Dear Parents,
After a sunny summer, I welcome you back to school. I wanted to take some time to introduce myself to you and your family. I am so excited and privileged to be part of this exceptional learning community. Before coming to WRCA, I taught in the Langley School District for two years. Throughout my time in Langley I developed a passion for teaching science and Language Arts, and am excited to bring my previous experience to this class.
For the past eight years I have called British Columbia my home. I grew up in Central Ontario, where my family still lives. I came out to BC to attend Trinity Western University, but after my first year living here I fell in love with our province and have been here ever since. What I love most about the Lower Mainland is that in the morning I can go for a hike and by the afternoon be in the city book shopping.
This year I’m excited to be getting married! I spent most of the summer planning, creating, and organizing things so that I’m all ready to have a great September with your kids. The wedding will take place over Thanksgiving weekend. I will be going on a short honeymoon (Tuesday to Thursday) right after the wedding, and a longer one over March Break. My new last will be Kullman.
An important piece of information about myself is that I have quite a few food allergies (All flour and sugars), and so I do not eat any food that I haven’t prepared. I have already informed your children about this, and thank you for your understanding when I decline food. I look forward to getting to know you and your children over these next ten months.
To give you a sense of my daily expectations and routines, I have written a small paragraph on a few keys subjects.
Spelling: Last year as an elementary we began a new spelling program, Sitton Spelling. I am very excited to continue using it this year, as my students last year had great success with it. Every Wednesday students will be pre-tested on five words that will help focus their attention on a set of specific phonetic concepts. Throughout the week we will develop our understanding of these with various class activities and group work. On Monday students will bring home an activity sheet that corresponds to our focus for the week. They are to complete it, and send it back the next day for a completion mark. On Tuesday, students will complete a cloze word test that tests their knowledge of the spelling concept we have been working on. Unlike traditional spelling programs, they are not given a list of spelling words to know for a test. This takes sometime getting used to, but after a few weeks the students very much enjoy the challenge!
Math: We will begin the year by looking at number structures, patterns, and ways of writing numbers. We will have math after recess on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesdays, and will spend a block on Fridays working on problem solving. To help prepare your child for addition and subtraction, it would be beneficial to review their basic math facts (0-10).
Physical Education: I’m excited for the excellent experience your students are going to receive by having Mr. Dykstra as their PE teacher. Physical Education is scheduled for Monday and Friday after recess. Students are expected to bring their gym strip on those days. As a reminder, students will be asked each week to write it in their agendas.
Home Reading: To help facilitate reading at home, students will be signing out books from the class library and recording what they have read in home reading logs. Each child has been given a bag, in which they will keep their reading and log books. My expectation is that pictures books will be returned on a daily basis, and chapter books will be exchanged once student has completed it. If your child reads a book at home, please record it in reading log, as it counts towards their total books read.
Music: As part of the curriculum, your child will be participating in music twice a week. The musically gifted, Mr. MacLeod will be instructing the students every Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.
Library: Our weekly library time will be Monday after lunch. Students are expected to be responsible for returning library books on a weekly basis. To help keep everyone on track, a reminder will be written in the agenda.
Dismissal: At the close of every day students are required to prepare themselves for the next day by sharpening two pencils, putting away their chairs, and showing me they have their agenda with them. Please be patient at the beginning of the school year, as this routine takes time to master.
Parent contact: I am looking forward to getting to know all the parents throughout the year. Please feel free to visit me after school, once all the students have been dismissed. I welcome your insights into the unique personalities of your children.
I’m so excited for this year. I know that God has brought us all together for a reason. In closing, I want to share with you our classroom theme: Sustainable living as an act of stewardship for God’s creation. This theme will be part of our curriculum, service project, and conversations through the year. I’m excited to see were God leads the class with respect to this year as the year progresses.
My prayer is that throughout this year our classroom community will take an active role in preserving and promoting better sustainable choices.
Thank you for the opportunity to teach your children,
Melissa Wyville [Soon to be Kullman ;)]
