art. ‘In the beginning, God created….’ We are creative as a reflection of our Creator and children express that more beautifully than anyone!”

ACA’s preschool would like to welcome Courtney Mostacero, who is assisting Melissa Vater in the Tuesday through Friday threes. Courtney is a native of California, where she learned to speak fluent Spanish. When she moved to the Atlanta area, she met her future husband, Jordan, who is from Peru. She and Jordan are parents to Janelle, age 11, Natalie, age 8, and Jordan, age 3. Courtney enjoys reading, listening to classical music, and singing in the choir at Alpharetta First Baptist Church, where she and her family are members. She credits the women she met in FBCA’s Tuesday morning Bible studies with mentoring her and nurturing her spiritual growth. Courtney also enjoys

spending time with her mother-in-law, who has taught her to cook native Peruvian dishes. For vacations, Courtney is thrilled to visit the beach and Disney World. Someday she would like to visit Peru with her family. Now she is happy to share her favorite childhood Disney movie, Peter Pan, with young Jordan and enjoy that adventure together.

Welcome Courtney!

Welcome Andrea!

ACA NEWSLETTERwww.AlpharettaChristianAcademy.com

Carolyn Csoka of Elite Martial Arts and FBCA member visited Alpharetta Christian Academy on Thursday, September 26, to talk to children in grades 2 – 5 about stranger danger and basic self defense. After discussing who to approach if lost or needing help, she discussed who a stranger is and that a stranger may not seem scary or mean. If approached by a stranger, a child should keep ten feet between himself and the stranger. If the stranger takes a step forward, the child should take a step back to maintain the safe distance. As quickly as possible, the child should run away and get help. She stressed that it is important to NEVER go with a stranger, even if he or she looks nice and needs help finding a puppy. Mrs. Csoka and the children role played different situations the children might encounter.

Ms. Csoka moved on to discuss what to do if a stranger approaches the child from behind and grabs an arm. She instructed the children to turn the held hand palm up and grasp the held hand with the free hand. The child should then take a step back and pull his hand back, freeing it through the stranger’s thumb. The child should then run away and make a lot of noise. Each child practiced breaking free of a hand hold.

If there is interest, Ms. Csoka will return to conduct a class for mothers and teachers.

1. 2. 3.Children’s Self Defense Class

She stressed that it is important to NEVER go with a stranger, even if he or she looks nice and needs help finding a puppy.


After receiving training from Jim and Nick’s, fifth graders served city personnel, such as fire and police staff, engineering and public works, park and recreation workers, and other staff employees for two hours before eating their own lunch. Only after everyone had eaten were the students able to eat the food they had been serving. When asked what they had learned from the experience, one fifth grade student answered, “I learned to show respect.”

Again this year the Alpharetta Christian Academy fifth graders teamed with First Baptist Church Alpharetta to serve a Jim and Nick’s barbecue lunch to over 150 City of Alpharetta employees. Thursday, September 18, city workers gathered at Wills Park to enjoy a barbecue lunch with included pork, chicken, macaroni and cheese, cole slaw, baked beans, iced tea and cookies. One city employee was overheard to say, “I look forward to this every year.”

City Appreciation Days!


ACA has recently been touched by childhood cancer, when Andrew Hall, the one-year-old sibling of two students, and another preschool student were both diagnosed with cancer. Both the preschool and the elementary school decided to take action by organizing a hat day on September 13, when students could wear a hat to school by

bringing a donation to Cure Childhood Cancer in the name of Andrew Hall, who was recently diagnosed with Stage Four Neuroblastoma. The response was overwhelming, and the school raised more than $3100 for the research organization. Jena Hall, mother of Andrew Hall, said, “With September being Childhood Cancer Awareness month, Hat Day was an exciting way for kids to get involved in raising money and spreading awareness for such a great cause...and, wow, our school worked together in an amazing way! Our hopes are that Andrew’s story will continue to give glory to God as well as remind people that children in our own community are suffering from pediatric cancers that are significantly underfunded.”

Students Raise Money for Cure for Childhood Cancer


Handwriting Preparation in PreschoolMany parents want to know if their child will learn to write in preschool. Perhaps parents should be asking if their child will build the foundational skills necessary to learn to write well. A child’s hand must be physically ready before he or she can write correctly. Preschool children learn best through playing, and many of the art and games in a preschool classroom are designed to build the foundational skills necessary for later success.

Fine motor skills are developed during activities, during games, or as part of artwork. Anytime children practice picking up small items with their fingers, they are strengthening them. They also strengthen their fingers by squeezing children’s chopsticks, tweezers, or clothespins. While children view these activities as play, they are in reality exercising their hands and fingers to develop the fine motor skills necessary to hold a pencil or crayon properly.

In addition to these pincer grip activities, many benefits can come from painting. In terms of physical development, studies have shown painting to improve fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and visual perception. When a child is working at the easel, the child improves gross motor skills, sensory integration, grip strength, and balance. In addition to these observable skills, painting aids in brain development by teaching both hemispheres to work together. These benefits are so great that Stanford University’s Bing School lists paint as one of its five foundational materials.


Shurley English

Mrs. ConnorsProjects...

By the time a child moves into four year old kindergarten, he or she is expected to be able to use scissors without assistance. At ACA, four year old students begin the Zaner-Bloser handwriting curriculum. At the same time, fine motor skill development continues through play and games and aids the new writing skills. In fact, Zaner-Bloser states that fine motor skills are essential for ease of learning writing skills.

At ACA we encourage the preschool student to develop his or her mind and body in an age appropriate manner. We believe that raising a child is a marathon, not a sprint. Since how quickly a child holds a pencil to write does not produce an advantage in middle school or high school, we prefer to work for long-term success with firm foundational skills.

At ACA, first through fifth grade students learn grammar with Shurley English. By using rhymes and songs the students learn grammar rules and sentence structure with ease. This makes writing more fun! The students feel successful and end up with better writing and mechanical grammar scores in the end. See an example of our fifth graders and their knowledge of sentence structure. As one student said, “I can do this in my sleep.”

Early this fall, Mrs. Conner’s fourth and fifth grade science students completed their first projects of the year. Fourth grade students collected five different insects and reported on their characteristics and their habitats and shared this information on a poster. Fifth grade students studied mammals. They had to choose an uncommon mammal and write a report about its characteristics. They also created a diorama to represent its habitat. Parents and students were invited to view the results of everyone’s hard work.

T: (770) 475-5762F: (770) 475-1740

44 Academy StreetAlpharetta GA, 30009

www.AlpharettaChristianAcademy.com

October 10, 11

Preschool Donuts with Dad

October 10

2nd and 3rd grade going to Rinehart Museum

October 11

Elementary Donuts with Dad

October 14, 15

Preschool only closed

October 25

4th and 5th grades are going to Rock Ranch

October 27 from 4:00 to 7:00

Fall Festival

November 4 – 8

Scholastic Book Fair

November 5

Chick-fil-A Spirit Day for ACA

Upcoming Events...

ACA Newsletter October 2013

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Transcript of ACA Newsletter October 2013