Good evening parents!

Connection Call:

It was so good to connect with almost all of you, be able to hear how you are doing and just generally check-in.

Take it slow!

First off, I want to remind you, this is a learning curve for all of us, and I don’t expect huge things out of you and your children right off the bat here. We are going to take it one day at a time, and we are going to navigate this together. I will be sending out information on expectations for academics, you are not expected to just know what to do without any guidance. I am here to instruct, and help and support however I can along the way. Right now, it is just hanging tight while I get things organized and ready to send out to you 🙂

FreshGrade and Blog:

Second, there is a lot of information, a lot to take in … please make sure that you are checking in here regularly. I would appreciate you checking my blog as well as checking FreshGrade every day, at least for the beginning here. It was lovely to see some pictures of your smiling children, those of you that did my first job on FreshGrade. If you have not yet done this, please do so ASAP. It allows me to see that you are all set up and that everything is working. If you are having trouble with this, let me know. My blog and FreshGrade are going to be the primary ways of communication between us, so these are so important to be checking them regularly, but also participating and uploading pictures as I’m requesting. In order for me to stay on top of things, participating is necessary 🙂

After you have completed the first job on FreshGrade, I would like your child to do a second. And that job is to set up a space where they will be doing their school work, and take a picture of your child sitting there showing me where they will work. This space should be a space that is relatively clean and free of distractions. This will be helpful in allowing them to stay focused and concentrate on their work. Please take a picture and upload it onto FreshGrade for me to see! I have uploaded a little video on FreshGrade of me and my workspace to help them out 🙂

Drive-Thru Pick-up Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the Drive-thru pick-up of your child’s belongings, as I’m sure you are all aware. I have packed up the classroom … which I have to say was not an enjoyable task as it just made me sad that we were not going to be in the classroom. All of your child’s things have been put in that bag … everything in their lockers, all their workbooks, and everything from their desks. I am hoping you will have everything you need. That being said, they will need their journals, the extra notebook that I provided, and their pencil boxes. Their journal they will use for their journal assignments. The blank notebook can be used for all the other writing activities that they are asked to do. Please have them start at the beginning and work through the book page by page, not flipping around, otherwise they may have a hard time staying organized.

Creating a Schedule:

And finally, a schedule! As we move into online learning, it will be very important for both of us to set up a schedule. The students rely heavily on the routines that are established in the classroom, and I think that having a routine will be very helpful in the success of school at home. There is no right way to create a schedule, and it will look different for each family as the needs are all so different. I would suggest having a set time when they get up, and that they get dressed and ready for the day as if they were actually going to school. And I would also suggest having set times in the day to do academics, so that they become familiar with work times being work times, and it is not a question or a battle each day to do it. Schedule in lots of down time and outside activity. So please, take some time and create a schedule. It will help keep you on track and focused, and it will help the students to feel more empowered to complete their work and to do their best. Feel free to let them know that I have required certain times to be work periods, if you think it will help set that routine 😉

An example of a schedule:

7:00 – Time to get up

7:00-8:00 – Get dressed, brush teeth, eat breakfast … get ready for the day

8:00-8:30 – Chores or one job from mom/dad (make their bed, tidy playroom, etc)

8:30-9:30 – do one school job (see Learning at Home Choice Board for the week)

9:30-10:30 – free play time – outside, in the playroom, whatever they want

10:30-11:00 – snack time

11:00-12:00 – do one school job (see Learning at Home Choice Board for the week)

12:00-1:00 – Lunch time – help prep or clean up from lunch as well

1:00-2:00 – do one school job (see Learning at Home Choice Board for the week)

2:00-3:00 – free play time

And then end the day with your regular evening routine. Try to keep routine bedtime, treating school at home as though they are going to school the next day and need to be up and ready to go as they regularly would.

Thanks! 

Again, I want you all to know that we are in this together, and while I am still figuring this out as we go, I am here to support you in any way possible! Let me know if there is something. I expect there to be some bumps along the way … but we will just work through each day as it comes. I so appreciate your support, your encouragement, and your willingness to partner with me to keep your child learning and growing in this difficult season! Feel free to be in touch as you need to, thanks!