First Grade

In case you might be wondering what first grade will be like for Fletcher, here is the email his teacher sent us for the second week of school.

Welcome Back
We had a great first week of school. The students enjoyed seeing each other and did a good job of listening and following rules. Thank you for the honor of being with your children this year, and I thank you for your prayers.

Assembly and Bible
To start the year, Mrs. Dimmette talked about good habits and reviewed our Arborbrook Motto, which is “I am. I can. I ought. I will.” This upcoming week in Assembly, we will hear praise reports from students who went on mission trips over the summer. In Bible, we will read about the trials of Joseph. Our Bible verse is Psalm 9:11.

Math
In math, we have been practicing writing our numbers neatly to develop good habits in math so that we will not make careless mistakes. This week, we will be looking at squares, circles, angles, and graphs as well as practicing writing more numbers. Some students might have homework this week if they do not finish in class.

Language Arts
Did you know that as a teenager, Beatrix Potter had rabbit named Benjamin Bunny and that her brother gave her a bat for a pet? Each day, we have enjoyed hearing more about Miss Potter in The Beatrix Potter Journal. We also read The Tale of Johnny Townmouse, and will read the The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes on Tuesday.

In phonics and copywork, we reviewed the letter sounds and practiced writing letters. We began memorizing The Caterpillar by Christina G. Rossetti, and discussed the definition of a noun in grammar.

History and Inspirational Studies
While reviewing the world map, the students impressed Mrs. Trent with their knowledge of the continents of the world. They played compass tag to review the points of the compass and practiced finding their way through mazes. Next week, the students will ponder the question of “What is history?” and begin hearing about Leif Erikson.

For composer study, we listened to Felix Mendelssohn’s Wedding March that he wrote for Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream. Queen Victoria was the first person to have the piece played during her wedding. The students enjoyed acting out a wedding and walking out of our pretend church as they listened to the music.

Science and Nature Study
Your children already know about many swimming creatures! We made very long lists of ocean animals that they already know. Then, we talked about the different ways that animals move in the ocean as well as scientific classifications of animals such as mammal, reptile, fish, amphibian, and invertebrate.

In Nature Study, we took a walk on the trail and found special treasures.

This Week’s Assignments
Students will need to complete any math work at home if they do not finish it in class. Please check their math sheets each night. (We did not have math homework last week or this past weekend.)

Also, please spend 10 -15 minutes reading with your child each day. You should read to your child and also let your student try reading to you.

Students will receive their first spelling word list this Wednesday for a quiz on Tuesday, September 14.

Wow! They sure don't waste any time! I asked Fletcher if he knew what "spelling words" were. He said, "No." I gave him a few examples like cat, who, leaf. He asked if they would get harder and I told him that the following week he would have words like supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. He was not amused. I wonder why?