Stop the “Summer Slide”!!

slideHave you ever heard the phrase ‘summer slide’?  It refers to the loss of learning that can take place when skills are not practiced over the summer.    We want everyone to keep their learning brains turned on by spending a 10-50 minutes every day practicing math facts and reading.  To determine the appropriate minimum number of minutes/day for your child, multiple their grade level by 10.  For example, a first grader would spend a minimum of 10 minutes — 5 minutes on math and 5 minutes on reading.

Our school has a login for all students on MOBYMAX –  an excellent online tool for all content areas.  If your child has forgotten their password/login, email me.

On Mobymax, I recommend the following:

  • Grade K:  Number Sense, Alphabet and Reading Trio
  • Grade 1:  Number Sense (review), Math Fact Fluency and Reading Trio
  • Grade 2-5:  Math Fact Fluency (keep those facts fresh) and any of the other applications on the site.

Also, if you would like to track reading minutes over the summer, this counts too.  Simply log into this form once a week to tell me how many minutes per week or per month you are reading.  Summer learning contest ends on August 20.

All students who participate in summer learning entered into a drawing

for an AMAZON GIFT CARD.

Finally, Mrs. Vandenberg, our librarian, would love to have post photos of you reading over the summer.  If you have a photo of your reading during vacation, send her the photo at jvandenb@hpseagles.net

Hope your July is going well!

A Fond Farewell!

sorryI really can’t express enough of what an exceptional class this was!  Thank you to each and every one of you for putting your best forward in school this year.  Much was accomplished.  Hopefully, you could see and feel yourself learning and growing to the best of your ability.

And parents, thank you for sending me such great kids and trusting me with them each and every day! Thanks for all the donations of time, money, supplies and treats! Hudsonville has a strong educational reputation. I’ve heard said it’s because of teachers, but honestly, it’s truly because of parents who care. Thank you for being good parents. And thank you for all you do to support education on a daily basis.

I will truly miss these kids. I wish you all a restful summer! And I will see everyone back here in the fall!   -Love, Mrs. Q

A Butterfly Blessing!

IMG_1215

Hello Friends and Families! I hope everyone is having an enjoyable summer! I am sure missing ALL of my students and looking forward to starting back to school in a month or so. I have been traveling with my husband this summer. We have gone to Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and North Carolina! While in Maryland, we visited Brookside Gardens where they have 100’s of butterflies.  One landed on me.  It must of thought that I was a big, pink flower!  LOL! Someone told me that when a butterfly lands on you, it is blessing you. I definitely feel blessed! I have been so blessed by the many students I have had at Georgetown Elementary.

How’s your reading practice going? So far, I have read 3 books! Can you beat me this summer? I hope so! We’ll see how many more books I will read by the time school starts! Also, I hope you are enjoying MobyMax. That’s a great site to challenge yourself on.

One other thing I have been doing is baby-sitting my granddaughter. She is almost one year old and walking! It has been fun having time with her. We take lots of walks and guess what her favorite word is?  No kidding – it’s “book”! She loves to read already at 1!

I hope you all have been having as much fun as I have! Please write a comment back to this post and let me know how you are doing! Miss you bunches everyone!

Keep On Learning This Summer!

childrenStudies have shown that learners can lose up to 50% of learning during the summer vacation. Georgetown is challenging you and your child to “Keep On Learning With Mobymax” this summer as a way to prevent summer slide. Georgetown teachers selected MobyMax as the online curriculum for summer vacation and extra curricular in school learning.

To learn more, visit our school blog.  Also…all those who earn their MOBYMAX points will be entered into a drawing for an ipad mini!

Last Teacher Post, I Think!

thank youFamilies,

It is that time of year that I usually dread, when I think of wrapping everything up with students I have grown to love so much throughout the year.  It’s come especially fast this year!  I can’t express just how much fun it has been teaching this wonderful bunch of fourth graders!  They’re bright, energetic, talented, and bound to do great things in the future!!

I also want to give a shout out to the moms and dads who have helped along the way this year.  If you planned a party, went on a field trip with us, donated food and etc. to all of the things you wonderful parents put on for us, I so appreciate it! I also want to thank Adrienne who came in and spent several hours leveling books for me.  I could not do it without all of your help.  Thanks from the bottom of my heart.

Putting all emotions to the side, there are a few things to let you know of, as we finish out this last week.  I think I will just lay it out day by day:

Monday – Just Write Celebration, 11:00 a.m. Come for a half hour to 40 minutes to celebrate your child’s writing accomplishments with him/her if you can. We read posters in the hall, read writings at our desks, and read other student’s writing as well.

Tuesday – Field Day, 9 a.m.  We head to the football field at the middle school, where we compete against all the 4th & 5th graders in the district!  Your child will need a sack (cold) lunch, sunscreen, tennis shoes, and comfortable athletic clothing on that day.  *Please also send a plastic/paper bag to school that day as we are emptying our our lockers to take stuff home.

Wednesday – Final math test over Unit 5.  Hopefully I will have time to get a study sheet made up, however, the test will be an open book test over measurement with the metric system, area, and perimeter.

Thursday – Mini Market at 1:15 p.m.  We will finish up by treating our pre-K bus buddies to ice cream sundaes with us as a way of celebrating the end of the year with them!  Your student will need a final paper/plastic bag to bring home the contents of their desks this day.

