Parent Teacher Conferences

Here is the April newsletter!

We made our goal of 1,000,000 minutes as a school!

Anyone that would like FREE Treehouse Museum tickets please see Ms. Sandy in the office.

This year the importance of reading has been reinforced to me.  I have a 6th grade son.  He was struggling at the start of this year and had scored really low on his beginning of the year reading scores.  We require that he read daily, but things were not changing much.  He showed some growth by December, but still below grade level.  In December something changed.  He started reading.  We would find him staying up later to read instead of fighting with his sisters.  Over spring break when he woke up he would start his day by reading.  He was reading 1-2 hours a day on school days finishing not just books but series in a month.  His reading score jumped with the last assessment his teacher gave him, he moved from somewhere in the 4th grade range to around an 8th grade range.  This is one of many examples that could be used.  Amount of time spent reading results in an increase in student reading ability.  I encourage all to make sure their children have a library card.  Help them find the books that they like, and encourage them to read.  Reading is best done aloud, with support from an adult in the elementary grades.  I am reminded also of the story of Ben Carson, a surgeon at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute who lived in extreme poverty, who’s mother turned off the TV and required him and his siblings to read and write at home.  At school we have 6 hours and 20 minutes a day with the students and we will do everything we can to help them learn, but as a parent getting children to read is the number one thing you can do to impact their learning.