Saving Money for the Holidays

Do you spend a lot of money for the holidays?  Well this article is going to teach about how to save money for the holidays.

Kids?

Do you usually go out and buy all the gifts, decorations, and cards?  Most times when you do that you spend a ton of money, right. So, why not get your kids involved!  When you go shopping for decorations you try to save as much money possible. So you go when there is a sale. But did you ever think that going shopping on a sale day means you have to wait in line for two hours, then you finally get out and you say “Oh I got the wrong lights.”, or would you just rather have your kids make the most meaningful decorations that you would most likely keep longer than those silly lights.  Same goes for the cards and gifts.

What about Working?

Do you have someone else rake your leaves and shovel your snow?  Well this is a new year.  This year get you and your family to rake the leaves and shovel the snow. And a way to earn a little money is to go around the neighborhood and ask if they need help raking their leaves or shoveling your snow.

How about a Budget?

When you go shopping do you use your credit card?  Actually most people take a credit card and use it in a frivolous way, which means they do not stop and think about how much money they really are spending. So this year do not use your credit card and make a budget so that you spend too much.

                      How?

It is a new year so set a goal and to achieve that goal make a plan like I am only going to spend this much money on this day.  How are you going to save money?

Winter wonderland

Winter Wonderland By Abby

Every year in Tilles park St.Louis there is a Winter Wonderland Holiday light show.  There is always a variety of lights they have every year, and some new ones! This year during the light show one of the new ones was smiley faces on trees that sing the Christmas songs on the radio.                                                

Every year the people who work on the show start in Sept/Oct. Thats pretty early to be thinking about the holidays! Imagine this, you return to school for the first semester and all of your friends are talking about snow, reindeer, elves and santa. That is how early the people who work on winter wonderland start!

When you go to the light show it will seem so amazing, and you probably will wonder, how many lights does this light show use? Well they use about 1 million light bulbs/lights! That’s a lot of lights!

If you go to Tilles park in May you don't see the lights on the trees. This is because they don't put the lights up until October. In the months of Jan-Sept they keep the lights in a shed.

Some good lights that the crew uses are called light ropes. Light ropes are easy to replace, and have more color choices than other light types. So, if a light bulb goes out it is really easy to replace! This is really helpful for some people.

Winter Wonderland is always so amazing that you just might be thinking, how much money is spent on all the amazing lights? Well about $300,000 is spent on all of the lights in total.

When I went to the lights in 2016, it was probably the worst night to go due to a sleet storm. It took about 45 minutes to get to Tilles park even though my house is right near the park! Many people were trying to get home from work/school, and there were also car accidents from the sleet. There was sooooooo much traffic.

Sadly, it is too late to go this year because the park was only open from             Nov 23-Jan 1. They usually open just before Thanksgiving and close New Year’s day or right after New Years.

Sources

http://www.stlouisco.com/parksandrecreation/thingstodo/winterwonderland

                                                        

Staying Home Alone

 Staying Home Alone

  By:Samara L.

How old are you ? Well in what I’m about to tell you age matter!!! Can you stay home alone?

“When can I stay home alone” Your kid might ask. Well if your kid is 7 or under they can not be left home alone at all. Now at 8-10 years of age he or she can be at home without a parent for 1 ½ hours. But only in the daylight. For 11-12 they can be at home for 3 hours in the day. But, at 13-15 years old they can be at home unsupervised all day but, not at night . At 16 and older  they can be at home all day and night. So how long can you stay home alone.

Let’s go over some safety topics. One, have every door and window locked. Second, know where your first aid kit is. Another safety tip is, have our phone fully charged. Fourth safety tip is, to be safe in the kitchen. The last safety tip is to call or text your parent to update them. What safety tip do you do?

So how old are you? Do you follow the rules of staying home alone? Thank you for reading about Staying Home Alone!!!:)   

So how old are you? Do you follow the Staying Home Alone  rules? Hope so! Thank you for reading about Staying Home Alone!!!:)

Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio

By: Elsie

The book I recently finished is “Small Steps:The Year I got Polio” by Peg Kehret. This book was all about the author and how she went through a really hard time as a child because she was diagnosed with three types of polio. She was only in 6th grade. She was a brave girl who never gave up.

Polio

Polio is a disease that not a lot of people have. All of the doctors in this book are trying to help this helpless girl who cannot move any of her body muscles except for her head. This disease has affected Peg Kehret in a very amazing way.

Good bye Home

This is a very strong and courageous story that will inspire people to have hope in things that seem impossible. Peg was just a girl that wanted to be like any other girl. She had to travel many hours away from her home. She had to lose everything that meant something to her-that included her friends and family. She missed everything at home.

Doctors

All the doctors in this book are trying to help but one doctor goes above and beyond to help this girl. Doctor Bevis was the most important doctor in the book. He affected Peg in a very fascinating way. Some doctors stayed but most left her. Dr. Bevis was always there to help her.

Closing

All in all this is a great book. Peg went through a really hard time. At this point she wasn’t focused on anything but beating polio. If you like the type of books that are sad with some humor to it you would like this book.

Fifth Graders at Glenridge Elementary Teach Kids About Flexibility During CLAYMO

Fifth Graders at Glenridge Elementary Teach Kids about Flexibility During CLAYMO

By: Angela Chen

On Thursday, December, 15, the Fifth graders at Glenridge Elementary taught other kids about one of the Olympic Mindset traits: Flexibility.

Why is Flexibility Important?

