Reading:

I encourage you to help your child with 20 to 30 minutes of reading five or more days a week. Your child's green go home folder has more details describing different ways to read.  This is such a critical piece of beginning reading that sometimes it is the factor that makes the difference for a child.  

Look for reading that is at  a just right or a "little bit" challenging level.  Use the Five Finger Rule.  As your child reads 2 pages of text, hold up one finger for each word s/he needs help with. If you get to 4 or 5 missed words, the book is too hard. If s/he knows all the words or misses only one word the book is too easy. Having 2 or 3 difficult words is a "just right" book. Use the calendars in the green folder to record the minutes your child read.

There will be UFLI phonics work that is sent home weekly to support what we are doing in the classroom. I understand that families are busy, so use these materials in a way that works best with your family. They are not "required," but the UFLI home piece has shown to have a huge impact on student reading growth.  Students should also be practicing reading through the list of high frequency, know by heart, words sent home each quarter. The time spent with these activities can be included in the minutes recorded on the reading calendar. 

Math:

Starting in quarter 2, a packet of math review pages will be sent home to reinforce the learning we have done in class. These packets are completely OPTIONAL and can be turned in at any time OR not at all!