Welcome back

I really enjoyed Meet Your Teacher night at school. The kids grew this summer. It was great to see them. We start the real work on Monday. Parents, please stop into the LD Resource room with any questions, worries, and compliments - especially the compliments. :-))

fish :-8

Yes,
I'm tongue tied. My kids ate fish as they grew up. My daughter - not so much, but some. They both scored well on the ACT or SAT (don't remember which). But now I find out if I had just paid more attention they could have done even better. Reader's Digest's new September issue has an article about eating fish. This article quotes doctor after doctor recording benefits of eating fish. But what caught my attention is the big print info. on page 159. "Young men who ate fish more than once a week scored nearly 11 percent higher on IQ tests than males who rarely ate seafood." Of course, we all backed off fish when we learned of the dangers of mercury. Apparently there is reason to study fish more closely and find safe sources of fish to include in our weekly menus.

Reading is so important. Research shows that the best way to become a good reader is by reading. Just like riding a bike, you have to do it to learn to do it. And just like riding a bike, if you don't do it for a while you have to rework those muscles to make them strong again. If you don't read much all summer then you have to reteach when school starts. This is a shame because all that time you spend reteaching could have been spent learning new things.
During the summer I hope to read to my grandchildren, do some gardening, read a few books (just for fun) and maybe travel a little. When school starts again in August I will ask my students to tell me and write or draw something they did during the summer. They are always welcome to bring in pictures of their activities.

March 2009
We are certainly having extreme weather. It brings out the insects, worms, birds, skunks, deer and diseases. Our character trait this month is perseverance. We need it right now.
My students are memorizing a poem about perseverance.
Try, Try, Again.
Tis a lesson you should heed, Try, Try, Again.
If at first you don't succeed, Try, Try, Again.
Then your courage should appear,
For, if you will persevere,
You will conquer, never fear; Try, Try, Again.
This poem goes on for two more stanzas. Children have to persevere if they wish to memorize the entire thing.

Winter

Christmas and New Year's Day have come and gone. We had a wonderful time visiting with family and friends. Its back to work on Monday. Unfortunately, many of my students will have lost some of the abilities they had learned in the first months of school. So, next week we will review and work especially hard on sight words and phonics skills. The semester ends shortly and the next thing you know we will celebrate Valentines Day. Stay as warm as you can.
Rosemary Jordan