January 1th Newsletter

January 17, 2012

Dear Parents,

Last Friday was the half-way mark of the school year. This year is sure passing quickly. I’m afraid that the school year will be over before I am ready to let your children move on. They’re wonderful! What a special class we have!

Math: We have begun our money unit. From the pretest I gave the students, it is apparent that the students seem to either know money already or they don’t. The students need to know the names of the coins: penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar and be able to recognize them from either the front or back of the coin. They also need to be able to tell how much each coin is worth and count change up to $1.00. Please work with your child on this and we will work at school as well. Any extra practice you can give you child will be great!
For those students who already know money, I have some higher-order thinking activities on money they will be able to do during our math time.

Language: We will work with silent “e” and start on prefixes and suffixes.

Spelling: Watch for spelling words to come home today. The test will be on Thursday.

Grandparent’s Program: Just a reminder that our Grandparent’s Program will be held on Monday Feb. 13th at 1:30 p.m. in the gym. Family and friends are invited to attend, too. We have a good start on learning the songs and poems. It should be a wonderful program. Please let your child’s grandparents know of this date if you think they may be able to attend.
Also, would you let your child know which of his/her grandparents will be able to attend? We are making invitations, drawing pictures and writing letters to them. This will help your child know how many to make. We want to have something for grandparents who are attending.

Maps: We will continue our unit on maps this week.

Progress Reports: Progress reports will be coming home next week or the end of this week. Watch for them. The students are all doing well. Please contact me if you have any questions about it.

Reading Parents: We really appreciate your faithful support each week in coming to read with the students. You are really helping to make a difference in their reading. Thank you so much.

Science Fair: Just a reminder that the science fair will be on Thursday March 22nd. I’ve encouraged the students to be thinking of a question they are wondering about which could be used for a science fair project. This is a great opportunity for the students to explore and use their curiosity as they learn about the world around them. Sign-up papers will be sent home in a couple of weeks. Thanks!

Spelling Bee: The South Elementary Spelling Bee will be held on Monday February 27th. We will take a spelling test in our class the first week of February to determine who will represent us in the Spelling Bee. A word list was sent home a couple of months ago.


Parents, you are great! I really appreciate your support.

Brenda Haight

School: 586-2850
Home: 586-2189