Greetings families and guardians. I've heard a lot about each of you so I thought I would share a little about me.  I have been teaching in Rutland for 19 years now.  I can't believe how quickly time goes by.  I'm a career changer; prior to having my five children (and now 4 grandchildren), I worked as a pharmaceutical sales representative.  After the children came along I realized that I had missed my calling and went back to college to earn my Master's of Education from Anna Maria College.  Teaching first grade is amazing!  Having five children of my own(adults now and have one grandbaby and another on the way), each with a unique style of their own, truly helps me to appreciate each of your children's unique spirit and foster a love of learning. My own children learned so very differently, and honestly, I didn't quite understand how to really help them at home. Yes, I read to them each night, made them do their homework but I truly didn't understand all of the things sent home; for example, how much the high frequency(heart) impact their fluency.  Well, If I could go back in time, with what I know about curriculum and teaching, I would know now that those high frequency words were /are in all of their reading materials.  So what that means is each time they came across one of these little words in their reading material it slowed them down if they were unable to read it quickly.  These words often can't be tapped(sounded) out-our language has some pretty interesting tricks to it.  So while some of the students are reading fluently and with ease, the child that doesn't know these particular words may be struggling to push forward.  It's simply a matter of confidence and repeated practice. So when I send you something home to practice and you don't quite understand it's impact on your child's learning, please feel free to ask.  I've been there, I understand and I'm here to support you. The stronger we build your child's foundation now, the easier it will be as they add to those building blocks ahead. I am always happy to meet with you to discuss ways to help at home or even by phone or email.  I thoroughly enjoy helping you help your child.  Remember, you are your child's first and most important teacher.