Our Journey Has Ended
The Gates Express is pulling into the depot for the final stop this school year! I hope you have enjoyed the ride as much as I have enjoyed conducting. I am sooo excited to see the progress that each child has made and you should be too. Education is a team effort, it takes diligent work on the part of the parents, students, and teachers. I thank you for your support. The students have learned more than just how to read and write, they have learned about integrity, responsibility, and good manners. One thing all students can continue to work on is improving their listening skills and the appropriate time for self-control. Please continue working on these skills throughout the summer, I promise you, it will be a huge step toward a successful first grade year.
Ways to develop listening skills are to play listening games like Simon Says but with the more steps or directions and I Hear. I Hear is a listening game, say a group of words, letters, or sounds and have your child repeat them in order. The key to listening for young children is to wait until all of the directions are given before they begin. Practice giving three step directions and by the end of the summer move to five or six steps depending on the complexity of the directions and skill level of your child. An example, draw a yellow sun, a flower, a bee and some grass. Repeat the directions one time and have your child follow the directions. The set of directions can be movements too. Google listening activities for more ideas. If you come across some you want to share, please email me, I would love to see what you come up with.
To encourage good manners in the classroom, we recently implemented a bell system to notify the class when I hear good manners. Maybe you can try something like this in your home for good manners or good character traits demonstrated such as responsibility, or even if your children are being nice to one another. I ring the bell one time when I hear good manners and the students may or may not know what was said or done but they know "Good manners were used." It has become fun because students now recognize when they see their classmates using good manners toward each other and they let me know. Let me know if you try this system at home and how it works for you.
Continue to read and write over the summer. I wish you all the best of luck next year in first grade.
Sincerely,
Dr. Gates
Send in a large self-addressed envelope with three stamps for the report card to be mailed in early June.