The 2008/2009 School Year>> 4^th Grade

Teacher: Mrs. Brook (formerly Miss Sautner)

Dear parent/s:

Welcome to 4th grade. I hope that my letter will provide you with all you need to begin the school year and guide your child through it with ease.

School hours: 8:45-3:30
Specials schedule: TBD

Most Important Rule: Be Kind and Productive. Many rules could be labeled most important when it comes to children and their education, but I have found that if this particular rule is followed earnestly, classroom life is pleasant and productive.

Homework: Homework nights will be Monday through Thursday. Long-term projects may extend over a few weeks. If there is a family activity or commitment that prevents your child from completing homework, please send in a brief note (no details required). The assignment may then be completed when it is convenient for your family, but, please, make sure your child completes it. Chasing children down for unfinished homework is just no fun at all for me or your child.

Spelling, reading and math homework will be assigned nearly every night, but the work load will be light. Your child will work hard all day in the classroom, and I believe his/her time at home should be filled with family and play, not laborious homework.

Your child will have a homework notebook where all homework will be completed. It is most important that this notebook be brought to and from school every day. Remembering to always have this homework notebook will be a great responsibility for your child this year. Please help him/her rise to it and feel proud!

A quiet place and time should be set aside each evening specifically for homework. Your child’s workspace should include pencils, erasers, a good dictionary, an easy-to-use thesaurus (your computer’s thesaurus would be perfect), a good atlas, and a ruler. Homework must be completed neatly or it will have to be rewritten during your child's recess time. Please keep this in mind and help your child to take care with homework.

In addition, each child will be given a homework assignment book in which to record what exactly the daily homework assignments are. This, too, must be brought back and forth, from home to school, every single day. This is very important to me, as it really helps keep the homework situation organized, thereby saving precious classroom time.
Overall organization plays a large part in school success. I will work with you to find what best helps your child to stay and feel organized.

Money: When you send money to school with your child, please place it in an envelope marked with your child’s name, my name and room number (Room 303), and the purpose for the money.

Book Orders: I love these and send many home nearly every week on Fridays. A special note about book orders: Even though you will receive order forms for many different book clubs, they all fall under the same company: Scholastic. Therefore, you may now send in one check for all of the book clubs from which you are ordering made payable to Scholastic Book Clubs. Just be sure to mark the order slips clearly with your child's name.

Snacks: We will have a snack time every day. I truly insist that the children bring nutritious foods. Some suggestions: fruits, dried fruits, vegetables, dry cereal, whole grain pretzels, whole grain chips, popcorn, whole grain crackers, cheese, nuts, seeds, trail mix, small sandwich on whole grain bread, yogurt, or any other foods that you feel are healthy. I know that there are many other options. No "junk" food will be allowed during snack time, though your child may have anything you wish during lunch. Your child should bring a water bottle every day to avoid having to make trips to the water fountain. These are very important requests. They make a big difference in the school day of a child. I have found that when junkie foods are allowed during snack time, snack time in the classroom quickly deteriorates into a sugar carnival with kids trading junk for junk and losing all sense of focusing on their school work for the remainder of the morning. It's true! Thank you for helping to keep our classroom calm and focused.

Parties/Birthdays: The major classroom parties (Halloween, Winter, Valentine's Day, and End-of-Year) will be planned by the homeroom parents. The homeroom parents may wish to involve the students. This will be their choice when the time comes. Your child may be asked to bring refreshments for one of our parties during the year. Children may bring in a class treat for their birthdays. It does not have to be healthy! It may be as sweet as your child. Summer birthday students may have a designated birthday if they wish. This may be set up with me one day in advance.

Appointments: Please send a note if your child must leave during the day for an appointment. It is against school policy to permit children to wait in front of the school unsupervised. Your may collect your child in the office once you’ve arrived at school.

Communication: Your child will bring an envelope home at the end of the week called a Friday folder. It will contain tests, marked homework, and communications from school. Please go over the papers with your child before Monday morning, sign the envelope and return it to school on Monday. I cannot stress enough how helpful it is when you return the folder on Monday, but I will understand if life prevents this at times. If you could at least empty the folder, sign and return it, then look at the contents at your convenience, that would be great. Having everyone’s folder back on Monday is very helpful.

Attendance: Children should be in their line in the school yard by 8:40. Students who are not lined up and ready to come in by 8:45 will be marked late for school. They must go to the office to get a late slip before coming to the classroom.

Reading: Please encourage your child to read for pleasure every night. I also encourage the children to read aloud to someone at home, even if it is the family dog or cat! Books on tape are acceptable alternatives/supplements.

Technology: Occasionally, I will send home updates via e-mail. If you have an e-mail address, please send it by e-mailing me (jbrook@wssd.org).

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