You’re probably thinking: Why is flexibility important?? Well, that is exactly what the Fifth graders taught the younger kids. The younger kids were read a scenario where a little kid runs out to recess, wanting to play soccer, but when he gets there, he sees all his friends playing something else. He then spends the rest of his recess on anger and is very unhappy by the end of recess. The students were then asked to discuss how the little boy could have had a better recess instead of wasting his entire recess on anger. All of the students agreed that instead of not doing anything for recess but being mad, he could have been flexible and compromised.

Yay!! Its Game Time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Fifth grade leaders then asked all the students to gather together and come up with a game using a wand, two pieces of paper, and the chairs and tables.

One CLAYMO group came up with a game called “Blindstick”.

The rules were:

• You must keep both pieces of paper over your eyes until you have touched the wand
• You cannot touch the tables or the chairs
• Only the guide is allowed to give him/her directions on where to go
• The guide and the person that cannot see are the only ones not allowed to move the tables or chairs
• When you touch the wand, you win

The CLAYMO group played a couple of rounds of “Blindstick”. “It was fun,” agreed Sophia S, Angela C, and Abby R, the leaders of the CLAYMO group that created “Blindstick”.“I hope the next time when something doesn’t go their way, they will be flexible”, says one of the CLAYMO leaders. “It was a great experience!”

Most Popular Gift: What Kids Really Want

Most Popular Gift: What Kids Really Want

During the holiday season, all the kids are telling their relatives what gifts they want and then the relatives are going and buying them. What is that one special gift that most kids are wanting and relatives are buying in 2016?

Rising to the Top of the List

Every family is looking to spend a different amount this holiday. Every kid has different tastes. Together, these affect what the most popular gift is.  What also affects kids’ choices is advertising.  Imagine this: You’re sitting watching TV and then you see a commercial for a really cool bouncy ball.  It doesn’t pop.  It is stretchy.  You can jump on it.  It never rips.  You would like that and it would catch your eye.  If you didn’t see that advertisement, you probably wouldn’t know about it and it wouldn’t make the list for most popular gifts.  During the holiday season, this advertisement is running on air all the time.  You see it.  Your relatives see it.  Your friends see it.  And now everyone is wanting this toy, and everyone is buying it.  But wait…..it is running out of stock.  So how will you make sure that you get it?

How Far Will You Go?

During the holiday season, people dedicate a lot of time to finding that one special gift before it is out of stock.  People may stand in lines for hours, go to 35 different stores or websites, wake up at 2 a.m., all of this just for looking for that special gift.  This year, that “get it, got it, yeah” gift was the drone. This became so popular with kids because they think it’s very cool to have a remote control toy that flies.  Stores are pitching in a little more now to make sure customers can get what they want sooner so that people can get that special gift.  About five years ago, chain stores started opening on Thanksgiving night, so shoppers can start shopping earlier.

Predictions

Some parents may find what they want by shopping early.  Then they may go back to the stores again to find what’s trending. Let's hear from some other people and sites saying what they think the most popular gift was this year.

• Abigail: “Unlike last year, there is not one main gift everyone wants, last year it was the hoverboard.”
• Bonnie: ” I think the most popular gift this year is robotic stuffed animals.”
• Websites show that show some of the popular gifts are, Hatchimals, Little Live Pets, Pokemon Ring, and drones.

But, one gift seemed to beat all of these.  By seeing what friends received, YouTube videos and looking at the stores (when many were in stock….but not for long!), the drone appeared to be the most popular gift of 2016.

The drone ran out of stock quickly, so, how far will you go to find that drone?

The Holiday Sing- New v.s. Old

The Holiday Sing- New v.s Old

By Anna Stouffer

At Glenridge Elementary, one tradition that will never fade is the always anticipated holiday sing. With a new music teacher, the holiday sing has changed a little bit. Which is liked more?  Old or new?

The Old Traditions

In previous years, some traditions included, each grade singing a song, the whole school singing Feliz Navidad,  while the first graders sang  “All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth”, pictures of first graders without their two front teeth showing on the screen, teachers dressing up like reindeer and dancing during the song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, the peace-ball presentation, and singing the song “Our Gift to You”.

The New Traditions

Some traditions that were added included, the Glenridge Chorus doing a body percussion performance, a slightly shorter assembly, and a new peace song called “When the Lights All Shine” sung by the whole school while fifth graders “lit”  fake candles. Though some traditions were added and some traditions were taken away, some traditions stayed the same, and some were changed. Those that were the same were:  kindergarten singing their own song (though it was a different song),  teachers dancing during “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”,  the peace-ball being presented, “Our Gift to You” being sung by the whole school, and singing the Hanukkah Song,  “My Dreidel”.

Which is Better?

Which is better? Well, that is up to you (if you've been to both the new and old holiday sings). To some people the new holiday saying was better, but, to lots of 5th graders, the old holiday sing was way better. “I didn’t like it (the new holiday sing) because we lost so much of the traditions like, all of the grades having their songs, singing “Feliz Navidad”, and showing the first graders without their front teeth.”  Says fifth grader Julia M. Abby R. agrees with Julia about losing the traditions. Abby also misses kindergarten singing “Frosty the Snowman”.  Abby R. and Gaby S. agree that the holiday sing should’ve been longer. “I didn't like it because it didn't give other grades that aren't in chorus the chance to sing (their own)  songs like they used to.” States Amanda M. Second grader Isla K. thought that the new holiday sing was okay, but she missed getting to sing a song with only her grade.

In the End

In the end, the new holiday sing was accepted (but not loved) by most. But, what will happen next year? More new traditions, or old traditions that will come back? We’ll just have to wait and see.