September Notes, Grade 2S
______________________________________________________________
It
was wonderful to meet your child today!
I am excited to get to know each student individually. I look forward to this year as we embark on
the Grade Two learning journey! Know
that your child has a very special part in this classroom and I feel very
blessed to be his or her teacher. God
has brought each student to this class for a reason and I pray that each child
will feel happy, secure and successful within the framework of our class.
Sharing
I
feel very blessed to share my classroom with Ruth Sherwood once again this year. (When I first started teaching at MEI in
1997, she was the master grade two
teacher at our school!) She will be
teaching roughly 40% of the time and I will be teaching 60%. That means that I will be teaching a full day
on Monday, and mornings on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Ruth will be teaching Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday afternoons, as well as teaching a full day on Friday. (If that sounds confusing, check out the
schedule attached.) Together, we look forward to collaborating on lessons and
strategies to best teach your child.
Homework
The
school policy for grade two is for daily homework to consist of 20 minutes,
involving home reading, math fact practice, and Bible memory verses. As well, if your child has unfinished
classroom work it will be sent home so that your child will have the
opportunity to catch up with the class.
Reading: In order to build fluency and vocabulary, it
is important for your child to be reading on a daily basis. We will be starting our formal reading
program within the next few weeks. A
separate letter will be sent home at that time outlining further details of the
program.
Spelling: Your child will be given a list of 100
lifetime words which we will work on learning over the course of the year in
our classroom. The end of grade two goal is use them consistently in daily writing
activities. We will be working on
constructing sentences using these words correctly during our Language Arts
lesson time. There will NOT be a weekly
spelling test that your child needs to prepare for.
Bible Memory: Our Bible curriculum is entitled “Finding
God’s Promises”. We are excited about
the curriculum and look forward to seeing each child’s spiritual growth as we
work through the units. There will
generally be one or two memory verses per month and will be included in the
students’ planner. Part of your child’s
homework is to practice the memory verse.
Math Fact Practice: This year, we will be focusing on
strengthening your child’s understanding of basic math facts (addition and
subtraction, up to 18 or 9 + 9). This
will support faster mental recall with his or her number operations work. We will be sending home a separate newsletter
with ideas and options for practicing math facts at home. More information will be sent home at the beginning of October.
Parent Helpers
We
love to see parents involved in the learning process and would love to have you
join us! We will be posting a parent
helper sign-up outside the classroom door, beginning
in October. If you are interested in
helping, please come and sign up! There
are always some jobs throughout the year that help our classroom, but don’t
necessarily involve working with the kids (getting materials ready, gluing work
into scrapbooks, etc). If you are
interested in doing those types of jobs, please let us know.
Birthday Celebrations
We
love to celebrate birthdays at school! If
you would like to send something along with your child, please make sure it is
child-size and can be shared easily.
Birthday Invitations
If
you are planning a birthday party for your child that includes all girls or
boys, your child is welcome to hand out their invitations in the
classroom. If you are planning a small party,
please send the invitations another way.
It is really hard for students to understand why they have not been
chosen and causes unnecessary hurt feelings among students in the classroom.
Classroom Blog
Would you like to learn more about our class? Check out our classroom blog; the address: ourgradetwocrew.blogspot.com. We will be sharing pictures and information
about things that have been happening around the classroom. If you’d like to learn more about Mrs.
Sherwood and I, check out the current posting!
Ruth
and I are looking forward to a busy and exciting year in grade two. If you have any questions or concerns, please
come and see us or give us a call at school (859-3700 ext. 217).
Have a
wonderful year!
Nancy
Skeels
