Dear Parents,

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Sincerely,

Technology Department

The more we read the better our vocabulary becomes.  We need to read every night at home.  The children have leveled books in their bags from their teachers.

Homework can be stressful to do every evening.  But do your homework helps you to create a sense of being a life long learner.  You can make homework time fun and less stressful by doing these 5 little tips…

1. Keep a list of assignments-use your planner.  The planner from school helps you to stay organized and keeps you on track with completing your assignments.
2. If you have a big project that is due, try breaking it into smaller parts over several nights.  This helps you to not feel so overwhelmed.
3. Work with a buddy.  Working with a buddy makes homework time fun and if you have a question, sometimes your buddy can help you out.
4. Take a Break-a 15 minute break in between subjects can help refresh your brain.
5. Reward yourself when you get a big assignment done or you completed a challenging subject.  The reward could be an extra break or even a watching a movie when you are done.

All children who learn to read become life long learners!

These tips are great to help your student to be ready to read when they are at home.

1. Talk to your infant and toddler to help them learn to speak and understand the meaning of words.
2. Read to your baby every day starting at 6 months of age.
3. Use songs, sounds, gestures, and words that rhyme to help your baby learn about language.
4. Point out the printed words in your home and other places you take your child such as the grocery store.
5. Take children’s books and writing materials with you whenever you leave the home.
6. Create a quiet, special place in your home for your child to read, write, and draw.
7. Help your child see that reading is important.  Set a good example.
8. Limit the amount and type of television you and your child watch.
9. Reach out to libraries to help find age-appropriate books to use at home.

These tips are from The Learning Network.

Follow these Tips for Parents to make your conference more effective:

• Prepare questions in advance.  What groups has my child been assigned to?  Is my child finishing the work assigned in class?  The most important question of all is “How can I help my child at home?”
• Let the teacher know if there is a particular topic you want to discuss.  If you want to talk about your child’s progress in reading, let the teacher know.  He’ll be able to have test scores, textbooks, and other material on hand to aid your discussion.
• Be specific.  Bring with you any work that is of concern.  Describe clearly any situations in the classroom that make your child uneasy.  Ask the teacher to describe your child’s strengths and weaknesses.  Ask to see your child’s work.
• Exchange information.  Let the teacher know about any situation at home that may affect your child’s school work, such as a death in the family, a new baby, or a change in daycare arrangements.
• Take notes.  Your conference may result in several actions for both you and the teacher.  Taking notes will help you remember what was discussed and what was agreed upon.
• Start with a positive attitude.  Don’t waste valuable conference time by focusing on the negative.  You and the teacher are a team.  Positive comments such as “How can we solve this problem working together?” will be the first step in coming up with good solutions.
• Support yourself.  If you are not confident about your communications skills, bring someone to help.  If your understanding of English worries you, bring a friend to translate.
•  Discuss the whole child.  Your child’s social and emotional development is as important as academic success.  Include questions about her interaction with other children and willingness to participate in class discussions.
• Allow enough time.  Take time to do the task well.  That may mean freeing up your schedule by taking vacation time to attend the conference.
• Leave with a plan.  The conference should end with a clear statement of what you will do and what the teacher will do.  Schedule follow-up meetings or telephone calls to be sure the plan is working.

Numbers are all around us.  Kids need to know and understand numbers represent whole things and parts of the whole.  We speak with numbers in our sentences all the time.  Children can begin learning numbers early on.

*Count how many steps from the living room to the child’s bedroom.

*Count how many trees you see on your block.

*Compare which side of the street has more cars after the child has counted the cars.

*Compare different colors of cars

*Ask the child to set the table and count the silverware, plates, and napkins that are needed.

All of these are easy tasks that can be worked into your daily living with young children.  Let’s get our children to have a sense of numbers!

Learning words is important stepping stone to the reading process.  A quick game you can do to help your student learn the sight words is called Sight Word Concentration.

Write the words on a 3×5 index card (two sets).

Mix up the cards and turn them over face down.

Then pick 2 cards and see if they match.  As the child turns the cards over, they need to read each word.  If the cards match the child gets to go again.  If they don’t match it will be your turn.

This game can be used to learn spelling words, academic vocabulary words, or any other word that needs to be mastered.  Enjoy this quick learning game!

Some easy things to do with your children to continue the learning during the summer is keeping a journal.  This journal can be a summary of the day’s events or a retelling from a story they read.  Another great thing to have them do is read for just 15-20 minutes a day.  This will keep their read at the level it was when school let out.  Another fun thing to do is when you go to the store take your child with you.  Talk about the items you are going to get.  Compare the price, size, and even weight.  All of these easy activities will keep your child’s brain fresh and ready for the new school year to begin in September.

Have a safe and restful break!

Mrs. Valerius

Hello,

Today I am going to share some ideas with you, of activities to do at home.  These are easy and cheap.

1. Games-play board games or manipulative type of games.  This will help with turn taking, having a conversation, and will build fine motor skills.

2. Read-read to your child.  When you are done reading ask your child some questions about what you just read.

3. Chores-have your child set the table.  Talk about how many plates to set.  Do you have enough silverware on the table for everyone present?

4. Field trips-go to the grocery store.  Talk about the numbers of prices.  Which one is more or less?  Go to Target or other stores.  Talk about colors, shapes, and other items you see around you.

I hope some of these activities will help you!!