Fall Questions for Students and Parents

As week seven of school gets underway today, I can’t help but notice the symphony of autumn colours on display across the street through my office window. Time moves along quickly in a school year and we trust that you and your children have experienced a positive initial beginning to the 2015-16 school year that is nearly 20% complete. We believe each day and each moment counts as we move through the year. We are thankful for the fresh new opportunities the Lord provides us with each morning to live and learn together as a community of faith.

Last Friday marked the first of many times this year that your child will be given a formal and more
summative indication of how learning and growing at LCES is going for them. Teachers in grades
one through eight sent home a Learning Skills Rubric with your child which was a checkpoint on the
journey from September to June. They are designed to confirm and celebrate great patterns of stu-
dent conduct already observed, and to pinpoint areas for personal growth that can be areas of focus
before we get to the first report card which is sent home on November 27. Our hope and prayer is
that they stimulate productive conversations with parents, students, and teachers that help a student
to flourish.

It can be challenging to dialogue with your child about school and get meaningful answers. Here are
some examples of great questions that I have encountered in various places that encourage stu-
dents to process their day with their parents:

• If I was your teacher tomorrow, what would you want me to teach?

• What happened today that you wished would happen everyday?

• Did you have a chance to help or encourage someone today?

• What was the funniest thing that happened today?

• Was there anything that frustrated you today?

• Tell me about three different things you did in your classroom today.

• When were you happiest today?

• Was there a question you or your teacher couldn’t answer today?

• Is there a part of today you wish you could do over?

We are excited about working with our students, your children, every day. We do so in the sure
knowledge that God goes with us in this most important task. SJ