Tune in Tuesday...

Hi families! I hope this post finds everyone happy and healthy as we are on the countdown to Winter Break with SO much happening in the next 8 days...I have had trouble with uploading new posts to the blog, so I apologize for the delay in updates...Hopefully, the glitch is fixed and we are back on track. There is SO much happening...Let me start with the exciting stuff: We have begun our economics unit and the kids are working hard to earn "money" by completing tasks and expectations at their job as a student. Your first grader may have wanted to be "early" for school (which translates ON TIME!) so that they can get paid. Our kids are earning (and saving) up their "money" this week for a special Movie Theater activity we will be having in class on Friday. Your child will be saving up this week to purchase their "ticket" to the movie, snacks, drinks, among other choices to make their experience fun! This is a wonderful lesson in economics because the kids will be required to make decisions based on the amount of money their have. They will not be able to afford all of the options available to them, so they will need to make decisions based on their wants and their budget. The kids also know that they will be "charged" for certain choices too and have to "pay" for not-so-good choices (example: incomplete work, no homework turned in, not following the directions, etc.) Please talk to your child about what they have done to earn money and encourage them to share if they have lost any of their money, as well. The kids are very excited about this and are working hard to earn lots of money to spend on their Fun Friday. It is assessment week this week! We are spending lots of time testing and showing off our first grade knowledge this week. That being said, this THURSDAY our kids will be taking their winter MAPS test. We will begin the test at 8:30 and it is very important that the kids are here on time. Also, please be sure your child is going to bed at a reasonable time and fuel their bodies with a good breakfast in the morning so that they are ready to rock their test on Thursday! Looking ahead: Next week is our last week together before Winter Break and it is a BUSY one! Our all-school Polar Express Day is Thursday the 17th and Grinch Day is Friday the 18th, along with our traditional all-school sing-a-long. There will be more to come on these two fun-filled, memory-making days but I wanted to give you a heads up! Please be sure you are finding time to read with your child each night, amidst all of the busyness of the season. It is so important for their continued growth as a reader to have the exposure to text each day! Also, we are working hard at learning our doubles facts in math. Please help your child deepen their automaticity with the doubles facts by practicing daily! Thank you so much for your support. Enjoy this beautiful after together!