Coming home tonight is our first week of Fab Four in math.  Each day I give the students four specific math skills as a quiz.  I bring them back to the table one-on-one to discuss any missed problems.  The next day I give them four more problems over the same specific skills.  We continue doing that from Thursday to Wednesday each week.  Hopefully, by the fifth day, the students have mastered that skill.  (Wednesday would be the last day on their sheet.)  I keep track of those students who missed three or more problems for each skill.  I also keep record of those who mastered it the last day.  I will be going back to those same skills for those needing more remediation.  Please look at your child's sheet to see where,if any, their weaknesses are.  Today we began a new set of skills including perimeter/area, adding unlike fractions, dividing (and knowing the divisibility rules), and finding the average. 
They are also bringing home a practice 9A Saxon sheet.  Please look over this sheet as well before they take their test on like problems tomorrow with 9B.  Their sheets should be corrected.
I will be listing any papers in reading or social studies that I am still needing for this week on the board tomorrow.
Hope your child is enjoying our new book, In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson.  You might ask them about the characters, setting, and the beginning plot.  Our writing each morning is also connected to the book.  We are working on a compare/contrast essay together.  We are looking at the differences between China in 1942 and the United States in 2013.  Each paragraph needs a contrast transition word from the sheet in their folder.  We will be working on it for a few more days before it is complete.
I am going to be talking to the kids tomorrow about a new system in reading homework.  I will be recording minutes on Tuesday and Friday.  Between those two times, everyone needs to have read for one hour each week minimum.  Our two sentence summaries will be used for our language writing grade.  Please help encourage your child to be consistent in their enjoyment reading time.