Hill Country Backpack Connection February 2021

FEBRUARY 2021

Hill Country

Backpack Connection

CODE NINJAS

Providing digital education in the Boerne area

AUE • FABRA • KENDALL • CURINGTON • LEON SPRINGS ELLISON • FAIR OAKS • HERFF • CIBOLO CREEK • VAN RAUB • MCANDREWS

Connecting Our Families, Our Schools and Our Local Businesses

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Distributed into the Backpacks of 6,000 Boerne / Leon Springs Students

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Aue • Fabra • Kendall Curington • Fair Oaks Cibolo Creek • Ellison Van Raub • Herff McAndrews • Leon Springs Elementary Schools

WHICH WICH CONTEST

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BOERNE & NORTHSIDE NEWS

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DESTRESSING KIDS WHEN THEY GET HOME

Art Director Susie Fluckiger Sales Audra Miller Publisher BP PUBLISHING LLC Content for the Elementary School pages contributed by each school. Backpack Connection magazines are published every six weeks during the school year by BP Publishing LLC. The advertisements in this magazine are paid for by the advertisers, which allows this magazine to be distributed free to the families of the elementary students. Unless specifically noted, no advertisers, products or services are endorsed by the publisher, BISD, or NISD, or any districts employees. BP PUBLISHING LLC is not responsible for omissions, errors or misinformation within this publication. All real estate advertised within this publication are subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which make it illegally to advertise any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.

We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings adverting are available on an equal opportunity basis.

Reproductions of this magazine in whole or part without written permission is prohibited.

Encouraging, Supporting and Loving the Children We Share...

ADVERTISING AND GENERAL INFORMATION BP Publishing LLC 209 Walnut Grove Rd. Boerne, TX 78006 (210) 367-3048

WEBSITE

www.backpackconnection.com 2

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ENTER OUR CONTEST! Count the Which Wich logos for a chance to win $20 Gift Card

Count the Which Wich logos in this issue (including this one!). Submit to: contest@backpackconnection.com

by Feb. 15, for a chance to win a $20 gift card to Which Wich. Include name, email, and phone number so we can contact the winner!

Correct answers will be placed in a drawing to win; only one winner chosen. You could be the next winner so count, then count again to double check!

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CODE NINJAS BOERNE Our world these days is driven by a multitude of touch screens, apps, and computers. And we can only guess what’s ahead for our children in a fastpaced, tech savvy lifetime. This requires our children to be literate in technology throughout their education, developing ideas, learning new methods and putting them to the test. Even non-IT based jobs require a basic understanding of the digital landscape.

Digital education, such as computer coding programs, teaches children and young adults that they can do more than just use technology, but actually play a key role in creating technology. Even if a child does not pursue a career in computer programming, learning to code teaches valuable life skills such as collaboration, problem solving, thinking logically and overcoming failure. Allocating consistent time for children to nurture their love of technology, outside the usual regime of school hours, encourages fun while learning. Studies have shown that this

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increases a child’s ability to retain knowledge which, in turn, improves their performance during school hours.

Children and young adults spend a great deal of time on digital devices.

Instead of screen time, Code Ninjas Boerne makes this BRAIN TIME! Code Ninjas Boerne is a locally owned franchise that provides an exciting, encouraging environment for kids ages 5–14 to gain valuable life skills including coding, math, logic, and problem solving. These skills are taught in a fun way by playing and building video games — prompting our young ones to want to return and bring their friends, while creating tangible results for parents to see.

What makes our programs unique is that they’re focused on fun and no experience or prior knowledge is needed. Our curriculum is game-based, and lets kids advance from white to black belt, just like they would in a real karate course.

Our kids are known as “Ninjas,” our techsavvy instructors are called “Senseis”

and our classroom serves as the “Dojo.”

As they progress through the curriculum and level-up, our Ninjas learn more advanced coding where they are exposed to multiple computer languages like Javascript, Lua, and C#, eventually to the point where they can design apps, games, code drones and robots, and build websites.

At Code Ninjas Boerne we provide a wide variety of program options to best suit your needs. These include weekly drop-in classes based on YOUR schedule, coding camps during school breaks and Parent’s Night Out on select Friday nights where kids are dropped off for a fun night of games with friends, while you can go out to enjoy a much-deserved night out.

We recognize that the safety and health of your children are top of mind, especially during the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Code Ninjas Boerne takes extra precautions to ensure the health and safety of all our Ninjas, parents, and Senseis alike. Devices, tables, door handles, bathrooms, and

other frequently-used surfaces are sanitized throughout the day. Ninja work spaces and equipment, including computers, monitors, and mice are sanitized between every student session and have installed a medical grade air filtration system in the Dojo. Additionally, we perform temperature checks, provide masks, hand sanitation and employ social distancing measures between individual workstations, as well as careful monitoring interactions throughout the day.

Visit us at CodeNinjas. com or call us at 830-999CODE to schedule a FREE 30-minutes game building session to learn first-hand about our Ninja experience and our subscription program that best suits your needs!

