Hello October!

While I cannot believe September is already over, I feel as though we have been back at school forever. I am so inspired watching our students form new friendships, work together, learn new routines and practice new skills.

A few quick reminders about this very short and very busy week!

• Our school BBQ will be held tomorrow, Wednesday October 3rd here at St. John the Apostle 
• We will be visiting the book fair on Wednesday, October 3rd 
• PICTURE DAY is also Wednesday October 3rd. SMILE!!
• Friday is a PD Day. There will be no school 

It was really nice to meet with some of you to discuss your child's IEP. I am looking forward to calling some of you this week and collaborating. Your child's IEP will coming home shortly. The homeschool will send home a draft copy of the IEP shortly. Please take the time to read it carefully. As mentioned, I would be very happy to arrange a time to sit and discuss the IEP with you. Please let me know if you have any questions about the document.

Here are some of the things we are working on here, and some strategies you can use at home to support their learning.

Phonological Awareness- Here are some activities you can do with your child at home to help with our syllable work at school.

•  Take turns and clap the number of syllables in words. You say a word and your child claps the word. For example: computer- child claps com/pu/ter, 3 claps; pig- child claps /pig/, 1 clap. Choose words with varying number of syllables
• While driving or walking, pick out words that you see, have child clap the syllables. For example: church, Walmart, Metro, Chapters, park.
• After reading a book, pick a word or a picture per page to clap.
• Throw a ball, beanbag, or favourite stuffed toy back and forth, as you each say one syllable at a time.   For example, for the word “macaroni”, you would toss the ball back and forth a total of 4 times 
• Use a stick to tap out all the syllables of each family member’s name.  For example: “Mom/my”; “Bill”; “Grand/pa”

This coming month, we will be focusing on the theme of “Giving Thanks” and “Halloween”.  We will work on our new vocabulary and practice using these words in our writing. 

Here is a list of the new vocabulary we will focus on:

thank, giving, God, Jesus, pray, wonderful, share, friends, lovely, autumn, leaf, tree, eat, yummy, friends, family, school, Halloween, scary, costume, Trick-or-Treating, carve, pumpkin, decorating, bones, goblin, cat, bat, ghost, wizard, witch

Talk to your children about these words! Incorporate them into your discussions and have fun!

Basic Concepts- Basic concepts such as colors, numbers, location words, and descriptive words are the building blocks that children need to follow directions, to engage in classroom routines, and to provide descriptions. Understanding these concepts is fundamental for children so they can perform everyday tasks such as listening, speaking, reading and writing.  Here are two ways you can help your child learn basic concepts:

* Read to your child! A lot of common stories teach basic concepts. If the concepts are not stated directly within the story, the pictures lend themselves to teaching concepts. For example, use a picture in a story and say, “Where is the dog? It’s on the sofa.” Then, allow your child to tell you what is off the sofa. You can also go around the room and find things that are on something and things that are off something.

* Playing games is great too.  For example, “I Spy.” You could say, “I spy something that is small/big.”  Encourage your child to use concepts when it’s his/her turn.

In our writing, we have started with sentences. The students are working toward making sure that there is a capital at the beginning of each sentence, lower case letters throughout the sentence, spaces between each word of the sentence and proper punctuation at the end. For our friends who are still learning to write, they are working on speaking full sentences dictating their ideas to me to write for them. We then review their words. These are the first steps to becoming a writer! Some of our older friends are adding details to their sentences too! So much amazing learning happening!

READ, READ,  READ!

So much learning and experience comes from reading. Grab your favourite book and snuggle up and read! Talk about the book, the characters, the facts, the words....all of it! 

And please use the snuggle bag reading program! Here are a few reminders. 

Snuggle Bag Reading:  I will continue sending Snuggle Books with your child to read with you at home.  The books are meant to be at their individual reading level, or just above, giving each student a little challenge.  I appreciate your help in filling out the recording sheet that is in their Snuggle Bags.  This assists me in providing the correct level of book for your child.  The books are meant to be kept until the child feels comfortable with the words in the book.  If they master it in one day, please return it right away.  If the book is more of a challenge please keep the book at home and read it the following evening.  This allows the children to review the words and content and come to a more thorough understanding of the text.  Each time your child returns the book, I will assume he/she is finished with the book and I will send a new one home.  Thank you again for your assistance with this program!!

Be sure to review and sign the agenda and the PLC Ziplock daily.  If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to write me a note or to call.  I would be happy to talk with you.  Thank-you for your continued support and cooperation. 

I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving weekend. I know I have plenty to be thankful for, including my amazing students!!

Sarah Faloon                                     

Special Education Teacher

PLC St. John the Apostle