Class+News+and+Notes

__ **School Hours** __ Students are allowed to proceed to classrooms at 7:45 A.M. and instructional time begins at 8:00 A.M. Please make sure your child arrives in enough time to unpack and take out items needed to begin instruction promptly at 8:00 AM. Students who arrive earlier will be held in the Motor Skills Room (MSR). Students will be accompanied to the MSR at the end of the day (3:21 P.M. for bus riders and 3:25 P.M. for students being picked up). Children who are not collected by 3:30 P.M. will wait in the el  ementary office for collection. Please try to let the office know early if you are running late, as this will alleviate your child’s anxiety. __ **A Change in Home Transportation** __ It is important to notify the bus coordinator ( melody.chen@ciss.com.cn ), school office, and myself if there is a change of travel to home on a particular day. Please do this as early as possible. An email or note written in the homework journal is appreciated. If your child travels by bus and we do not hear from you about a change of travel arrangements your child will travel by bus as normal. __ **Homework** __ Each day your child will bring home their briefcase (a large plastic zip bag), with their homework diary, homework folder and homework journal inside. Homework is assigned Monday thru Thursday and activities will usually consist of reading, math, word study, and occasionally theme assignments. Daily homework activities should take about 20-30 minutes to complete. Reading is part of this time and should be about 10-15 mins on a daily basis. Reading time at home can be student reading to mom/dad, reading along with mom/dad, or mom/dad reading to your child. If your child has difficulty completing a home activity, please send a note and I will go over the work on the following day. * Please remember to sign your child’s homework sheets and homework diary each night. __ **Take Home Reading Books** __ Reading is a part of daily homework. Students will bring home a book to read each school night (Monday-Thursday). Every morning your child will choose a new book from our classroom library and record it in their homework diary. Reading should be an enjoyable, shared experience. Remember to give support and encouragement as your child learns to love reading books. Students also borrow books from the school library and are encouraged to read these as part of their reading routine. Feel free to make additional library trips with your child after school. __ **Math-Home Links** __ Most nights your child will have a Home Links math page to complete as part of their homework. This will be work that has been covered in class and is designed to help reinforce skills being taught at the time. At the beginning of each unit there is a parent letter sent home outlining the next unit’s work. At the end of each math unit, your child will complete a self assessment, oral and written assessment and open response activity. These activities will be checked in class and sent home for your child to share with you. Areas of practice and review will be marked along with an individual progress check of the math concepts covered in that particular unit. __ **Snack and Birthday Celebrations** __ Please send in a healthy snack for your child each day. It is also important that you inform me as soon as possible with any food allergies your child has so that precautionary measures can be taken. Feel free to check with Nurse Daisy (located in the middle school office) Homeroom Parent PSO Volunteer, or myself as to what is appropriate if you are providing food for the whole class (e.g. special events and birthday celebrations). We will celebrate birthdays on each child’s special day. If you wish to provide treats for your child’s birthday please do so during snack time (9:15-9:25). Many parents provide snacks that are easy to distribute. Please contact me with your preferred day and I can confirm this day and time. I hope some of the items mentioned above will help you settle into the new school year routine. I will make regular contact with you via our weekly newsletter to keep you updated on our learning experiences.