Frequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions of students and parents.
- CAN WE VISIT OR VOLUNTEER IN THE CLASS?
- WHAT DO I DO WITH MY CHILD'S JOURNAL?
- WHAT IS THE MATH BAG?
- WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH THE READING BAG?
- WHAT IS THE ORDER USED FOR LEARNING THE ALPHABET?
- DOES THE SCHOOL HAVE A MASCOT AND COLORS?
- WHERE DO I GET A SCHOOL SHIRT?
- WHAT IS A TRUCKER BUDDY?
- WHAT IS SAC?
- WHAT IS PTA?
CAN WE VISIT OR VOLUNTEER IN THE CLASS?
Yes, yes, and yes. I will be setting up a schedule in the near future for
volunteers. If you are interested in helping out during the school day,
email me and we will make sure you get a time slot!
WHAT DO I DO WITH MY CHILD'S JOURNAL?
The journals are sent home occasionally for you to look at and discuss with
your child. Your job is to talk about the journal, not to write in it.
Journaling is done on a daily basis in the classroom. Your child is asked to
draw a picture of something he/she remembers about his/her day. We try to
script for each child once or twice during the week.
WHAT IS THE MATH BAG?
The Math Bag contains a game that reinforces math concepts from our math
standards. Play the game and return it the next day. There are 5 Math Bags
so you should see the bag coming home each week (usually on Tuesday). It
stays home for the week and returns on Monday. There are 12 different games
in this series. After 12 weeks, we will repeat the games.
WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH THE READING BAG?
Read, Read, Read!!! Your child is encouraged to select 5 books from the
class library (my own personal collection of books)to take home for one
night. I have 5 Reading Bags so each child should get to bring a bag home
once a week (usually on Tuesday). It stays home for the week and returns on
Monday.
WHAT IS THE ORDER USED FOR LEARNING THE ALPHABET?
Many want to know why the odd order of the alphabet. There is a reason for
this madness. We are doing letters whose sound is similar to their name.
We will leave the more difficult ones until later in the year. The other
reason for this order is to create consonant-vowel-consonant (c-v-c) words
that they can easily recognize. Our order for the future will be:
Aa, Bb, Ss, Ff, Mm, Tt, review, Pp, Ii, Jj, Hh, Nn, Ll, Rr, review, Oo, Gg,
Dd, Cc, Kk, Ww, Vv, review, Uu, Yy, Zz, Qq, Xx, Ee, review, th, wh, sh, ch.
DOES THE SCHOOL HAVE A MASCOT AND COLORS?
Yes, our mascot is a Koala and our colors are green, white, and gold. Friday
is our unofficial "spirit day" so I encourage the children to wear their
school colors or shirts that day.
WHERE DO I GET A SCHOOL SHIRT?
PTA sells them.
WHAT IS A TRUCKER BUDDY?
Trucker Buddy is an organization of truckers in the United States who write
to school classes. Each trucker has to complete a screening by the
organization before being accepted, and all communication to and from him
goes through the teacher. Our buddy's name is Kris and he will be writing to
us about once a week from all over the United States. His first postcards
(many years ago)were from Texas and Tennessee. He told us about frozen
waffles and Hershey's candy that he was delivering. We write to him about
once a month. The first letter we send will be an introductory letter from
the group. We will ask him all kinds of questions about his truck, his
travels, and his family.
WHAT IS SAC?
The School Advisory Committee (SAC) and Installation Advisory Committee (IAC)
serve as forums in which questions or concerns raised by parents or teachers
are discussed. The SAC includes parents and teachers who are elected to
represent the community at large. The function of the SAC is to make
recommendations and advise the principal on (1) school policies, student
activities, and administrative procedures; (2) instructional programs and
educational resources within the school; (3) allocation of resources within
the school to achieve educational goals; (4) administrative and logistical
support services provided by the installation commander and applicable
service commands; and (5) policies and standards of the installation command
and military services related to the above. Neither the SAC nor the IAC
addresses matters pertaining to personnel policies or practices, compensation
of school staff, grievances or school employees, or internal management of
DoDDS or their programs. If you have any questions or concerns about the
school's curriculum or environment, give one of the SAC representatives a
call! A list of current representatives is available at the office.
If you are interested in serving on the RES School Advisory Committee,
please contact Kathy Downs at Kathy.Downs@eu.dodea.edu
WHAT IS PTA?
The Ramstein Elementary School Parent/Teacher Association (PTA) is open
for membership for all parents and teachers connected with the elementary
school. General meetings are scheduled quarterly and teachers are encouraged
to attend. The PTA supports the schools program with money-making activities.
The elected board members will be posted soon.