Dear Parents,

Welcome to February! Hopefully, we won't have any more snow days. I would really like to have some time off in the beautiful month of June, my favorite month.

Mid-term Progress Reports will be sent home on Thursday. If you have any questions, please call me at school. I would be happy to meet with you.

Our Valentine's Day Party will be held on Friday of this week. Yes, it is an early release day, yet we will have a quick party just before they go home. The list of children in the classroom was sent home. Please make sure that your child gives a Valentine to everyone in the class. I wouldn't want any hurt feelings. Again, I would like to limit the snacks to healthy food.

About half of the children in the class have been selected to take the NEAP test on Feb 19. The children were randomly selected by the state people who run the testing situation. I will let you know who they are about 2 days before the test. Please make sure your child gets a good night sleep and a nutritious breakfast.

In Math, we have put aside the partial-quotients for a while (we will return to it) and replaced that with fractions. I have spent a lot of time teaching the children exactly what fractions mean. The most important thing for them to remember is that a fraction is part of a whole. The confusing part comes when the whole changes such as a group of pennies etc. I can best illustrate it with shapes and changing the shape (that being the whole). It takes a while for them to understand, but they will get it.

How is the science experiment going? I will be asking for them to report on it this week.

Have a good week.