Research shows that children achieve more when they know that their parents are interested in their schoolwork

Show Your Support...We love to have you visit!

Parent Involvement is a direct way to show your support. There are many ways to support your child and Relay Elementary:

• attending Back to School Night
• volunteering
• In-school volunteers are so helpful! They listen to children read, work with children on flash cards, make copies....
• At-home volunteers are so helpful! They cut and color and paste to make folder activities for students to use in school
• donating school supplies
• donating for class parties
• attending PTA meetings and/or joining a committee, such as the Fifth Grade Parents' Committee
• attending special family nights, like Math Night, Reading Night, and the STEM Fair/Science Night
• working with our class parent liaison to help out as needed
• helping with the Book Fair
• visiting Relay during American Education Week visitations
• chaperoning on field trips

Practical Matters

Monitoring homework and helping with studying are ways to show your child your interest.

• Consider a set Homework Hour as part of your child's daily routine.
• Offer to quiz your child on memorization tasks, like vocabulary terms and basic facts.
• Turn information on graphic organizers and class notes into questions to quiz your child before tests.
• Check your child's homework, or do spot checks.
• Look to see that assignments are completed and are done neatly.
• Check accuracy in Math, but don't tell your child which problems have errors. It's better for students to know, "There are three mistakes on your paper," or "Take another look at your work on row two."
• Help your child learn to keep a calendar of important information.
• Share your calendar with your child, to give him or her an idea of what should be included.
• List ongoing project due dates and test dates.
• Fill in times for sports and other activities.
• Add important dates from the school calendar
• Help your child keep an organized notebook
• look through notebooks or binders at least weekly
• if needed, help your child organize
• be sure all papers are secured in the proper place
• Look over class notes to be sure they are legible and thorough
• All notes should begin with a date and topic, and only a few lines should be skipped
• Fronts and backs of pages should be used
• Doodling, etc should not be taking up pages
• Set aside time to review returned papers with your child.
• Praise, praise, praise when warranted.
• Talk about areas where improvement can be made.
• Be sure your child has a Homework Buddy who can be called upon to clarify assignments or answer questions.
• Check on supplies and whether your child needs more paper or pencils, etc.
• Review the agenda book/assignment notebook daily
• Initial the date in the agenda book.
• Look for any messages from me

Homework Zone

Your child may work at a desk or the kitchen or dining table, but wherever homework and studying is done, the area should be set up for success. If your child does not work at a desk, put together a Homework Survival Kit with essential supplies. It can be stored in a basket or box to make it portable.

Consider your child's work area. It should be/have:

When Your Child is Stumped

Beginning Work:

In the Midst:

Upon Completion:

What Message Are You Sending?

When my children were young, I was referred to a wonderful pediatric dentist. I called to schedule an appointment and was told that I would have to come in first for an interview! The gist of the interview: What had my dental experiences been like? As a result, I was informed that they would be happy to schedule the appointment, but that I would not be allowed to bring them! You see, I had horrible memories of dental work as a child with a dentist who didn't believe that children felt pain in the same way as adults, so he drilled and extracted without novocaine. The pediatric dentist cautioned me about influencing my children either way about the visit. They LOVED going to the dentist, by the way :-[)

What does that story have to do with your child's school experience? Everything! You are your child's first teacher, and you have already conveyed lots of information to your child about your feelings regarding school. Your child probably knows whether you liked Math or whether the thought of Math class sent you straight to the Health Room, and your child definitely knows how much you value reading by what he or she observes. I'd like to ask you to take a moment to consider your thoughts:

• Did you like school?
• Did you enjoy Math and Science and Social Studies?
• Would you like your child to enjoy Math and Science and Social Studies?
• Do you think everyone needs to know about these subjects?
• Do girls need to know just as much as boys?
• Are these subjects important in everyday life?
• Are these subjects important in the work world?

To help your child see the value of Math in everyday life, look for these opportunities to share your use of Math:

• measuring: fabric, ingredients, boards, walls, floors, time
• doubling or halving recipes
• calculating miles per gallon and unit prices
• estimating
• determining the length of time a trip will take based on distance, speed, and time
• finances and interest: yes, children need to learn about good interest/bad interest -- interest on savings and investments, good; interest on credit card balances, not so good
• finding area, perimeter or volume - paint, wallpaper, carpeting, grass seed, fencing, concrete, sand
• determining angles: mitering, square corners
• the likelihood of an event: precipitation, winning the lottery
• how shapes and balance can create harmony; symmetry of design in furnishings and landscaping
• water temperature
• comparison shopping
• market prices
• calculating tips
• sports statistics
• budgeting

To help your child see the value of Science in everyday life, look for these opportunities to share your use of Science:

• weather
• animal care
• health, body systems, immunizations, vitamins, diet, exercise
• color mixing
• states of matter: solids, liquids, gases; emulsions, mixtures, compounds
• the importance of lubrication for machinery & friction
• overcoming gravity
• electricity, lighting, circuits
• magnetism
• simple machines:
• levers (crowbars, can openers, scissors, some faucet and door handles)
• pulleys (shoelaces, block & tackle)
• wheels and axles (car, bike, skateboard, skates, doorknobs)
• inclined planes (stairs, ladders)
• wedges (knives, nails, ice skate blades and sled runners)
• gears (clock, bike, car)
• screws (screws, drill bits)
• compound machines:
• can opener (gears + lever + wedge)
• wheelbarrow (wheel & axle + lever + inclined plane)
• drill (gear + screw + lever + wheel & axle)
• stapler (lever + wedge)
• star-gazing
• properties of different materials
• impact of location on Earth on climate, resources, agriculture & economics
• building a fire, fire safety
• carbon monoxide and radon in the home
• insulation
• gems and minerals and elements
• gardening

To help your child see the value of Social Studies in everyday life, look for these opportunities to share your use of Social Studies:

• current events & news
• geography: city, state, country, international, rivers & oceans, travel
• choosing where to live
• traffic
• map reading, map-making, selecting a route
• economics: investments, interest rates, employment statistics
• history: learning from the past
• other cultures & customs
• own heritage, customs, and traditions