Well, here we are in a brand new year! First, I want to thank you all so much for your VERY generous Christmas gifts!! I am an extremely lucky teacher! I hope your students were able to tell you about some of the fun experiments we did together before the Christmas vacation--things involving candy canes and ice cream in a bag!
I was quite pleased with the students' work and progress thus far, but now we are at a crucial time in the year because we are really shifting out of review and into new topics, especially in math. Therefore, more review of facts at home is strongly encouraged, in addition to at least 15 minutes of nightly reading. For the math, practice of simple addition and subtraction facts--particularly factors of 10 is very important as we transition into a chapter on multiplication--and a regular review of multiplication facts will also be key to successful memorization of facts.
My last update is that I have already spoken to the class about my expectation that they will now write in cursive all the time. We have had many months of transition, and unless I have specifically directed the class or certain students to do otherwise, then they should be writing in cursive without question. As I mentioned to the class, if the students or you, as parents, feel that they need refresher course beyond what I am able to offer during class time, I am available after school for about a 1/2 on some Thursdays and Fridays (provided I have no conflicts and I am given at least a day's notice).
I was quite pleased with the students' work and progress thus far, but now we are at a crucial time in the year because we are really shifting out of review and into new topics, especially in math. Therefore, more review of facts at home is strongly encouraged, in addition to at least 15 minutes of nightly reading. For the math, practice of simple addition and subtraction facts--particularly factors of 10 is very important as we transition into a chapter on multiplication--and a regular review of multiplication facts will also be key to successful memorization of facts.
My last update is that I have already spoken to the class about my expectation that they will now write in cursive all the time. We have had many months of transition, and unless I have specifically directed the class or certain students to do otherwise, then they should be writing in cursive without question. As I mentioned to the class, if the students or you, as parents, feel that they need refresher course beyond what I am able to offer during class time, I am available after school for about a 1/2 on some Thursdays and Fridays (provided I have no conflicts and I am given at least a day's notice).
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