Homeside Activities begin in October!

Homeside Activities begin in October! Your child will bring these home to do with you once or twice a month—to add a “homeside” to the “schoolside” learning we are doing in class. These 15- to 20-minute activities:

• are built around conversations between you and your child,
• deal with topics and ideas related to your child's schoolwork;
• may involve your child in a short writing or drawing activity, and
  
• help create a partnership between school and home.

You will find that in Homeside Activities there are no “right” or “wrong” answers, no right or wrong ways to do the activities. You can take the conversation in any direction you want, and you can have as many family members participate as you’d like. Just having these conversations is what counts, because they help your child develop thinking and language skills for life.

These assignments contribute to your child’s academic and social learning because

• they help you stay in touch with your child’s learning;
• working with you increases your child’s interest in the work;
• your child gets to practice communication skills and think about important ideas; and
• your child learns from you and sees how school learning relates to “real life.”

These don’t take long to do, and your child’s teacher will try to give you plenty of time to fit them into your schedule. Also, we’ve planned when to use these activities. That way, if you have several children at school, they won’t all bring these home at the same time. Here’s the schedule:

• Kinder and 3rd Grade: First School Monday of the month
• 1st & 4th Grades: Second School Monday of the month
• 2nd & 5th Grades: Third School Monday of the month

Thanks for taking the time to share these wonderful learning experiences with us. I hope you and your child enjoy Homeside Activities.