Math Homework:
Math Homework is always optional, however it is encouraged. Having your child do the Math worksheets with you, helps you to not only know what they are working on in school, it also helps you see if they are understanding the lessons or if they are struggling.

Sight Word homework!
We will be sending home the weekly sight words on plain paper for you to use to make flash cards and practice with your kiddo.

• The homework assignment is to help your child practice the words every night. The more creative you can get with this practice, the more it can help them. Thank you for supporting your kiddo in this way!

Why sight word homework? (probably the 2nd most important, behind reading to/with them)
The reading process is complicated. There are many things going on at the same time when we read a simple sentence. We look at it and we have to remember where to start (on the left), which way to go (to the right) and we see shapes and lines that we have to decipher and decide what letters they make; once we do that we have to decide what sounds they represent, remembering that sometimes, when certain letters are next to each other, or in certain groups, they make different sounds altogether; then we have to figure out what words they form, do this with each word, put the words together and decide if it makes sense to us.

Knowing this, you can imagine how hard it would be to decipher even an easy sentence such as, "I like this brown dog." Keep in mind that the most common sound that the letter i makes is /i/ as in igloo, and we learn that the letter e says /e/ as in elephant, so what IS that work "like?"

Reviewing sight word flash cards every night, in different ways, will help these 5-7 year old emergent readers begin to recognize certain letter-sound patterns and to recognize certain words by SIGHT so when they see them they don't have to stop and decode them; they can keep reading with a fluency that, in turn, will allow them to easier understand what they are reading. Isn't that the goal of reading? To understand?

Reading Homework; How can I best help my child?
Reading homework is really very simple, but perhaps the most important homework your child will have... ever.  Simply read to or with your child every day for at least 20 minutes.

For helpful information about reading with your child, the Emergent Reader:

• Becoming a Reader -- Helping Your Child Become a Reader (US Department of Education)

• Supporting Your Beginning Reader (International Reading Association)

• What Not to Say to Emergent Readers, by Amy Mascott (PBS Parents)

It's Not Just About Practice.
First Grade homework can include, or be adapted as fun games and activities that you can do at home with your child. When you follow through and engage in these activities at home with your children, you are showing them that you care about what they are doing every day, and that school is important. It proves to them that what they are learning with us is also an important part of their life outside of school. The at-home engagement also reinforces their learning and helps them master the ideas and strategies.

The more engaged you are with your early learner, the more successful they can be!
Thank you for your support!