Health & Fitness
Rancho Elementary Finds Fun In Family Reading Friday
Family Reading Friday brings parents to read with students at Rancho Elementary in Spring Valley.
The first Friday of every month is a cause for celebration at Rancho Elementary when this Spring Valley school holds a Peacebuilder circle and afterwards parents and grandparents are invited to read with the children, learn about ways to build more reading at home, and enjoy breakfast with the Principal during what are called Family Reading Friday’s.
Principal Wendy Newmark, showing both great enthusiasm and affection for the monthly reading event, explained that the goal of the program goes beyond simply increasing student reading. She is most pleased with how much it motivates the students because they want their parents to come and read with them. The children enjoy both showing their reading progress and the shared time with their parents.
Mrs. Newmark also noted that this program has increased on campus volunteering and it provides an excellent opportunity to give mini lessons on continuing learning at home and to talk about upcoming activities and events at school. The event takes no more than an hour to complete, with the reading portion taking 20 to 25 minutes so as not to impact regular classroom lessons.
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Parents each have their own name tag and receive a star every time they are able to attend. Newmark mentioned that parent participation is notable because many area families have both parents working and sometimes at more than one job. After reading with their child, the parents and grandparents enjoy breakfast treats and are given a bookmark with reading comprehension tips and suggestions.
The March Family Reading Friday was particularly special because it was also crazy hair day, Peacebuilder prize day, and Principal Newmark was dressed in an inflatable Sumo wrestler costume as a reward for the school attaining over 100 PTA (Parent Teacher Association) memberships.
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In addition to incentivizing reading through the Family Friday event, Rancho Elementary is participating in a La Mesa-Spring Valley district wide reading program where students work to complete 100 pages per week. In one week’s time, Rancho students had already read over one million words, living up to their school theme, The Rancho Rockets.
