Grade Three -- Where You'll Watch Your Child Grow!

A Reference For Parents

Congratulations! You are the parent of a third grader here at Glad ParkPublic School! You will be amazed at just how much your child will grow this year. Most likely, your child has had the seeds of reading and writing planted, and during this year, those seeds will grow and blossom, making your child an accomplished reader and writer! You will see changes in your child's thinking, as he/she becomes familiar with abstract concepts and symbols. The change will be dramatic -- just compare a tiny seed with a full-grown sunflower! That's the kind of growth you'll see this year!

Ways To Help Your Child Bloom

The loveliest flowers usually have the best gardener -- and that's you! Staying involved in your child's education is the key to a successful year. Engage your child in conversation about his/her day, but know that children won't always give out much information. I will send home a weekly newsletter called "The Grade 3 Gazette " detailing our activities for the week. You can use this as a springboard for discussion; instead of saying "What did you do at school today?" (The answer is often "Nothing!"), you can say, "Oh, I see you're learning about.... what did you find out?"

Some parents save these newsletters as a special remembrance of their child's school year.

Parent Teacher Communication

In addition to our three report cards (sent home in December, March and June) and our conferences (December), I am always available to meet or speak with you. If it is not urgent, please jot a note and I will respond as soon as possible. You may call the school (905 642 0024) or e-mail (tanya.minton-robinson@yrdsb.edu.on.ca) me as well. I am available for conferences regarding your child's progress from 12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. by appointment on school days. In return, I will contact you by note or telephone if there is something that I'd like to discuss. Another way to stay involved is to check your child's backpack each evening. You'll usually find it PACKED with school and homework, projects, flyers, notices from the office, as well as notes from me. As daunting as it may be, try to sort through them, and read each one. They often contain important information and reminders. Your child should come to school the next day with a fairly empty pack -- just their Agenda, homework or notes to me!

A Few Procedures

To help keep things growing "weed-free", it helps to remember our class procedures. If you are picking your child up from school, or if someone else is, please send in a SIGNED, DATED note with your child's FULL NAME written on it. Do not rely on your child to tell me this information, because children often become confused and relay messages incorrectly. If no written note is received, your child will be sent home by his/her usual method of transportation.

If you will be picking your child up before the regular dismissal time, please report to the office and they, will call down to the classroom for your child. It is school policy that you report to the office first when you enter the school.

Money

On occasion it will be necessary for your child to bring money to school. Always send money in a sealed envelope that is placed in your child's agenda. Please include the following information with the money: 1 Your child's first and last name. 2 The amount of money. 3 The purpose for the money (book money, food money, etc). With 20 children and so many different things to collect money for, this helps me out tremendously and is greatly appreciated. It also helps the money to be returned should it become lost between home and school.

Book Orders

Your child will be bringing home a form to order books about once a month. If you wish to order, simply fill out the form and send the correct amount of money in the form of a cheque made out to Scholastic in an envelope. These orders are provided as a convenient way for parents to buy quality books for their child at a low price. As an added bonus, for every dollar that is spent on books, I earn bonus points, which are used to purchase books for classroom use. This is a win-win situation because you get quality literature at a low price and you are helping to provide quality literature for the classroom. Of course, you are never under any obligation to order.

Snuggle Up and Read (a.k.a borrow a book)

Your child will be participating in the classroom Borrow a Book reading program. Included with the first book they bring home will be a letter to you about the program and a list of prompts to assist you, including questions to ask your child when they come to a word they don't know. As well, you will need to record nightly reading on the monthly reading log contained in their Agenda. Your child will be bringing home books from the level that they are reading at. By the end of first grade, your child should be reading at Level 28. By the end of second grade they should be reading at level 22. It is your child's responsibility to exchange their book each day. Even if they have not completed reading it, they must return it. They will be permitted to take it out again. The school is doing this in an effort to keep better track of our leveled books, which are very expensive to replace.

Homework

Primary aged children should spend no more than 15-20 minutes each evening on homework; this includes their "Snuggle Up Club" reading. If your child is consistently spending more time than this, or if a particular assignment takes considerably longer, please let me know. If your child is tired and unable to continue, please do not force it; he/she can finish the following day. While our goal is to instill responsibility and increase attention span, we all have days when we're not at our best! In first grade and second, literacy and numeracy are the two main areas of focus. Your child should be reading every night for at least 10 minutes. Reading is one of the best gifts you can give to your children!

Extra Clothing and Backpacks

Please send a change of clothes to school with your child. These clothes should be clearly labeled and will be kept at school, just in case they are needed. This saves you a trip to school if your child should become wet and prevents your child from having to sit in wet clothes while they wait for you to arrive. I have found the best storage for these clothes is a cloth tote bag that the children are able to hang on their hook. An indoor pair of shoes with non-marking soles is also required. Your child will need his/her backpack EVERY day. Put names in all clothes and on all supplies -- even pencils, markers, and glue sticks, and especially on mittens! It makes it so much easier to return them to their rightful owner!

Parent Volunteers

Parent volunteers are always welcome and appreciated! In our class, you may be asked to read with individual children, assist small groups, assist with a special project we are working on, do some photocopying or laminating. If you are unable to come into the class but would like to help there are lots of things you may do at home for us such as, making booklets, typing our stories on the computer, cutting out things. If you would like to volunteer in our classroom at anytime, please jot me a note or give me a call.

Small Seeds Grow Into Beautiful Flowers

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I know it is a great deal of information to digest all at once but I also believe that communication between you and I is crucial to providing "our" special student with the very best possible learning experience. In closing, I would just like to say that I am looking forward to a great year working with your child and yourself! Thank-you in advance for your concern and support throughout the year!!!

An apple for the teacher, is really nothing new.

Until you remember parents are teachers too.

Special thanks to:

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