A Brand New Year

Welcome to a new year of learning!

While learning with me, your child will not only be exploring the what of Math, Science, Art, Spanish, and Technology. They will also learn the why. 

For those of you not familiar, my philosophy is to give children tools for learning so that they become self-educators and I merely become the the facilitator. This is known as the Socratic method and is an important tool in Cambridge's instructional philosophy.

So please come by for information about what your child is doing in class and ways you can help to educate at home.

To the right you will notice the Parent Resource Center. I encourage you to look at these links. There you will find study aids and points of interest for both students and parents. 

Also feels free to look at my back log of posts. Many of them provide a short education on what your child is learning. For example, clicking on these words will take you to my entry on the scientific method which your 2nd and 3rd graders are currently studying in class. The scientific method is the corner for everything we do in science. Really the corner stone for most things that we do in life.

In 3rd grade mathematics, I try to stress concept over process. This year we will be studying two units at once. The units will be complimentary and will help our students have a more well-rounded math instruction. This past week we studied place value through the trillions and perimeter. Your student will be assessed every Friday. Their scores will usually be made available that same day.

In Spanish, we will continue to build vocabulary while the grammar grades will continue to learn to put together nouns and verbs to make complete sentences. My students will learn to speak Spanish based on situation and environment. I try to introduce new material in trickles while I drill students on the same vocabulary and grammar. This method will help to build fluency. 

This year your 2nd and 3rd grader's Art classes will closely follow what they are learning about in History, Science, and Reading.

Technology is a new class for the 2nd-4th grades. In these classes I will turn your child from a technology consumer to a technology producer. In other words, they will be evaluated based on what they can make, not on what they can use. This will prepare them for the paradigm of the 21st century. We are starting with computer repair and building. 

I strive to be as open and available as possible. As a teacher, I would like to see homework assignments completed rather than not be disturbed about homeowork after 7:00pm. So please feel free to call my cell phone number per the number listed in the e-mail that went out with this entry announcement.

-- Mr. Raines