Happy Friday!

Can you believe this is the last Friday in August? What a whirlwind it has been! We are off and rolling. You will find your child's first math homework page in their Friday folder coming home today. Please set aside 5-10 minutes to sit down and have them explain to you about "five crows in a row" or "five groups". We have worked hard at learning about the word "partners" in math. Check your child's understanding to see if they can explain in their words what partner are. (Hint: Partners are the 2 smaller numbers that, when added together, make the BIG GUY TOTAL!) Have your first grader tell you about food math today and making math mountains out of licorice and cereal for our "tiny tumblers"...I am also sending home their first math "Quick Quiz" from this afternoon. This, along with the homework, will help you see how your child is grasping this essential mathematical concept of seeing "partners" within larger numbers. The math homework is due by next Friday. You will also find a "Homework Helper" for Lesson 1. Next week we are off to the races with our reading curriculum and begin official spelling words, sound studies, vocabulary, and we even get our FIRST text book! We are in the big time now! The "Homework Helper" is intended as a communication tool for you to know and study your child's spelling and vocabulary words with them throughout the week to improve their reading and comprehension skills. There is no official "assignment" to coincide with the homework helper. It is only meant to "help"! You will also find in today's Friday folder our first book order of the year. If you are interested in ordering, please return your orders next week. All orders placed directly benefit our kids in room 111, so thank you so much in advance! Finally, you will find a yellow "ABC Potluck" note coming home. Next week on Friday we will be having an ABC celebration. Each child is invited to bring in a food item that begins with first letter of their first name. We have diligently been reviewing the letters and sounds and next week, right before the long weekend, we are going to celebrate with a Potluck Party. I wanted you to have the weekend to pick something up for your child, if you needed to! I will send a reminder later next week.... Has your child talked to your about their new fancy word, "UNIQUE"? We have learned about some very unique people here at Sunflower and we have learned that being unique is COOL. Invite your child to tell you about our visit from Mr. King, our visit to Mr. King's room AND our special visit from one of Ms. B's alums, Eithan K. There were some great examples of the awesomeness of being one of a kind...being, UNIQUE! Did your first grader tell you about their new fourth grade buddy? We spent our morning making new friends in Mrs. King's fourth grade class. We played a game called "Commonalities" and got to enjoy a little bonus recess with our new buddy. We will do lots of activities together throughout the year and the kids seemed to enjoy getting to know a new friend from the big kid hall. Please be sure to keep your child well-rested over the weekend. With each week, we work a little harder and they will need their STAMINA! Have a wonderful weekend together!