Grade 2

Dear Parents,

We are excited to be working with you and your child this year. In September, we will be reviewing the skills your child learned in grade one and then begin building on these throughout the year. We look forward to getting to know each student, their strengths and needs, and their God-given, unique gifts.

BIBLE MEMORY – Verses will be typed out for the students and put in their agenda books with the due date on it. Please help your child to learn them so they can recite it to their teacher.

SPELLING LESSON/TESTS – A weekly spelling list will be printed in your child’s agenda. Challenge words dealing with topics we are studying may be added to weekly lists.  A review test will be given (usually with 20 words) after every 5 lessons.  Please help your child practice these words. Tests for each lesson will be given on Fridays (or Thursdays when Fridays are off.)

LIBRARY – The students have each been given a bag to carry their library books in. They need to return their books in these bags to exchange books. If bags go missing, new bags will be available at the cost of $0.50 from the Library. 2A/C has Library Tuesdays and 2B/C on Thursdays.  Please look at the books together and encourage them to read.  Grade two students will be participating in Accelerated Reader quizzes to check their reading comprehension at their reading level.  Please encourage your child to be prepared for these by reading their books each week!

AGENDAS – This is a communication tool between home and school. It will help teach calendar and organizational skills. Please check your child’s agenda DAILY, empty out the pouch and send it back to school every morning. All information that we send home should be coming in the agenda.  We usually fill them out on Fridays for the following week. Anything that you need to send back to school should go in there as well. If you have any messages for the teacher please write them in the agenda for that day and remind your child to show us in the morning.

GYM – Grade Two has gym activities, warm-ups or PE class every day. Please have a pair of inside shoes at school at all times. Runners must have a non-marking sole and laces must be tied to participate in gym.  Please have your child keep a labeled water bottle at school.

        We try to remind the children to bring them home on Fridays to clean and return.

SNACKS – A big part of the Grade Two health curriculum is nutrition. Help us promote and teach healthy eating habits by providing a HEALTHY MORNING SNACK AND LUNCH. There are no severe allergies in grade 2 that we are aware of but you are encouraged to keep our school a peanut free environment for the students who do have severe allergies.   “Wow butter” is an acceptable substitute for peanut butter.  If your child requires the use of a microwave we ask that they know how to use it for the required amount of time.   

BIRTHDAY SNACKS – We would love to celebrate your child’s birthday at school.  If you choose to send a treat to share with the class, please take a moment to make arrangements with your child’s teacher as to whether or not you plan to come and when would be the best time to celebrate. We are planning on celebrating birthdays at the beginning of our afternoon gym classes (at the end of the day) on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.  Grade 2/C has 27 students and Grade 2B/C has 28 students. 

BOOK CLUBS – Information/order forms will be sent home about once a month. The books from Scholastic are reasonably priced and help to earn ‘bonus points’ to go towards classroom books and supplies. Remember, you are not obligated to order any books and we do not endorse all the books available. If you choose to order, please send a cheque payable to ‘Scholastic Canada”.  ChickaDEE magazine subscriptions are another option to consider as a gift and a way to promote reading and topics of interest.

HOME SHARED READING – We won’t begin Home Shared Reading until October.  Please continue reading daily to and with your child.

         Accelerated Reading books may also be recorded on your child’s reading log.  Prizes will be awarded for reaching goals of 50 and 100 books read, with parent signatures.

PARENT VOLUNTEERS – We sometimes need help in and outside the classroom. Attached is a sign-up sheet for helping with centers. Centers will take place every Friday from 10:10-11:50. Please read the attached sheet for more details. As other opportunities arrive, we will ask for your assistance at that time.  We require two parents for each senior visit and 4 for each field trip.

SPECIAL EVENTS:

Pancake Breakfast - On Friday, September 15 at 9 am, we will be having a Pancake Breakfast for all the students and staff and  ministers of our local churches. During class your child will make a card inviting your minister/pastor(s) to join us for this pancake breakfast. We will encourage your child to hand deliver it to your minister/pastor(s) by Sun. September 10th. Please watch for these cards in their agendas.

PICTURE DAYS – Class and individual pictures are set for Wed., September 13.

Granum Turkey Supper: Sat., September 23 from 5:30-7:00 in Ft. McLeod Community Hall

Terry Fox Walk: On Sept. 29 from 1:30-2:30 we hope to participate in this event as a school.  Details to follow.

Senior Visit:  As part of our Social Studies theme of studying and connecting the past to the present, we plan to visit and participate in activities with our senior friends at St. Therese Ville once a month on Wednesdays (located at 253 Southgate Blvd. S.).  We require one adult per wing of each floor to help the students with their activities.

Teacher Inservices – ( no school on October 9 &10 – Thanksgiving P/D Day & ) and October 19 & 20 (PCCE Convention in Calgary).

Communication:   Feel free to communicate with us regarding any questions or concerns you may have.  You can leave messages through the school office, e-mail us or call (before 9 pm). We all prefer to communicate through text messages, as we are more apt to check our phones before class begins and have our phones with us on field trips.  However, that doesn’t mean we will be checking our phones during our busy teaching day!  Please include your name if you text us!

School phone: 403-317-7860

Mrs. Skidmore’s phone: 403-360-0779

Mrs. Skidmore’s e-mail: susan.skidmore@lethsd.ab.ca.

Mrs. V.H.’s phone: 403-795-7477

Mrs. V.H.’s e-mail: ruth.vandenheuvel@lethsd.ab.ca

Mrs. Heshka’s phone:  403-892-9898

Mrs. Heshka’s e-mail:  dana.heshka@lethsd.ab.ca

 

We plan to send all newsletters and calendars as a hard copy in your child’s agenda, including FT permission forms, but will also update the Grade 2 site on the school website.  If required, an email will sent home, but generally, all updates and communication for parents will be on the grade 2 website.

 

Please be patient as we all need time to adjust to new routines and schedules!  Please pray for your child, our classrooms and the staff as we seek to serve Him and your children this year.  If you are interested in further volunteering (besides the listed) please indicate that to us!

 

Serving together,

Mrs. Susan Skidmore, Mrs. Ruth VH & Mrs. Dana Heshka

 

 

                  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                      Volunteering for Centers/Field Trips

We are planning to have centers every Friday morning beginning in October. The centers will build on the skills that the students are working on in Language Learning, Art, Math, Science and Social Studies. Our senior visits are planned on Wednesday mornings once each month, for approximately an hour.

To make these centers as successful as possible, we will need 8 volunteers to help run the different centers with 2A/B and 2B/C students combined in groups. This is a great opportunity to see firsthand what your child is learning in school, meet some of your child’s friends, meet other parents and be involved with hands-on activities in your child’s classroom. We would love to have mom, dad, a family friend or even grandma or grandpa help out!

Please fill out the form below and return it to your child’s teacher by: Mon., Sept. 11^th.

NAME of Parent:___________________  NAME of child:_______________

                                         GRADE:  2A  /  2B  /   2C

Would you be available to help on Friday mornings from 10:10 to 11:50   a.m. on any of the following dates? (Please mark as many as you can make work.  We will try to schedule as many different parents as possible.  If you are scheduled to volunteer but for some reason your plans change, you are welcome to switch with another parent on the list or let us know in advance.)

____ Oct. 6

____ Oct 13

____ Oct. 27

____ Nov. 3

____ Nov. 17

____ Dec. 1                                                                                                        

___ Dec.8

___ Dec. 15

Any ideas for a rural setting FT vs. an urban setting FT;