Tuesday October 29th 2019

I hope everyone had a nice weekend prepping for Halloween!

My kiddos at home are so excited, I am sure your families are

sharing in the excitement! 

This is going to be an exciting week here at SJA. The students

are so very excited about Halloween. I love it!  I love that they

are putting their enthusiasm into great words that  have turned

into fantastic sentences and really fun conversations.  I am

happy to hear about their costumes and how they are celebrating

this fun day! 

Some schools allow students to wear their costumes to school and

some do not. Here at St. John the Apostle, students are encouraged

to wear orange and black and to save their costumes for the

evening. IF YOUR CHILD'S HOMESCHOOL IS PERMITTING

COSTUMES, they can wear their costume here as well. Please do not

feel like you have to send in other clothes for them to change!

To get ready for Halloween, our activities and lessons are

planned around this theme! We will be practicing our descriptive

writing skills when we write all about our costumes! 

Here are the words that we are learning this season.

We have grouped the words together as Fall words.

Some of the words are about Thanksgiving and some

are about Halloween. We are learning about why these words

belong to each of these groups. 

Leaves, leaf, pumpkin, scarecrow, fall, autumn, acorn,
branch, apple tree, turkey, windy, corn, harvest, apple,
kites, rainy days

Haunted house, mummy, spider, Frankenstein, skeleton,

Jack-o-Lantern, bat, pumpkin, candy corn, witch, treat bag,

ghost, cauldron, black cat, vampire, spider web 

We have really been enjoying writing in our journals.
Some students have really been focused on writing complete
sentences using our Writers Eye! Here are the things we are
looking for with our Writer’s Eyes! 

Students can use this chart on the wall when they are writing

to double check that they have included these 4 things! 

(Capitals at the beginning, lowercase letters throughout the

sentence, spaces between our words and punctuation at the end). 

As the students become more comfortable with their writing and their skills improve, we will be adding different criteria to the list. The students did an excellent job! As I review the student's written work, I will be commenting on what they have done using a strategy called, "Tickled Pink and Green for Growth".  You make have heard of this already, all this means is that I will write in PINK something that they did really well, something I am proud of them for doing! Then, I will add in GREEN their next steps.  Since these goals are so different for each student, this is a great communication tools! 

Your child’s progress reports will be coming home soon. They will be sent home from your child’s homeschool. Please read through, sign and return the signed portion back to their homeschool. As you are reading the reports, please remember that the grades and comments are a tiny portion of the amazing successes I see in your children every single day. My sincere hope is that you and your children know how proud of them I am.

They work incredibly hard! Report cards can only tell you so much, and I  SEE SO MUCH MORE growth and gains than I could ever write in a report card or an IEP. Your children are inspiring and their perseverance, enthusiasm for learning and positive energy

are a constant reminder to remind me of why we are all here!

I would be happy to meet and chat with anyone regarding the IEP and the progress report, either in person or over the phone. I will send home an interview request invitation next week. 

Lastly, a note went home today to say that the students have filled in their KINDNESS JAR and they have earned a class reward! We have decided on PJ and movie day on Friday! The children are welcome to dress in their cozies and bring a stuffy! I am proud of their hard work and respectful attitude. They have certainly earned this!

As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

S. Faloon

A few reminders!

* If your child does not have indoor shoes to leave here,

they need to bring them to and from their home school.

As the weather gets colder and wetter, everyone needs a

clean, dry and warm pair of shoes to wear here.  Please let

me know if we can be of any help in getting your child a pair

of shoes to leave here st SJA.  We would be happy to help! 

* Students have many opportunities to eat snacks in our class,

however, there is a lot going on in your child's day!!

Please let me know if you have any concerns about how much

your child is able to eat during the day.  

* I will continue to send home the Word Wall Words every Monday.

How/When/How Much you practice those words is up to you!

I will take the WWW book out of the mail bags once I see that they

have practiced, or on Friday.  Please let me know if I take it out and

you would still like to practice. The words are usually posted

on this blog and on our Twitter account, so feel free to check there

as well! 

* The students are doing really well with their Snuggle Book Reading!

Again, I will switch the books once I see that you have signed the page telling me how they have done.  Please do not send it back to school until you would like a new book. You are welcome to keep each book for as long as it takes to read it with your child. 

* Please remember that our Library Day is Friday.  

Please return all books on or by Friday of each week. Thanks! 

*There will be a P.J. Day on November 6th. Please bring in a donation

for United Way!