I am very excited to welcome you to a brand new school year. You will have many opportunities to support your new third grader this year. Help your child begin the year on the right foot on the very first day of school by beginning a before-school and after-school routine. Our goal as a third grade team is to support students as they learn to be independent Haigh Owls and they will need YOUR support at home as well! Here are some tips for a successful start:
Morning Routines
- Eat a healthy breakfast OR sign up for breakfast at Haigh.
- Haigh breakfast begins at 8:15.
- Students may NOT arrive earlier than 8:15 for breakfast.
- Make sure you have packed a snack and water bottle
- Ice water creates puddles on desk-tops. Avoid adding ice.
- Re-fillable water bottles with a flip top lid are a great choice.
- Fruit, veggies, dairy, crackers/pretzels are great snack choices.
- Make sure that backpack includes the OWL FOLDER and SIGNED PLANNER! I check these every morning.
- Bring a pair of outside running shoes for recess. We will be exercising outside every day (weather permitting)
.
After-School Routines
- Unpack that backpack and enjoy a snack together at the kitchen/dining table.
- Talk about the day, using that planner as a guide.
- HOMEWORK IS ALWAYS HIGHLIGHTED IN YELLOW!!
- All other entries are to help you have a fun conversation about what we did in school today!
- Get going on that homework.
- It should only take between 15-30 minutes to complete. Stop after 30 minutes.
- Check off the homework in the planner. If your third grader has worked for 30 minutes and the work is not finished, take a break and come back to it after some playtime/dinner. Don’t spend more than 2 sessions of 30 minutes on homework. At that point, write me a note in your third grader’s planner that explains what happened and then I can help in school.
- Parents, make sure you sign that planner every day! I check them and I look for your notes/signatures.
- Your third grader needs to be in charge of his/her backpack, planner, and Owl Folder.
- The planner and Owl Folder should be put back into the backpack and placed in the SAME SPOT every day by your child. Help younger siblings to respect the backpack and its contents.
- You will be tempted to take over. DON’T DO IT! This is an opportunity for your third grader to become responsible. You’ll be amazed at how it will transfer over to other areas of his/her life.
Again, I’d like to welcome you to a new school year. It will be a years of ups and downs, lessons learned, friends made, and new adventures. I look forward to working together.
Mrs. Anne Joachim