School
Supplies
The school provides the basic supplies
of pencils, erasers, and an eight pack of crayons. The children use
the class rulers, scissors, washable markers, and glue. Your child
may want to bring in his/her own washable markers, crayons (no large boxes
due to minimum storage area), scissors, pencils (no mechanical pencils),
and colored pencils. They are welcome to do so. Please keep in mind
that space is very limited. We do not have room for binders
or large pencil boxes.
Parent
and Teacher Communication
Good communication between parents
and teacher can help make sure your child gets the most out of their school
day. We use a "Communication Folder" system to make sure that
we receive any notes you send in and to make it easy for you to find our
notices. Each child is given a folder at the start of the year .
The folder goes home everyday so that you know where to look for school
work and notices. The student should return the folder
to school the next morning so that we can check it for notices from you.
Please put a note in the the Communication Folder to let us know if your
child is going to be picked up early, will be out of school, or to let
us know of a change in your child's routine to go home after school.
If you have any questions about
your child's progress, or any special concerns that you wish to discuss,
please send in a quick note and we will get back to you. We prefer
to have a note in the folder, rather than a phone call, as we have
limited time to check voice mail messages during the school day.
Grading
Scale
We use a scale of 1 to 3 to
assess the progress a student makes.
3- Exceeds expectations
Demonstrated strong progress, extra
effort, quality work and/or accomplished more than what is expected at
this time.
2 - Meets Expectations
Demonstrated understanding of skill,
finished assignments appropriately and completed what is expected.
1- Needs to Practice
Needs to practice the skill, take
pride in the work, exhibit more effort, and/or improve attitude/behavoir.
We use the following marks to
indicate a student's understanding of concepts.
S -Secure
The student can apply the skills
and concepts correctly and independently. The student has a broad
range of understanding and can apply the understanding in different contexts.
D- Developing
The student shows some understanding
. Errors or misunderstanding still occur. Reminders, hints,
and suggestions are needed to promote further understanding.
B- Beginning
The student has shown little understanding
of the concept or skill.
Report
Card
Report cards are distributed 4
times during the school year, at the end of each quarter.
Conferences
You may get in touch with your
child's teacher at any point during the school year to set up a meeting
as needed. Simply send in a note in your child's folder and
the teacher will give you a call.
Parent and Teacher Conferences
are regularly scheduled at the end of the first marking period, in November.
Report Card Conferences are also available in April, at the end of the
third marking period.
Homework
The school web site addresses the
issue of homework as being "an essential component of successful school
performance." Practice is imperative in the acquisition of skills.
By second grade, children should have approximately 20-25 minutes per night
of homework.
During the course of the year, your
child will be receiving a booklet entitled "Family Times." Each
issue of the "Famly Times" supplements the reading theme we are working
on in class. (Themes are generally one week in duration, but can also span
a two week period when there are breaks or days off in the school calendar.
If there is a day off, we almost always have a two week theme. )
"Family Times" concentrates on the skills your child will be working
on during the week. There is a poem, a game inside, and daily
homework on the back. Your child will also have a list of words that use
the particular phonics and/or grammar skills we are working with.
Many of the practice assignments
that your child does for math and reading have a suggested homework activity
to go along with the the assignment. This activity is marked
as a "Note to Parents" on the bottom of the page. These suggestions
can be useful if your child could benefit from a further review of the
skill.
Additionally, many children benefit
from some time to gather their thoughts together for our sharing topics.
The list of sharing topics is located below and has been sent home on paper
for your child. Please post the list somewhere convenient and
encourage your child to check it weekly and plan accordingly for the topic.
Besides this specific homework,,
the following is a list of ideas your child can do on his/her own.
-Share at least one event of the
day with his/her family.
-Remember something that made him/her
laugh or smile.
-Read something every night for
15 minutes.
-Practice math facts.
-Practice his/her presentation/sharing
topic.
-Do some creative writing, may
want to keep a journal.
-Practice handwriting using the
correct letter formation.
Missed
School
Please report your child's absence
to the school office as soon as possible. If you know that your child
will be missing a day or a part of a day of school for a doctor's appointment
or other scheduled event, please let your child's teacher know.
Vacation Homework Ideas
Here's a list of suggested activities
you could do with your child during his/her time away from school. Any
papers our class completes during your child's absence will be saved for
you and sent home when your child returns to school. Many of the
classroom lessons involve non-paper/pencil work, therefore the following
ideas coincide with the classroom instruction techniques. Your child
should...
Reading
-read for a minimum of 20 minutes
daily
-be read to for 15-25 minutes
-be asked questions about what
they read or what they heard
-read the signs, menus, brochures...
on your trip.
Writing
-write for 20 minutes
-create a journal or diary of the
trip
-send postcards
-make a list of things to do
-write states that you have passed
through
-write family members names or
states in ABC order
Math
Outloud.....
-practice counting by 1's, 2's,
5's, and 10's (forwards and backwards,)
-skip count by other numbers (3's,
6's...),
-recognizing patterns (What is
10 less than 34? What is 10 more than 57?),
-problem solving - making up your
own problems together and solving them such as....
"If 10 cars are in the parking
lot and 3 are old, how many are new?,
"If 30 children are in line for
the show and 20 adults are in line,
how many people are there in all?",
"If you have 20 shells and I have
12, how many more do you have?"
"Let's count all the round signs",
"What time do you think we will
arrive at our destination?"
Written...
-write numbers in skip counting
patterns (forward and backward)
-practice addition and subtraction
-record times in a journal
-using a ruler, draw lines of a
certain size
-practice making math sentences
with fact families
-draw a picture to go with some
math sentences or problems
Money...
-identify coins in dad's pocket,
mom's pocketbook (with permission!)
-sort coins
-count coins
-give child $1.00, see what they
can buy for that amount
-practice counting change
Time...
-practice telling time
-use a watch with a face (analog
watch)
-ask questions such as "If
we leave at 2:00 and it takes 3 hours to get there,
what time will we arrive?"
Social Studies
Discuss where you are going and
find it on a map. Plot the trip. Estimate the mileage and the
time the trip will take. Ask questions in reference to mileage.
Have your child use the maps that are often provided at attractions to
plan your visit.
Science
Discuss differences in land formation
and vegetation, weather, animals in the area, clothing, foods and any other
differences. Visit a zoo or museum. Collect pamphlets from
the places you've visited.
Birthday
Celebrations