Friday – Dismissal at 1 p.m.  We will eat lunch together outside if the weather is good.  Mrs. Q cries.

I wish all of you a wonderful summer!!  Report cards will be sent electronically as an email attachment on June 12.  Next year’s teachers will be listed then. Due to confidentiality reasons, class lists will no longer be posted on the school doors.  If you wish to not receive your child’s report card electronically, just shoot me an email and we can mail it to you.  Let’s have a great last week of school!             Love – Mrs. Q

 

Welcome to My Fourth Graders!!!

DSC_0206Welcome new Fourth Graders!!  I am so excited to be your 4th grade teacher!  It is going to be a great year and I can hardly wait to get started!  What?!  You want to have SUMMER first?!!  Well, ok, I guess we’ll have to give it a few weeks!

I know that this blog may still have some references to my second graders.  Please be patient as I work this summer to get it all revamped for our 4th grade year.  And if you are a second grader still visiting this site, YOU ARE WELCOME to keep visiting!  I will keep our blog roll available for you to get on and practice.  Many of the sites I have listed are for all grade levels anyway.

Keep your eyes posted for upcoming blogs on supplies and etc. for 4th grade!  I can’t wait to meet all of you!  And I am so excited to have some of my old second graders back, as well as, my new fourth graders too!

FOURTH GRADE ROCKS!!!

Love, Mrs. Quigley

Summer Tutors

It’s that time of year again when we begin to look towards summer and start to make plans.  Some students do well over the summer in maintaining their skills and some do not.  I highly recommend that if you know your student struggles in school, or may possibly drop back in their skills over the summer, having a tutor is a wonderful way for your child to catch up or maintain.  They also get that one to one attention that so many need.  Below is a list of wonderful tutors that will be available over the summer!  Their schedules tend to fill up quickly, so if you think you may want tutoring, please let them know as soon as possible!  And if you let me know too, then I can pass on things for the tutors to work on with your awesome child!  🙂
Katie O’Rourke – korourk@hpseagles.net (Reading & Math, K-5)
Jen Stutz – jstutz1@hpseagles.net (Reading & Math, K-5)
Terri Hagberg – thagber@hpseagles.net (Reading & Math, K-5)
Heather Field – fieldh@westottawa.net (Reading & Math, K-2)

**Our school library will also be open on Tuesdays this summer (10:00-12:00). We will have leveled books available, as well as regular library books. Classroom teachers will be there to help your child find some great just right books!


No Georgetown Library for Mrs. Q This Summer

Hi Friends,

Sadly I will not be able to be at Georgetown’s Summer Library this month due to a class I am taking at GVSU.  Did you know that while you are playing and resting during the summer, teachers are often taking classes to learn new things and become better teachers!  And that is what I am doing.  My classes are on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, so unfortunately, that conflicts with library time.  I am sad that I will be missing seeing my old students and my NEW students.

Hope everyone is having a great summer and I look forward to seeing you all at Open House on August 29th!      Love ~  Mrs. Q  🙂

How many little campers can fit into Pioneer Park?

Posted by  on Monday, August 15th 2011

If you noticed your neighborhood was missing the sounds of children playing, it’s because they were at Pioneer Park with the Burget and VanHaitsma families!   How many young campers can fit into Pioneer Park…at least 52!

In the photos above,  check out the best summer fort I have seen in a long time. It was engineered and built by Jessa, Kassidy and Kenzey.  Way to go, builders! The photo on the right showcases four  very happy campers:  Jessa and Kassidy VanHiatsma along with Kenzey and Kaylah Burget.

If you haven’t sent me a summer photo for your family yet, put it on your to do list.  We have less than three weeks until school begins and I would love to wrap up these summer weeks with posts about summer fun.

My California Trip!

Hi Everyone!  I just got back tonight from a trip to California!  My son Keegan was out there for an internship in film and movies because that’s what he wants to be – a film maker!  My youngest daughter Caitlin, also went out to California to UCLA for a theater camp!  Aren’t they both lucky?  They both had a great time and learned a lot!  So I got to fly out there and spend a few days to see what they were up to and then we all drove back together!  It was a long trip, but a LOT of fun!  We went to Universal Studios, Beverly Hills (where the movie stars live), Las Vegas, and Denver, Colorado!  Below are a few pictures!

I am so glad to be home now!  And excited to get to work and get ready for school!!  I can’t wait to see everybody!  Have a great last few weeks of summer!  Love, Mrs. Q

 

More Summer Fun!

Hi Mrs. Q.  My corn is growing and growing but no corn. It is as tall as me! From, Alex

(Side note:  Alex was jumping on his tramp and broke his ankle this summer!  He’s doing better now!  Even riding his motor scooter with the cast on!)

One of our second grade teachers, Mrs. Kuieck, has had a busy summer with her three boys.  Brycen, a kindergartener inMrs. Jabaay’s class,  learned how to swim.

 

Masen, a second grader in Mr. Bialochowski’s fourth grade, learned how to wake board at the cottage on Lake Leelanau.

 

Finally, Zach who is in Mrs. Quigley’s class, worked with his mom to grow cucumbers to make into pickles!