L*O*N*G days

Are the long days getting to your kids as much as they are getting to me?  I know we will all adjust soon enough, but I am still getting to school around 6:30 and not leaving until 4:30 or so.  By the time I get dinner done, homework checked, and all the other things I need to do completed, I fall into bed fast asleep.  I hope the kids are sleeping as well as I am!
I will have the September newsletter ready to come home on Friday.  But, until then, I have a couple of notes.

• Our lunch is not until 1:10.  The kids are absolutely starving by then.  I have been letting them have a snack around 10:30.  Feel free to send a healthy snack for them.  Please don't send anything messy (an orange to peel) or anything requiring utensils (yogurt-although go-gurt is fine, applesauce, pudding).  Cereal bars, apples, grapes, crackers, and granola bars are all filling and great choices.  Please, no candies and cookies.  I have a few crackers left from some donations, but once those run out I won't have extras for those who don't have a snack.  If you would like to donate, that would be great!
• Regarding homework, I am really looking for them to show me their strategies.  They should know (and have been writing it in their homework notebook) that when solving math word problems they need to highlight (or circle) the key word, underline the question, answer the question in a complete sentence, and show all of their work.  It is crucial for me to see that they are understanding what they are doing.
• THAT BEING SAID...I spent 30 minutes fighting with my very own 4th grade daughter last night over her math homework.  She needed to explain her answers and could tell me what she did but was having trouble writing it down.  I don't ever want homework to become like that at your house.  Fighting and tears (yours or theirs!) is counterproductive and unnecessary.  Please just jot me a note and I will go over it one on one with them.  My own personal experience tells me that children will often times listen to their teacher more than their own parent. 
• Now that I have a lot of my photo forms back, I hope to pack this blog full of photos!  Stay tuned...

Thanks for your constant support and praise.  This year has already started out so well.  What a wonderful class I have.  And, I am not just saying that!