Hi All,

I'm looking forward to meeting with most of you this week; with a few conference already held, or scheduled in the future! Please make every effort to be on time, even if you are coming from another class. Most of us have our conferences scheduled back-to-back, and so there is a domino effect if people aren't on time.

This week the kids have "regular" homework, with a spelling packet and nightly math. Many students elected to receive the packet on Friday afternoon, so that they would have a little extra time on it. This is completely up to you and your family. I did find that there were more errors on last week's spelling tests than previous ones, and so many students may have realized that additional practice time is needed now that we are learning harder words. The kids are also doing a great job on the reading logs, which I realize are a step up from the ones in 1st and 2nd grade. Please remind your child that they may take AR tests on the reading they do at home, as long as there are tests available. We will finish regrouping in math this week and move on to multiplication. However, many kids are still struggling with accuracy in subtraction facts which is why we have been practicing these facts weekly. In general, the kids have really gotten into the rhythm of the weeks, and are doing careful, consistent work.

I also had many more volunteers than necessary for our next field trip ( Aptos History Museum), which is a great problem to have! Please send me an email if you volunteered and would like to opt out. There will be several other great museum field trips this year, including the SC Natural History Museum, SC MAH, and Agricultural History Museum.

Many thanks for all your enthusiasm. I am having a great year with your kids.

Carroll Mayer