Dear Teacher: There Are a Few Things I Need You To Know
Dear Teacher,
I know we haven’t met yet. I’d love to sit down and talk with you, but I don’t even know your name. You’re about to become a very important person in my child’s life, which in turn will make you a very important person in my life. We’ve been very lucky thus far to have had the privilege of some amazing public school teachers. They’ve shown wisdom, compassion, and love to all their students. My girls have learned so much and grow each and every year. I hope this year will be no different.
You’re very busy at the beginning of the year. I get that. We never really have much time to chat before that first day of class. But, there’s just a few things I’d love for you to know before you start teaching my daughter.
We are a team. We have the same end goal in mind. There’s just one difference, my only focus is on my child’s education. You, on the other hand, have more than 20 other kids to focus on. What’s best for my child may not be the best for every one else. I get that. So, let’s keep the lines of communication open. Let me know if my daughter needs extra help mastering a skill or extra encouragement on a social issue. I’ll step up and I’ll get her through. We’re in this together.
I am also my child’s teacher. Yeah, I know I don’t have an education degree like you do. I don’t know teaching methods and I don’t know much at all about classroom management. But I do know a thing or two about my own child. I know her quirks and her particular learning styles. We like to have fun and we like to learn. I may not do all those cool suggested activities that you send home, but that doesn’t mean we don’t support learning in our house. We just do it in a different way.
I want to help you. I tell you this every year and every year I mean it. I’m not just saying this to be nice. I want to help you and I want to help my daughter’s classmates. Don’t ever be afraid to ask me! I will step in and help to the best of my time and ability. I know you can’t do it all. Please let me carry some of the load. I will sort and staple, file, or even step in and supervise your favorite messy project for the classroom party. I’ve already got the paint-stained jeans ready to wear!
I understand that education today looks much different than the education I received. And, that doesn’t mean one is better than the other. They’re just different. I’m embracing all the differences as they come along and in some cases, learning right along with my daughter. I won’t mock it or post crappy Facebook posts out of frustration. I’ll try to figure it out. And if I come to you with questions, take it in good faith that I’m trying to learn.
You are amazing. I don’t think I could do what you do. It pleases me so much to see you enjoy your job. You love those kids. You care so much about them. Because of that, I can put my trust in you. I know you’ll do a fantastic job and I look forward to the coming year.
Thank you.
I wrote this piece as part of a monthly blog hop in support of public schools. Make sure and visit the rest of the participants.
Rainbow Color Hunt: A Tally Mark Scavenger Hunt
We love scavenger hunts – really love scavenger hunts.
They’re fun, engaging, get you moving, and are a great way to sneak in some extra learning.
We recently spent a hot summer day on a rainbow color tally mark scavenger hunt throughout the house.
It was a great way to sneak in some math practice. We were looking for the colors of the rainbow and also practicing tally marks at the same time.
Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.
Perfect for inside or outside
This scavenger hunt can work both indoors and out, but we did discover that there are many more color choices inside.
You would definitely want to find a more colorful location (like a flower garden) if you plan on trying this scavenger hunt outside.
Go on a rainbow color tally mark scavenger hunt
The hunt is so easy and so much fun.
All you need is the Rainbow Color Hunt printable, a hard surface to write on, and a pencil.
Have your child hunt for all the colors of the rainbow. Each time that find a color, they need to make a tally mark on the sheet.
At the end of the hunt, total up all the tally marks to find out which color occurred most frequently.
To make sure there was an end point to this scavenger hunt, I set a timer for 15 minutes. Our goal was to find out how much color we could find in that time frame.
My girls worked together to find the colors and total up the tally marks. You could also give each child their own copy of the printable and let them compete against each other to see who found the most incidences of each color.
Are you ready to play? You can download and print the Rainbow Color Tally Mark Scavenger Hunt at the link below.
More rainbow fun
Make simple egg carton rainbows. You probably have all the supplies you need at home.
Read a book about color! You’ll find great recommendations for books about all the colors of the rainbow.
Learn with Rainbow Writing. Practice spelling words or sight words with this fun activity.
Try some rainbow science. Visit Buggy & Buddy for a fun list of rainbow science activities.
Make this a family adventure
Cost: Free
Planning time: About 5 minutes. You need time to download and print the Rainbow Color Hunt sheet.
Ages: 5 and up. This works best with kids who have already learned about tally marks. You can pair up younger kids with an older sibling or adult if they can’t do tally marks on their own.
Time needed: 15 to 30 minutes.
Choose your location wisely! You don’t want everyone to get frustrated because they can’t find the different colors.
Aboriginal Dot Painting: Exploring Australia Through Art
Skip Counting by 10 Pretend Play Store
My girls have always loved playing store. Always. And just when I think we’ve played every version imaginable, I think of a new idea.
I’ve already shared one way to use a pretend play store for math practice with our Number Stories Store. This time we’re going to use a store to practice skip counting by 10.
The set up is so easy. In fact, let your kids help. They enjoy setting it up as much as they enjoying playing with the store.
Disclosure: The post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more details.
Supplies needed:
Items to “sell” – We used stuffed animals
Paper cut into small pieces
Marker
Coins
Set up your skip counting store
While my girls went in search of our merchandise for the store, I started working on the price tags.
I have this cool gift tag punch that I used to make our fancy price tags. (On a side note, I use it all the time to make homemade gift tags!)
You don’t have to get as fancy as I did, just cut your paper into small rectangles. I cut out 10 tags and started writing prices.
We were going to work on skip counting by 10, so each tag was marked 10 cents up to $1.00. I let the girls assign price tags to each animal.
This is the perfect time to practice with real money
We used real money in our store. This was a perfect chance to practice counting money!
I gave my daughter 10 dimes and let her start shopping.
She would pick out an animal she wanted to “purchase” and then have to count out her dimes to pay for it.
I had her skip count by 10 since that is what we were practicing.
My two girls played for a long time and got in a lot of sneaky math practice.
Don’t just stick with skip counting by 10
If your child needs to practice skip counting by 5’s, just switch up the game a little. Write prices in multiples of 5 and let them use nickles instead of dimes.
You could use prices that teach skip counting by 3, 4, 6, or any other set of skip counting.
This game is so much fun. Your kids will get plenty of practice skip counting and they won’t feel like they’re working. It’s a win-win!
For more information about skip counting:
Math Homework 101: Skip Counting: Why is skip counting so important and how can I help my child learn this skill.
Skip Counting with Bottle Caps: Another easy and fun skip counting game.
Skip Counting with the Cat in the Hat: Practice skip counting by 10 with this fun homemade puzzle.
Fine Motor Skip Counting Game: Get a little fine motor practice with this simple skip counting by 5 game at Better Than Homework.
Skip Counting by 5 DIY Game: Practice skip counting with this simple craft stick game at Simply Kinder.