This year you can help your child by being involved in their learning throughout the week. This includes helping your child to stay up-to-date with homework, and studying and preparing for tests. Really a big emphasis over the next ten months is each students ability to produce high-quality independent work. As students prepare this year for the next grade-level, it will be more about what each child is able to demonstrate in their understanding of the topics we are learning as the year progresses. There will be time for collaboration exercises throughout the year, however, a large emphasis will be put on producing individual work.
This year students need to be able to demonstrate how to take ownership for their own learning. They need to regularly practise how to take responsibility. The more your child can do for themselves this year, the better. Learning to solve their own problems, making use of what they know and also taking initiative will help. You can help at home by emphasizing these things, and giving your child as much responsibility as they can handle for their age.
We have 24 students this year in our class. Please know that if I have a concern about your child’s progress, I will most certainly contact you for a phone call appointment. You are also encouraged to schedule a telephone call appointment yourself, if you have things that you’d like to discuss in-person. I am also able to offer video call conferencing with parents through Zoom this year.
Due to the number of families I will be working with this year, I won’t be able to speak in-person or on the phone with everyone each week, but I am most certainly available to discuss any questions you have or concerns throughout the year.
If you are interested in scheduling an appointment with me, the best way to go about that is to contact me via email at mark.knutson@pdsb.net or by completing our contact form.
I am not a believer in children spending hours on homework every night. Each child should have some downtime in the evening to relax, an opportunity to play or enjoy family time, and a time for finishing any assignments that are due.
Your child should have around 50-60 minutes of homework each night (10 minutes per grade-level). Here is what this homework time could look like:
– Reading a chapter book as part of their daily reading practise
– Studying spelling words for their test on Friday (or Thursday if Friday is a holiday)
– Studying for an upcoming test or quiz in French
– Completing an assignment on Google Classroom
– Practising their cursive writing skills
Please remember that school-age children need time to socialize and build their play skills more than anything else. This is beneficial to the classroom environment and to the development of your child as a well-rounded individual. Your child’s development goes well beyond the scope of academics. At the end of the year we want students to be able to learn the necessary skills for success, socialize well, solve their own problems and be responsible citizens.