Parental Keys for Success

Parents,

I am excited about our upcoming year at TC. We will have a fun, but academically intensive class this year in Shurley Grammar. The class will move at a fast pace to cover the material, but I think you will be AMAZED by what your child will know by the end of the year. If you would like to see what we will cover, please look at this Scope and Sequence for Level 4. It's rather impressive!

However, I must have your help to have a successful year.

Here are some suggestions to help your child succeed. If these things are not accomplished at home, it will be difficult for your child to learn the material. Everything taught in class will need to be fortified at home.

For many of you, this is your plan for English for the year. Therefore, it is imperative that it become part of your daily routine at home. Please think of me as a teaching partner with you. As a parent, you will need to help your child at home to be sure the work is accomplished.

Here are suggestions for an enjoyable and successful year.

1.) Incorporate the class assignments into your DAILY home school schedule. All assignments are given for the week, so you may break them down into "doable" daily segments. Accomplishing a small bit each day will be much better for your child than trying to "cram it in" at the last minute. The assignments will take about 20 minutes (+/-) each day. Here is a suggestion for modifying** at home:
Monday - Vocabulary Group 1, Practice Sentences, Exercises, Writing Assignment Rough Draft
Tuesday - Vocabulary Group 2, Practice Sentences, Journaling, Edit Writing Assignment
Wednesday - Finish Practice Sentences and Exercises, Neatly Write or Type Final Draft of Writing Assignment, Be sure you have all assignments completed
Thursday - Come prepared to Co-Op with completed assignments and class supplies
Friday - Chapter Test (optional), Journal Entry
**Assignments will vary each week. Some weeks will not have a writing assignment.

2.) Order the audio CD with the jingles and review it several times a week. This CD is optional, but I highly recommend purchasing it and using it at home until your child knows the songs by memory. (Our family listens to them in the car!) We will review the jingles weekly in class, but it will be difficult for your child to remember all of them if they only hear them once per week. If you would like additional reinforcement of the Question and Answer Flow to classify the sentences along with the jingles, then I would suggest ordering the Practice CD Set.

3.) Go over your child's writing assignments with him/her. Help them find spelling, capitalization, and grammatical errors before they are turned in. Your child will be expected to turn in a "final draft" to me. We will discuss editing and proofreading in class, but until these skills are strengthened, I suggest spending time with your child to boost their confidence. When I grade these papers, I will be primarily looking at their writing "form and structure."
I prefer these final draft papers to be typed. Hand-written copies are fine, but please have your child use their neatest handwriting. I would like to post some of the writing on our class blog (without names) to encourage the students.

4.) Remember that "Journaling" is not a graded writing assignment. The purpose of journaling is to help your child develop the habit of developing his/her thoughts with the written word. Please do not criticize, correct, or change their journal entries. If you read these entries, always try to provide encouragement and praise for your child's efforts. You will see a vast improvement in content over the course of the year. However, always remember that the purpose of your child's journaling is very different than their writing assignments.

5.) Tests are located in the back of your student's workbook. I am not planning to administer these in class because I am going to need to use all of our class time to teach the concepts. If you desire your child to take the tests, I will be happy to provide the Test Key so you may grade it at home. I am hoping to have my weekly class assistant help grade the practice exercises and sentences each week.

Finally, I am available to help you. Please let me know how I can help you. I am happy to do so. Together, we are going to have a wonderful year!