Dear Parents,

My name is Erin Steiner and I will be your child’s math teacher! This is my fifth year here at Summit Academy. I’m going into my 8th year of teaching 2nd grade. I am originally from Rogers, Arkansas. I graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. I also have a Master of Science degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Western Governors University. I am currently in the process of getting a second Master of Science degree from the University of Utah in Educational Leadership and Policy in K-12 School Administration. I am very excited for the opportunity to work with you and your child.

Your child will be learning and studying the Saxon 3 math program. Along with the Saxon math program, I will use various other curriculum resources to enhance your child’s math education. Fact fluency if a very important aspect of helping deepen student understanding of math concepts. There is a website that I will use to help your kids practice their facts at home. It is called Xtra Math. It is super easy to access from home and the kids can use it as homework practice. The best part is that it is a FREE RESOURCE for both you AND me! More information will be coming home with your child on this great resource. You can also check out the website yourself at . Xtramath.org is NOT required for the class. This is just an extra website that helps your child gain fact fluency. I will be sending home the login codes this week. When you get your child’s code, you will go to , click “Enroll”, put in your email address and your child’s code, and they should be good to practice their facts! I will get weekly updates on the progress of their fact fluency they are doing at home. Again, this is NOT required, it is just extra practice. I will offer math homework passes and other incentives for students to use this program at home in lieu of fact practice homework pages.

Homework will come home every night, except for Fridays and special occasions. I expect the homework to be completed and turned in the next day. Homework is NOT meant to cause stress or to take longer than 10-15 minutes if that. If this becomes an issue, PLEASE let me know so that we can make some adjustments for your child. Your child should bring home AT LEAST one written page of math homework. Because we are a fast-paced math class, we sometimes have time to do the fact page in class.

We will be doing math centers at various times throughout the year. It might not be an everyday occurrence, but it will happen. I like the students to work with partners and in groups the majority of the time in math to help them deepen their understanding.

My goals are to not only help your child memorize basic math facts, but mostly to be able to think critically in order to solve problems. I don’t want to just teach basic algorithms. I want your child to know that there are multiple ways to solve problems and that if something works for them, THAT IS OKAY!!! That’s what we want!

I will send out weekly emails for you to know what concepts we are working on in class and if there are any announcements regarding our math class. I also encourage you to subscribe to my website at Click “Campuses” and select the Draper campus. Click “Academics” and select “Class Webpages” and click on 2nd grade. Find my math class, click the link, and select “Subscribe” on the right-hand side.

There will be various times throughout the school year that we will use food to enhance our activities in math. Some of these occasions are Halloween and 100’s day to name a few. In order for your child to participate, please fill out the form attached to this letter and turn it into me ASAP. This will be kept on hand so that I know who can participate in activities or if I need to make adjustments.

I know that as we work together, your child will be very successful in math and be able to learn new skills to help enhance their education. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please let me know. My email address . Please know that my door is always open. I can’t wait to work with you and your child!

Sincerely,

Miss Steiner

My child, ______, may participate in any food activity in math with Miss Steiner during the 2017-2018 school year. I have alerted Miss Steiner of any allergies or medical conditions that may hinder my child’s ability to participate so that Miss Steiner may make the necessary accommodations.

Any allergies? ______

Special Instructions/Concerns? ______

Parent Name: ______

Parent Signature: ______

Date: ______