Homework I try to make homework meaningful and keep it to a minimum. Our family time is so precious. I have two children myself and I understand how hectic evenings can become. All of our homework is due on Friday. I hope this gives your family some flexibility when completing assignments. Make “homework time” special. Sit down and share these moments together, especially the reading. Spelling: Choose three different activities to complete each week for spelling homework. Please choose from the provided list of spelling activities. Keep this list of activities posted at home, so you can refer to it weekly. Please ask your child to record the activities he/she completed on the “Words This Week” page. The children do not need to turn in the written activities. Many of the spelling activities are not paper and pencil. I just want the children to practice, retain and utilize their spelling words in many ways. I will give a pre-test every Monday. This helps me to assess the difficulty of the words for each child and adjust as needed. If your child scores 100% on Monday, then I will add five bonus words to study through out the week. If this is the case, complete the spelling homework utilizing the bonus words. However, your child is still responsible for all words on Friday’s test. I will use our spelling words to systematically review all beginning and ending sounds, introduce vowels and many letter patterns within words. Our bonus words will include first and second grade core words. Reading: “Baggie Books” will come home every Monday. Please allow your child to read their books several times during the week. Rereading stories is extremely important. It improves fluency, comprehension, word knowledge and expression. Sign your child’s reading log for each book and let your child fill in a happy face, a straight face, or a sad face depending on how they felt about the book. The “baggie books” are due on Friday. The children will then chose new books for the next week. Please note that I am using the end of the year kindergarten assessments in some instances. As soon as I can assess all current levels, your child’s books will be adjusted higher or lower depending on their needs. Please read the “Baggie Books” letter for more detailed information. Math: Math contracts will begin to come home in a few weeks. This will be a small packet of math enrichment to complete through-out the week. These are due every Friday also. Please take the time to read over the information sent home this week. If you have any questions please do not hesitant to ask. Send a letter or email me at ltraflet@nhcs.net.