“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”
and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”
What an amazing year we have had together! Your little ones have grown so much in so many ways. It will definitely be a year I won't forget! I give thanks to God for the privilege to teach along side you. I pray that you all have a safe, relaxing, joy filled summer. I am going to miss your precious children more than you know! I love them with all my heart!
We look forward to a fun last day together on Wednesday. We will be having our traditional (although slightly different) Rock Ceremony during our Wednesday morning Webex call. Instead of an afternoon Webex call, we are doing a Drive Thru Goodbye at the school! This will be the time for us to say our goodbyes and for me to give your student their Character Rock (that was "presented" to them during our meeting) as well as some other End of the Year Goodies. Feel free to make it even more exciting for your kids by letting them make a sign to show while they go through the line, decorate your car with shoe polish, or honk as you drive thru!
Now that we are at the end of the school year, many parents have wondered what they can do to keep skills and knowledge up over the summer. Here are some optional suggestions for the summer months, but remember to have fun, enjoy your family time, and relax over the break!
We look forward to a fun last day together on Wednesday. We will be having our traditional (although slightly different) Rock Ceremony during our Wednesday morning Webex call. Instead of an afternoon Webex call, we are doing a Drive Thru Goodbye at the school! This will be the time for us to say our goodbyes and for me to give your student their Character Rock (that was "presented" to them during our meeting) as well as some other End of the Year Goodies. Feel free to make it even more exciting for your kids by letting them make a sign to show while they go through the line, decorate your car with shoe polish, or honk as you drive thru!
Now that we are at the end of the school year, many parents have wondered what they can do to keep skills and knowledge up over the summer. Here are some optional suggestions for the summer months, but remember to have fun, enjoy your family time, and relax over the break!
- READ, READ, READ...have your student read passages from the OPG book as well as books on their reading level.
- Read aloud daily. Choose a story that the whole family would like to listen to. It is great to read a few levels above your child's personal level so they are exposed to rich vocabulary. Have your child read to you as much as possible!
- Reading - First grade will pick up where we left off in Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading next year. Review the lessons that we covered this year and have your child read on a regular basis.
- Spelling -Keep reviewing the phonogram cards AND key cards. They will forget them if they don't review them for 3 months! Make it fun by having them jump, squat or do a jumping jack for each sound.
- Dictate words, phrases and simple sentences that cover the spelling rules we have covered this year. Use dry erase boards, chalk on the sidewalk, handwriting paper, etc. Write more complex sentences on handwriting paper and have them copy it using proper spacing, punctuation, and letter formation. Have them copy scripture straight from the Bible if they are ready!
- Math - Continue oral counting and reading and writing numbers to 100 with gentle correction on backwards numbers. Count large groups of items by making groups of 10. Work on place value - tens and ones (p.143). Tell number stories - "John has 7 cats and 3 birds. How many pets does John have?"/ "Sam has some puppies. His mom gave him 3 more. Now he has 11. How many puppies did Sam have to start with?" Encourage them to use their addition and subtraction skills, as well as the tools we have introduced (number bonds, number lines, ten frames). Have them count objects by 1's, 2's, 5's and 10's. Practice ways to make 10. 1st grade will start the year with this.
- Review all of the geography songs that we have done this year, especially Continents and Oceans and how to "blob" them.
- Dig deeper into those science units we covered (weather and planets). Go outside and enjoy God's beautiful creation!
You have all been so amazing to work with!
Love, Mrs. McKethan
