- What time is lunch?
- Can I bring cupcakes for my child's birthday?
- Can we keep Janda for more than one night?
- Help! I can't get on to Ticket to Read (or another program). Can I get a password?
- What do we need to do for homework each night?
- Can you send the spelling words home early, so we can get a head-start over the weekend?
- How much should my child be reading every day?
- Can I check my child's AR scores from home?
- How do you feel about volunteers?
- Can you send home an extra copy of the reading book (science book, math book) so we can work on it at home?
- Why do you ask the kids to read their AR book 2 times?
- Can my son/daughter take AR tests at home?
- Is it OK for my child to count on his fingers, or does he need to do it in his head?
What time is lunch?
10:10, everyday except for Wednesday. On Wednesdays we eat lunch
at 11:50. We'd love for you to join us whenever you can. No need
to let me know in advance....just sign in at the office, then meet
us in front of the cafeteria. The kids get so excited when their
parents and grandparents come have lunch with them at school.
School lunches are $2.00 for students, and $3.00 for adults.
You may invite ONE friend to join you and your child inside, at
the tables on the side of the lunchroom. If you do plan to
invite a friend, I’d like to encourage you not to choose the same
friend each time, and to choose a friend BEFORE your child comes
to school that morning. Your child will likely be bombarded with
requests from classmates to “choose me…choose me”—and many times
first graders say yes to everyone who asks. As you can imagine,
there are lots of hurt feelings that way.
You may also take YOUR child outside to eat at the picnic tables,
but no other children are allowed to go outside. If someone is
eating outside, they must be with their own parent/grandparent/
aunt/uncle/guest.
Can I bring cupcakes for my child's birthday?
ABSOLUTELY!!! Birthdays are a BIG DEAL in 1st grade, and we'd
love for you to come celebrate with us. The ideal time for us is
during recess, at the picnic tables on the front playground.
(11:15 on all days except Wednesdays. 10:30 on Wednesdays.)
However, if that doesn't work with your schedule, please let me
know and we'll pick another time. We definitely want you to be
there to celebrate with us. Hopefully you can come have lunch
with the Birthday Boy/Girl, too! (See above for lunch times.)
Can we keep Janda for more than one night?
Unfortunately, no. I've experimented the last couple years with
kids keeping her for 2 nights at a time. She was often left at
home...sometimes for a week or two (or more!) at a time. As a
result, the kids didn't get to take her home very many times
throughout the year. The bond wasn't as special, and the
academic benefits (writing, sharing with the class, listening)
weren't nearly as strong, either. Thus, we're going back to
keeping her only for 1 night, and sharing the journal in class
every morning. Thanks for understanding.
Help! I can't get on to Ticket to Read (or another program). Can I get a password?
Your child's passwords are listed on the back cover of your
child's Take Home Folder (or will be as soon as we get them).
If they're not there, please just email me and I'll be happy to
send them to you.
What do we need to do for homework each night?
Please see the "Homework" tab on the left.
Can you send the spelling words home early, so we can get a head-start over the weekend?
All of the spelling words for the year are listed on this
website, if you'd like to get an early start over the weekend.
Please look for the "Spelling Words" tab on the left.
How much should my child be reading every day?
20 minutes or more.
They need to read their AR book (or their Blue Book story) out loud to
an adult 2 times, as well as listen to a parent read.
Please see the "Homework" tab on the left, for more details.
Can I check my child's AR scores from home?
Yes. You can check them from home at any time. I usually send a
weekly report, but you can check each day if you'd like. Please
see the "AR Scores" tab on the left for directions.
How do you feel about volunteers?
We LOVE volunteers!!! We have a variety of activities for our
volunteers to help us with--Prize Store, reading with kids,
helping them one-on-one, doing an activity with a small group,
monitoring the AR testing in the centrum, sorting, cutting,
punching out letters in the media center, laminating, filing,
tearing out math pages…and much, much more. One of my former
parents told me (just like the Forest Gump movie), “Volunteering
is like a box of chocolates….you never know what you’re going to
get.” :0) If there’s anything you’d prefer not to do, please
just let me know....
When you come, I'll usually be in the middle of teaching or
working with kids. I'll leave you a note on the table outside of
our classroom, so you can go ahead and get started. I usually
leave WAY too much to do. Please don't feel like you need to
stay and finish everything on the list...I don't expect that at
all. It's just easier for me to keep a running list of projects
to be done.
Can you send home an extra copy of the reading book (science book, math book) so we can work on it at home?
I can't send home a physical book, but you do have online access
to all of our textbooks. They are identical to the printed
version we have at school. Please go to the "Websites" section
and look under "Textbooks". All of your child's passwords are on
the back side of their Take Home Folder.
Why do you ask the kids to read their AR book 2 times?
The first time reading through the story is often slow and
choppy. The brain is focusing on decoding (sounding out the
words), rather than comprehension. Even though they've read each
word, they may not have a good understanding of the story. If
they read it a second time, when they are familiar with the
words, then they can really focus on comprehending the book.
Comprehension improves significantly with the second read.
Can my son/daughter take AR tests at home?
No. AR tests can only be taken at school. They've set up the
program that way, so that no children receive an unfair advantage.
You CAN check your child's scores at home, however. See the "AR
Scores" tab on the left.
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Is it OK for my child to count on his fingers, or does he need to do it in his head?
YES!! It's definitely OK to count on fingers in first grade ~ or
use a number line, or draw circles, or use any other helpful strategy.
As the year progresses, some of the facts will become automatic.
Our emphasis in first grade is on UNDERSTANDING what addition and
subtraction really mean. We are moving from the concrete (using manipulatives)
to the abstract, but it's a process. The focus right now is not
on memorizing facts.