Congratulations! You are the parent of a first-grader at Tri-C Elementary School! You will be amazed at just how much your child will grow this year. Most likely, your child has had the seeds of reading and writing planted, and during first grade, those seeds will grow and blossom, making your child an accomplished reader and writer! You will see changes in your child's thinking, as s/he becomes familiar with abstract concepts and symbols. The change will be dramatic -- just compare a tiny seed with a full-grown flower! That's the kind of growth you'll see this year!

The most lovely flowers usually have the best gardener -- and that's you! Staying involved in your child's education is the key to a successful year. Engage your child in conversation about his/her day, but know that children won't always give out much information. I will send home a weekly newsletter that will give you basic classroom information. You can use this as a springboard for discussion; instead of saying "What did you do at school today?" (the answer is often "nothing!"), you can say, "Oh, I see you're learning about....what did you find out?"

Another way to stay involved is to check your child's take home folder and sign his/her assignment book EVERY evening. You'll usually find them PACKED with school and homework, projects, flyers, notices from the office, as well as notes from me. As daunting as it may be, try to sort through them, and read each one; they often contain important information and reminders. Your child should come to school the next day with a fairly empty folder -- just homework!  I check the inside and back of the assignment book daily.  I will write to you in there if I have a quick message. There is a place on the inside of the right page for your initials to sign off that all homework was completed.  There is a clear pocket in the back that I will check to see if lunch money or other notes are returned.  This will be habit for both of us before long. 

To help keep things growing "weed-free", it helps to remember our class procedures. If you are picking your child up from school, or if someone else is, please send in a SIGNED, DATED note with your child's FULL NAME written on it. If your child will be staying for activities such as Brownies on a continuing basis, a note each time is TRULY appreciated!

We will have snack every day.  Snacks in our room are for the whole class.  Each person needs to send one snack a month (individually packed snacks are best) and it will be shared with the whole class.  Snacks must be store bought and will need to serve 25 people.  Lunches should be in a lunch box or bag with the name on the OUTSIDE. If your child is buying lunch, please send the money in an envelope with your child's name on it.

Your child will need his/her backpack EVERY day, and the name needs to be written in LARGE letters on the outside! Put names in all clothes and on all supplies -- even pencils and scissors! It makes it so much easier to return them to their rightful owner!

Please check your child's homework each day and sign the assignment book, and make sure that it is placed in the take home folder to be returned to school the next day. All reading assignments will come home in a baggie labeled "Reading Bag".  You will also find a library bag for the library book.  We will go to the library once a week.  

In addition to our four report cards and our conferences (November and March), I am always available to meet or speak with you. If it is not urgent, please jot a note and I will respond as soon as possible. You may call the school or e-mail me as well. In return, I will contact you by note or telephone if there is something that I'd like to discuss.

In addition to the school supplies that your child will need, we always welcome donations! At the top of our "most wanted" list is MARKERS - classic colors as well as special ones! Some other items we can ALWAYS use are craft items (of any type), paper goods (plates, napkins, cups, etc.), envelopes, notecards and paper (for our writing center), as well as extra gluesticks and scotch tape. Thanks for your help!

First Grade Shopping List