Today marks Day 3 of the month long program, Parents As Reading Partners, that is currently going on at our district elementary schools. Throughout New York state in fact, if you listen hard enough, you can hear the quiet murmur of parents and children discovering and exploring new places, meeting new people, reliving history, and venturing off into unknown territories of the imagination! Or... as in my case... you can also hear the sound of recipes being read from The Pioneer Woman Cooks A Year Of Holidays. (I believe I gained 5 pounds before I was able to coax my daughter into reading a story instead.)
The point is, whatever type of reading sparks the passion of literacy in your child, reading is reinforced at home... celebrated even! We celebrate with trophies when our child does a great job on a sports team; we celebrate with recitals with special attire and commemorative photographs of beaming faces. Reading, though, isn't often honored as the incredible ability that it is to an individual. What an incredible thing it is to pick up a book and read the thoughts of someone who may have lived generations ago, thousands of miles away.
PARP is scheduled to run from March 3rd- March 28th, but I'm fairly certain the teachers wouldn't mind one bit if you continue the mission at home well beyond the 28th!