September 8, 2008

Dear Parents,

Every Monday your child will be bringing home a very special homework assignment. This assignment is not for your child alone. This assignment is family homework. Each family homework assignment is designed to involve the whole family in our early-childhood education program.

Completing family homework will increase your child’s learning in several ways. Family homework provides reinforcement of the concepts and practice of the skills introduced at school. Your involvement in your child’s schoolwork will give school more significance in his or her eyes. Most importantly, your child will grow to understand that learning takes place at home, school and every place in between.

Your weekly participation in family homework will be a learning experience. Family homework will be an ongoing line of communication between you and the classroom. You will have the opportunity to observe how your child learns and what he or she is learning. You will have a clear understanding of how your child is progressing through the curriculum as you watch him or her work through each assignment.

Family homework assignments will be sent home in the red folder on Monday and are due back on Friday. Many of the assignments are intended to be worked on for a short time each day. Others should be completed in one or two sessions. A parent, grandparents or older sibling should always assist your Kindergartener with family homework. Please remember that your child has four evenings to do the assignment; the homework does not and should not be completed in one evening.

Each week your child will receive a Kindergarten Assignment Sheet.
Please sign and return the assignment sheet, with the completed homework each FRIDAY.

Required Reading —Each month in your child’s Bristow Run folder, there will be a current calendar for you to record your child’s daily reading. The minimum amount of time for Kindergarten is 15 minutes per night. Initial the date each day you read to your child, or your child reads to you. This will be checked often to ensure that your child is fulfilling his/her reading requirement each night. We will participate in the Book-It program beginning in October and ending in May. If your child completes his/her reading each month, he/she will get a coupon for a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut.

Writing Practice —This will most often say… “See enclosed sheet” for the weekly letter and/or number handwriting practice.

Math —Assignments and Investigations Family Letters will be sent home throughout the year to help you enhance your child’s Mathematical skills at home.

Shared Learning Time —This is not something that I need a record of; it is just a way for you to discuss with your Kindergartener (while you are in the car, at the store, doing dishes, etc.) what he/she is learning in each of the content areas.

Please remember that the process, not the product is the most important aspect of family homework. The discussion, the activity and the involvement of a caring family member are more important than the final appearance of the paper.

Thank-you for your cooperation in our home/school partnership.

Enjoy learning,
Mrs. Kathy Blanco