Grade 1 - Key Skills Take-Home Package

The key skills take-home packages were developed in collaboration with K-3 teachers and students at Croft Elementary School. It is hoped these documents will be an affordable, fun and interactive tool to empower parents to help improve the Key Skills of K-3 students in Anglophone North School District.

Some important points to note:

-         Ideally these packages, their contents and the games should be shared with parents in a face-to-face meeting (ex: parent-teacher meetings). Often parents will have anxieties about their children not meeting key skills. These anxieties can be mitigated if the packages are presented to parents face-to-face instead of being sent home in a school bag. During the meeting teachers should emphasize that these are end of year outcomes and the packages are meant to be a fun and interactive resource to build key skills (Not drill and kill).

-         Some schools have also found these packages to be useful in arranging learning centers in their own classroom or used in “Math Buddies” activities where older students (ex: Grade 5) are paired with younger students to help reinforce Key Skills.

-         Before handing out the packages teachers should introduce the contents and practice the games with students in their classroom.

-         The following pages should be printed on card stock. Laminating each page is recommended, however it can be costly and the cardstock seems to be sturdy enough for the purpose. Pages could be printed in colour or black and white depending on budget.