From the Wildcat Weekly - January 25, 2024

 Engaging with your student about the books they are reading can demonstrate the value you place on reading. This conversation might start with the book but can create a safe space for adult/child bonding which could lead to talking about what happened during the school day, or feelings they have about other things in their life unrelated to the book. It might involve the books they bring home from school(first and second graders) or books you have in your home or from the public library (kindergarten). Establishing a regular time for reading or sharing books is also a way to proactively promote reading over screen usage as opposed to requiring your student to read with screen time as a reward. If your student wants to read or look at books independently, you can use this as an excuse to put your own screen away and read your book. Our young students notice everything and I cannot emphasize enough how important the habits and rituals you establish now can pay off when your student is older, more independent and more influenced by the outside world.

From the Wildcat Weekly - January 11, 2024

 Dear Winnona Park Families,

As stated by Maria Russo, former children’s book editor at the New York Times and co-author of How to Raise a Reader. “If you want your kids to become readers, you have to help them find books they love,” she says. “That means that your work is not so much nagging them to read or taking away their devices – your work is helping them discover the kinds of books that excite them.” This is what I try to do in our Winnona Park library and is one thing you can do to help support your child at home but reading with them has many other benefits as described below. These benefits apply to reading with any special person - sibling, grandparent, aunt/uncle, niece/nephew, cousin or friend.

1. For our students, reading with your child helps them learn to read. The reading lessons they receive in school are only one piece of the puzzle; it’s necessary to practice these skills outside of the classroom just as one would practice piano, soccer, running or even driving.

2. Reading is bonding time with your child. It is an opportunity to completely focus on your child without the distractions of other family members or most likely, technology.

3. Reading with your child could mean reading to them, or reading parallel - you reading your book and them reading their book. This sends a message that reading is a pleasurable activity, is valued in your home and one that you choose to do over any other activity.

4. Reading together creates opportunities for conversations about important topics - social-emotional issues, friendship, values, and interests and allows your child to practice articulating their feelings as facilitated by a story. It can also give you ideas about books they would like to read in the future.

5. Make reading together a regular habit that is special and anticipatory. By making reading time more attractive, it becomes less about saying no to screen time and more about “getting” to read. And it creates a situation where they think of reading as something they “get” to do rather than something they “have” to do.

6. Make your reading time extra cozy with a special chair, pillow, blanket, location or stuffie.

7. If you work full time, are a single parent or are just plain exhausted at the end of the day as most of us are, think of reading with your child as a way for you to relax, detach from your smartphone, forget your troubles, and practice focusing your attention. Again, make it about “getting” to read with your child rather than “having” to read with them. It can be a way to recapture the joys of parenting especially when the day-to-day responsibilities can be so overwhelming.

8. Staying connected to your child through reading, and the conversations that ensue, can create an attachment that will help support your relationship and your child as they get older and start to be tempted more by their peers and the larger world.

9. Visit the public library and check out books regularly. This is a no-cost activity, can be done regularly, and ensures you have a regular supply of books in your house. It also teaches your child how to use a library outside of school. Just last week, a student got off the bus in the morning and was so excited to tell me that she had been to the Decatur library with her father over the weekend AND got her own library card!

Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback.

Sincerely,

Ilene Zeff,

Media Specialist