We made it through the first two days! The kids did a great job and I am enjoying getting to know each of them. Thank you for attending Open House and Back to School Night. I know it was a lot of juggling. I have two kids of my own at Pinebrook and my husband had to play the role of Super Dad and attend all of these functions on his own for our kiddos.
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My update will be fairly short this week since we've had a short week of school. We are continuing to work on community building, routines, and procedures. Next week, I will begin to introduce some of our academic routines, such as morning work and morning meeting. However, in a school environment -- and particularly with younger children -- the most important things I can do in the first few weeks are establish explicit and reliable routines and procedures, establish specific behavior expectations, and build a solid foundation for relationships in our room. Those things will remain a priority for the next 2 weeks.
A couple of reminders:
- Don't forget to send a daily snack with your child. Snack should be something that can be eaten independently (no utensils, please) while we work.
- Don't forget to send a water bottle with your child. We do not have a water fountain in our classroom, so a water bottle is the only way for your child to get a drink of water during the day.
- Please help your child to bring his/her homework folder and agenda to school each day. Please do not simply pack and unpack your child's backpack each day. Please begin to establish a routine at home whereby your child is responsible for these items.
- Next week, the kids will begin to list their homework in their agendas. For about the next month, homework will be nightly reading. Please refer to the instructions in the inside pocket of your child's agenda for how to log your child's nightly reading.
- If you have not returned your "First Day Forms", please take the weekend to complete them, and return them to school on Monday. Per our school office, I must have the following forms from you:
- Blue "How Is My Child Getting Home?" Form
- Yellow "Emergency Dismissal" Form
- Pinebrook Handbook Acknowledgement Survey -- This is an online form you should complete and submit via the Pinebrook website.
- Yellow "Student Rights and Responsibilities" Form
- Green "Technology Use" Form
It's our family's last free weekend before soccer starts! I am looking forward to catching up on some housework, grocery shopping and finding out how my kids first days of school went. Isabelle is in 3rd grade and Darius is in 2nd grade at Pinebrook. I am sure you will run into them at some point this year. These poor children practically live at school. If you have any teachers in your family, I'm sure you know what it's like. I hope you have some family time planned too!
Have a great weekend!
