Dear Parents,
I hope this letter will help you to get an idea of some of the routines and practices you and your child will be involved in.
* ABSENCES – Please notify me by email on the morning your child is absent. Absences are excused only with a signed written note from home the day the student returns. Email excuses and telephone calls are not accepted as excused absences.
* TRANSPORTATION – Any change in transportation must be in writing and sent in to us that morning. E-mails will not be accepted.
* MONEY - When sending any money to school, please have the correct change when possible or a check and place it in a sealed envelope with your child’s name on it, indicate what the money is for, and who it is from.
* LUNCH MONEY – Lunches are $2.00 for students and $3.00 for adults. Breakfasts are $1.75 for adults and $1.25 for students. You may go to mealpay.com to add money to your child’s cafeteria account using their student number or you may send in a check to prepay for any number of lunches on any day of the week. You will be notified by the lunchroom staff if your child runs out of prepaid meals. If your child brings his or her lunch from home, but would like to buy milk, the cost is .40¢. A menu will be sent home every month. Remember – no glass containers, no candy, and no food from outside restaurants are allowed. You may have lunch with your child any day you would like to – please send me a note so I can let the lunchroom know. Ice cream is available daily for $1.00.
* DRESS CODE – Please remember to dress your child in comfortable, weather appropriate clothing each day. Remember no open toe shoes for girls or boys. Tennis shoes are best for safety reasons. Girls may not wear spaghetti strap tops or halter tops. Refer to the Student Handbook for guidelines on appropriate dress. Remember too, we paint, cut, paste and color every day. Please do not dress your child in designer clothing you may not want to be ruined. We want your child to be relaxed and comfortable each day! Children need to be able to zip, button and snap their clothing. It would be a good idea to keep an extra set of clothing in a large zip loc baggie in your child’s book bag.
* BOOK ORDERS – I will send home order forms periodically. It is your choice if you want to purchase any books. They are usually very good books at a very good price. Please send a check payable to Scholastic. NO CASH PLEASE.
* SHOW AND TELL – Encourage your child to bring one item from home to share on Fridays. Please make sure it fits in their book bag.
* SNACKS – We will have snack EVERY day. Good snacks include: fruit, raw vegetables, crackers, etc. Please feel free to send a fresh
water bottle each day for your child. Juice boxes are not allowed as they can stain the carpet.
* BIRTHDAYS – You may send in a treat for the class on your child’s birthday. INVITATIONS for parties will be passed out on the following conditions:
1. Your child is a girl and all of the girls have been invited.
2. Your child is a boy and all of the boys have been invited.
3. The entire class has been invited.
I can not give out phone numbers or addresses to anyone for this purpose.
* STUDENT OF THE WEEK – Each week a STAR STUDENT will be chosen. You and your child will make a poster to tell all about herself/himself, family, interests, etc. You will be given a note on Friday giving directions on what to send in the next Monday about your child.
*TAMMY/TOMMY TEDDY – To encourage shared reading and writing, every Friday a girl and boy will be chosen to take home our Shared Writing Journal Bears – Tammy and Tommy Teddy. Please help your child write all about the bear’s experience in the journal and if possible, please include a few pictures. Please return the bears and journals on Monday so we can read all about their adventures. If you would like to voluntarily donate any clothing for the bears to wear, we would gladly accept it.
* ESTIMATION STATION – Every Friday we will estimate the number of objects in our class estimation jar. If your child correctly guesses the number of objects in the jar, they will bring home the jar with instructions as to what to put in the jar for us to estimate the following Friday. Please send the jar in on Monday.
* HOMEWORK – To encourage good reading habits at home, we have a BEAR TIME (Be Excited About Reading) homework program. Please record what you and your child read together every night on the provided HOMEWORK FOLDER. Your child will be rewarded daily for his/her efforts with a sticker on our room display. At the end of the month, a certificate will be awarded to those children who have read at least 18 evenings during each month. Our first certificate will be awarded at the end of September.
* FRIDAY FOLDERS/REPORT CARDS/NOTES – Please return these signed on Monday.
* NEWSLETTERS – I will be sending newsletters home in the Homework Folders on Monday, as well as electronically. Please read these. They will keep you informed about homework and what is going on in our classroom.
* BEHAVIOR REPORTS – In your child’s HOMEWORK FOLDER, there will be a behavior report for each month of the school year.
You will be able to check your child’s behavior daily, and then initial the report for that day. In your child’s Friday Folder, there will be a behavior
report that will remain in the Friday Folder for each nine weeks grading period. If improvement is needed, I will put a check in the area I feel your child could improve. In my classroom, I am presently using a traffic light system. The children start the day with their name clip on green light. The children who do not have to move their name clip to yellow or red light are rewarded at the end of the day with a sticker on their daily behavior report in their Homework Folder. This is a record of good behavior. Please initial the report every evening. While I try to reinforce good behavior, there are consequences for breaking the classroom rules.
Break first rule – verbal warning
Break second rule – move clip to yellow light/5 minute timeout
Break third rule – move clip to red light/time out to write/draw a picture of a better choice – take home for parent signature and discussion.
Break fourth rule – go to another classroom for time out/call parent.
The children who remain on green light all week will be rewarded with a small treat from the treasure box. Any old Kid’s Meal toys or small treats (like pencils, erasers or $1 store items) you would like to donate to help supply the Treasure Chest would be greatly appreciated and may be sent in at any time.
* CONFERENCES – Please send in a note or call the office to schedule a time if you wish to discuss your child’s progress, rather than trying to talk to me during instruction time.
* PARENT HELPERS – Please let me know as soon as possible what days you are available and how you would like to help. It is very important for you to let me know as soon as possible if you have a schedule change and can not come in to help. Please send me a note or call the office so we can adjust our schedule too!
* COOKING – I occasionally cook with the children. We will practice measuring, write the recipe, and sequence the steps in preparation. Then we will read it back. I will ask volunteers to send in food items from time to time.
Thank you so very much for your help and support. Please do not hesitate to call me or e-mail me at [email protected] if you have any questions. I know that working together, we will have a successful year and I look forward to working with every one of you and your children!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Beth Findley