We are so excited to be part of the UFLI (University of Florida Literacy Institute) community of teachers here at Dr. Lewis S. Libby School. Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, PreK- 4th grade teachers, Title I and Special Ed. teachers are taking part in hands-on training to bring a new Phonics curriculum to our students. Thanks to a state of Maine Literacy grant we are able to bring in Lucy Volkmar to deliver the training and purchase necessary materials for implementation.
We hope to see you there!
School will be here before we know it! If your student is in need of a backpack to prepare for the school year please reach out to our school counselor, Mrs. McDunnah at amcdunnah@milfordsd.org! Please spread the word to our school community!
Wishing you all a wonderful summer Wildcats!
Check out this opportunity!
Monday was a busy day for 8th graders starting with the 8th grade breakfast and ending with 8th grade promotion. Congratulations to our 2024 8th grade class! We are proud of you!
June 10, 2024
Dear Families and Young Friends,
I’d like to wish you all a summer filled with sunshine, laughter, and lots of adventure. May you have slumber parties and many BBQs, days of playing in puddles, and days of playing in the lake, pool, and sand. May you re-energize yourself with fresh air, an abundance of sunshine; and, even dance in the rain!
I’d also like to extend to you the importance of staying in touch with books, books, and more books over the summer. There’s nothing like sitting under a shady tree, under an umbrella on the beach, or on a porch swing totally engulfed in an adventurous story or two. Going for a long trip in the car? Consider bringing a bag of books for the kids to read during the ride. There are many reasons for my encouragement for you to keep reading with and to your kids all summer long.
One important reason is the notion of “Summer Slide”. There have been many studies suggesting that although summer is a wonderful respite from school, it also presents an opportunity to regress a bit in reading and math skills. Given that your child, their teacher, and yourselves have worked hard all school year supporting age appropriate reading and math skills, it would be sad to see any of that go to waste. According to James Kim, Ed.D., an assistant professor of education at Harvard University, “Things like decoding, letter knowledge, and word reading skills are very susceptible to decay without frequent practice, as are math facts like addition and subtraction.” You can find more information about summer slide including suggestions and links for what you can do as a parent to help prevent such a slide from happening in the following article: “How to Prevent Your Kids From Losing What They Learned in School During Summer Vacation” by Ashley Austrew 8/22 located at the following link: https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/raise-a-reader-blog/summer-slide.print.html
Here are some of my own suggestions to help curb the chance of summer slide happening in your family:
Have your child(ren) participate in the state of Maine Read to Ride Summer Reading Challenge. The challenge is to read 500 minutes over the summer. Children will need to keep track of those minutes using the Passport and then turn that packet into their teacher at the beginning of the school year. The result will not only be the benefits of having read all summer long; but, also a chance for your child to win a bike donated by the Maine Freemasons.Over the past 6 years we have had several of our own students win a bike!! Your child should have this packet by the end of the school year. But just in case, here is a link to the program:https://www.maine.gov/doe/learning/content/ela/initiatives/literacyforme/readtoride
Play games with your children that encourage letter ID, sounds, and rhyming. Build upon those skills with games such as Boggle, Scrabbl, Bananagrams, all of which work on making words. Oldies but goodies, games such as Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, Trouble solidify counting, colors, and patience! Consider having Crossword and Word Find books at your fingertips.
The Old Town Public Library offers a wide selection of summer programs that support our children and their continued learning throughout the summer. Programs such as the “Brown Bag Lunch Program” for PreK-6th grade and the “Read, Renew, Repeat” Summer Reading Program are just two absolutely amazing summer long events right in our own backyard! Registration may be required so please visit the Old Town Public Library site at this link for more information: https://old-town.lib.me.us/summer-programs or call the library at 827-3972.
Although I’m not as enthusiastic about online sites as I am about actual hands-on learning, I’m sure there are many educational ones that are beneficial for your childrens’ continued learning. Here is a link for suggestions of such sites: https://blog.reallygoodstuff.com/10-super-sites-for-students-this-summer/
Thanks to a generous Literacy Grant we recently received, our K-4th grade and Title I teachers will be trained over the summer and will begin implementing new evidence-based reading instruction methods utilizing techniques researched and developed by the University of Florida Literacy Institute. Please refer to the UFLI site and its Parent Resource Hub at this link for more information and ideas that support families with children of all ages: https://ufli.education.ufl.edu/resources/parent/
While I have shared many suggestions on preventing any kind of summer slide in reading and math, the most important thing to remember is to keep the learning fun! I wish you all the best summer ever! Keep Reading and Keep Learning!
Love,
Mrs. Curtis
Literacy Coach
Reading Recovery/Title I Teacher
This week we had the honor to celebrate our 2024 Milford seniors in a celebration march through our school. We are so proud of our Wildcat alum and hope they come back to visit again to share all the wonderful things they do in the future. Good luck Wildcats! We know you will do amazing things!
End of year reminders and awards assembly agenda(tentative).
Attention Graduating Seniors from Milford! Our graduation march has been moved to Thursday at 12 noon. Please share to help us get the word out to all of our Milford seniors. All seniors are invited to attend from all our local high schools! We can't wait to celebrate you!
On Friday Kindergarten joined some first graders for flashlight reading as a special activity!
We love when it is time for the kindergarten play! This year they performed The Very Hungry Caterpillar and did a wonderful job!
Kindergarten is counting down to the end of the school year by enjoying a special activity each day. Last weeks activities included making their own volcanoes and finger painting!
Mrs. Spencer's 6th grade class and PreK held reading buddies outside today in the beautiful sunshine!
Without a cloud in the sky, the 8th graders had a perfect day on Saturday for their class trip to Canobie Lake Park! Thank you to everyone who contributed to this trip by supporting their fundraisers.
Yesterday our 8th grade students attended a career fair at United Technology Center with other local 8th grade students. Students were able to learn about 5 careers of interest and tour the amazing UTC facility!
Last week 6th grade had an amazing opportunity! They took a tour of the Brookfield Facility. During this trip they got to see the fish elevator operate and empty a LOT of fish! Students also were able to view the fish as they swim upstream and learn about different species in the river. The tour ended at the holding tanks where students were able to touch the fish and pick them up!! Overall it was an awesome afternoon for our students! Thank you Mr. Dill and staff for hosting us, we really appreciate it!
Limited copies of the yearrbook are still available in the office. Price is $30 and can be purchased with cash or checks made out to Milford Student Activity. Don't forget to get your copy!
Join us for the Science Fair!
Due to predicted thunderstorms today's baseball and softball games have been canceled. There is no make up date.