Check your child’s agenda and STAR folder nightly. Both are valuable in maintaining regular communication. Agendas should be signed on Thursday nights. On Mondays students will be writing a goal that they come up with for them self to obtain in that week. On Thursdays the student will write a reflection on how they did or did not achieve their goal. Please talk about this with your child when you review and sign their agenda on Thursdays.
Be sure to check your child ’s Thursday folder every Thursday for graded work, and important information from school. Initialing the reflection sheet in the STAR folder lets your child’s teacher know that you have seen and discussed your child’s reflection and graded work with him/her.
Read with your child every night. Discuss the selection, asking higher-level questions. Ask them about the main idea, details and have them summarize what they have read. They should be able to prove their answer by going back to the text. Even if they are in the middle of the book you can ask them these same questions on what they have read.
Improve reading fluency by encouraging your child to read aloud with expression. Sometimes reminding children to read groups of words rather than each word, one by one, can help speed things up. Remember, in order to be considered on level, third graders are expected to read from third grade level selection at a rate of 100 words per minute.
Look for real-life opportunities to solve math problems.
Practice: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts.
Write notes to your child, and encourage him or her to write back. This is a great way to improve written expression.
Help your child establish a daily routine, including a time and place for homework, and reading.
Keep teachers informed of any changes in family situations -- new baby, job change, death of pet, or extended family illness, etc.
Help you child remember that no toys should be brought to school.
Emphasize good decision-making and responsible choices!