Right: Owner Cristina Ledezma

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DESTRESSING

Your Kids When They Get Home shift theater will give them an outlet to express their anxieties through imagination.

Paper bag puppets are quick and easy to make. Kiddos, though, will need some adult help. Necessary supplies are paper lunch bags, glue, scissors, construction paper, and crayons. Let preschoolers get creative and make whatever characters they desire for their puppet show: a pig, a dog, a cat, a princess, a monster, or a superhero.

Shaving Cream

We tend to think of stress as only an adult affliction. However, preschoolers can suffer from it, too. This is especially true when their normal routines get uprooted. As any preschool teacher will tell you, little kiddos love keeping a regular schedule, comforted by knowing what will happen next.

Here are some activities that will help parents create a comfortable routine for their preschoolers at home, making them calmer and more content during the coronavirus pandemic.

Playdough

When I taught preschool, playdough was a staple in my classroom just like crayons, paints, paper, glue, and scissors.

I made it available for children to use every day for two significant reasons: 1) it’s safe and familiar, helping them relax and feel in control and 2) it builds strong hands and enhances dexterity, so they’ll be able to hold a pencil correctly and comfortably when they get in kindergarten.

Basic Playdough Recipe: 1 cup cold water

1 cup table salt 2 teaspoons Canola Oil 2 ½ cups all purpose flour 2 tablespoons cornstarch add food coloring They can toss in glitter flakes and sequins to make it sparkle. They can add different spices to make it smell good.

They can blend two food colorings to create new shades. They can collect materials found around the house so they can make imprints, designs, and patterns: cookie cutters, bottle caps, straws, dried pasta, pebbles, feathers, pinecones, and toy cars.

During the coronavirus pandemic, playdough can bring serenity to the lives of preschoolers. When stored in an airtight container, it will last for weeks and provide hours of enjoyment. I strongly recommend making it a part of a youngster’s daily routine during this stressful time.

Paper Bag Puppets

During difficult periods like this, preschoolers engage in pretend play to make sense of their world. Helping them create paper bag puppets and setting up a make-

Preschoolers learn best through hands-on sensory activities. When they explore the world through their five senses (taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight), they feel in charge, engaged, and content. While many sensory activities are messy—painting, mud and sand, splashing in the water—playing with shaving cream gets a child cleaner.

Generously spray shaving cream on a flat surface—a table, cookie sheet, tray, the bottom of a bathtub, a window, or glass door. Mix in a few drops of food coloring if you wish. Then let children use their fingers, straws and paintbrushes to write or draw. Let them drive their Hot Wheels through the foam. Give them dinosaurs or animals for pretend play in the “snow.”

Blocks

Blocks are a fun, developmentally appropriate tool to enhance math skills in little ones. Kiddos discover so much about measuring, comparing, balancing, and counting while playing. Parents can further enhance play by asking questions: • How many blocks did you use to make that tower? continued on next page

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• How many circle blocks did you use for that castle? How many square ones? How many rectangular ones?

• Which block is wider? Which is longer?

• How could you make that house’s foundation stronger so it can withstand an earthquake?

Collage

Making collages is an example of open-ended art (also known as process art). Unlike craft projects with their step-bystep directions, open-ended art is a powerful and liberating way for kids to express themselves. Instead of all the projects winding up looking the same, each person’s art is different and uniquely reflective of who they are.

Moreover, with open-ended art, the process of making it takes priority over the finished product. The creative journey is a joyful and soothing experience unto itself. In addition to collage, open-ended art includes drawing, painting, and clay molding.

One of the most common things to collage is paper. Kids either cut or tear pictures and words from magazines then glue them on a piece of construction paper, poster board, or cardboard.

Other items to collage include wrapping paper, greeting cards, and tissue paper. Non-paper items to collage include a wide assortment of items from your home or yard—buttons, leaves, stickers, ribbon, beads, feathers, fabrics, and lace.

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Games

Preschoolers are ripe to learn from playing games, and the coronavirus pandemic offers the perfect opportunity for them to do just that. According to the educational researcher, Dolores Dickerson, a game format is 30 times more effective for grasping new concepts than paper-pencil tasks. Yet, some parents may wonder which games are developmentally appropriate and will impart the skills that their kiddos need.

With that in mind, here is a list of terrific games for preschool-aged children along with the concepts that they teach: • Hi-Ho! Cherry-O—enhances pincer grasp, teaches counting, numeral recognition, adding and subtracting.

• Hedbanz Junior­­—encourages decoding, word recognition, and early literacy.

• Don’t Break the Ice—promotes fine motor skills and the pincer grasp.

• Pop-Up Pirate!—improves fine motor development, dexterity, and hand-eye coordination.

• Don’t Spill the Beans—enhances the pincer grasp, teaches about balance, planning, and placement.

• Uncle Wiggily—promotes early literacy, teaches rhyming words and counting.

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