September 9

Dear Parent,

Welcome! I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you. My name is Aaron Leonhardt, and I am very pleased to be teaching your child this year. While I will be discussing the class program at our Open House on September 24, I am providing you with the following information to help your child have a smooth start to the new year. Please read it carefully, and if you have any questions write me a note or phone me at the school. 

HOMEWORK and ABSENCES

Homework should take most students around 30 minutes to complete when supervised (depending on how much work is completed in class). Please note that homework will consist mostly of unfinished school work, short practice questions, and notes to review. Nightly reading is also expected. Reading can be done before bed and may include magazines, instructions, etc. Remind your child to use the strategy s/he is practicing (after I assign the strategy).

Your son or daughter will draw a box in front of each assignment in his or her agenda. Please make sure that your child checks off this box in the agenda when the task is completed. As the parent, you sign the agenda each day to show that you have seen the work completed. Write me a brief note as to why any due homework is not complete (ran out of time, family emergency, forgot work at school…).

IMPORTANT: I have students bring home materials even for homework that has been completed at school so parents can make sure that the work really was done well, and so that parents can be aware of and discuss schoolwork, as well as sign the agenda to say the work has been seen completed; I ask that parents also make sure that all materials are returned to school each day (i.e. don’t keep unfinished work at home), as we may need the work in class. You may ask your child to keep materials in their bag to ensure that they come back home again to work on them.

CLOTHES

Each year I encourage ALL students to bring in an emergency bag of a full set of clothes tied and labelled with his or her name (to avoid other students accidentally opening another’s bag) to be kept at school. Most years only two or three parents sent in a bag, and yet most years several students need to borrow or call home for clothes because they fell in a puddle, spilled food, or had another accident. So please send in extra clothes. Please have your child wear comfortable clothes for daily exercise - shorts or pants (not skirts) on Gym days. Gym is tentatively on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Please send in a pair of “non-marking” running shoes to be kept at school (not the same as the outdoor shoes). Please have your child wear footwear for active play. I have seen many students fall when running in flip-flops.

  

CLASS GUESTS:

Would you like to help the class? Whether you would like to make and maintain class materials, present a skill related to the curriculum, (for example, I’ve had an Indian sand art demonstration - all over the floor!), or help students with their work/skills, let me know your schedule and we will try to work something out. I have been blessed with wonderful parent partners in the past and know students can benefit greatly from this! When you arrive at school to volunteer or visit, please register in the office and pick up a badge instead of coming directly to the classroom. This policy is for the safety of your children.

DONATIONS:

We all know that the offer of incentives can be a fun way to help motivate students to succeed. Feel free to send in trading cards, glitter pencils/pens, stickers, dollar store items, treats (wrapped), posters, games for indoor recesses (gently used), Post-It Notes in interesting shapes or colors, fancy paper, any other items kids enjoy!

BOOK ORDERS

Book clubs offer fantastic deals! However, there is no obligation to order. If you do order, ONLY CHEQUES made out to Scholastic (NO CASH) will be accepted.  Please look under the column marked “Ont.” (for Ontario) for the cost – costs vary from province to province. Due dates for orders will be recorded in your child’s agenda, and since I try to honour dates and reduce waiting time for orders, I ask parents to send back the order form promptly and make out the cheque carefully to avoid missing the order.

BIRTHDAYS:

Please feel free to send something besides food (decorated pencils, dollar store toy, craft, joke notes, stickers…) with your child when we celebrate his/her birthday. If your child has a summer birthday, you do this on his/her “half-birthday” which s/he will be given in September. I will send home a class list (for the number of students in the class, Valentines, etc.) shortly, as lists sometimes change in early September.

Building confidence, self-esteem, and solid work skills such as reviewing work are often priority goals for teachers and parents alike. From my experience, third and fourth grade children are capable of doing many things on their own and so I encourage them to try to be independent in the classroom by using routines, tools, and habits. As students build these skills, I help them see their progress and praise them. You may wish to encourage your child to focus this year on building these skills in everyday situations - to think through problems and check on his or her thinking before asking for help. While students are encouraged to be independent in my class, I also realize that each student in my classroom is unique and I will do my best to differentiate instruction while making learning fun and exciting so that your child has a super successful third or fourth grade!

Please feel free to contact me by phoning the school at 830-3215. You can also write a note in your child’s agenda; this is my preferred method of communication, as it avoids playing telephone tag. I will try to return your message promptly. I look forward to a great year with your child and a great partnership with you.

Sincerely,

Aaron Leonhardt      

AKA  Mr . _L.

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