Parent Resources

Read every day! The more a student reads the better reader and writer they will become. Students can read independently, read aloud to someone, or listen to someone else read aloud. An excellent resource for parents to help with the understanding the importance of reading aloud and selecting appropriate books for students is: The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. He also has an informative website for parents: http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/

Predictable books for emerging readers:

"Predictable books make use of rhyme, repetition of words, phrases, sentences and refrains, and such patterns as cumulative structure, repeated scenes, familiar cultural sequences, interlocking structure and turn-around plots. These stories invite children to make predictions or guesses about words, phrases, sentences, events and characters that could come next in the story." --Mary Jett Simpson, Reading Resource Book

A great list of predictable books can be found online:

http://www.nellieedge.com/articles_resources/predictablebooks.htm

http://www.pennygardner.com/predictable.html

http://library.bridgew.edu/maxweb/pdf/predictable.pdf

International Digital Children's Library

http://www.childrenslibrary.org/icdl/SimpleSearchCategory?ilang=English

Click to search a digital library of outstanding children's books from around the world. The search engine and books are available in many different languages.

A Child Becomes a Reader:

Proven Ideas from Research for Parents, Kindergarten through Grade 3 https://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/readingk-3.pdf

Write every day! The more a student writes the better writer they will become. Students can keep a notebook to draw/write in daily. As students get older, they can use the notebook to write you letters. When you read and respond to their letters, you can ask them questions that require them to think more deeply about their topics and provide more details in their response. An excellent resource for parents interested in how we write and learn to write is: Radical Reflections by Mem Fox. She also has an informative website for parents: http://memfox.com/books/radical-reflections-on-teaching-learning-and-living/

If Your Child Learns in Two Languages: Parent guides for improving educational opportunities for children acquiring English as a second language:

http://www.ncela.us/files/rcd/BE019820/If_Your_Child_Learns.pdf

http://www.colorincolorado.org/families/

http://pplace.org/publications/bulletins/English/ppbulletinv11n2.pdf

TEACHING TOLERANCE: Click below to search free resources to learn about diversity, equity and social justice. This site offers news, suggestions, opportunities for conversation, and numerous lessons including links to video clips and other materials to support anyone interested in teaching tolerance. The resources reflect diverse identities and experiences. http://www.tolerance.org/

Advocate for Children's Healthy Development: The Alliance for Childhood promotes policies and practices that support children’s healthy development, love of learning, and joy in living. Find research and videos to support developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood education. http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/

Math is All Around Us: You can help your child by simply talking about numbers, counting out loud, and using other math words as you go about your day—and this book is full of ideas to get you started! http://toosmall.org/lets-talk-about-math

Play board games in English OR your native language such as: Balderdash, Scrabble, Outburst, Boggle, Headbands, Apples to Apples, Scattergories, Spot It or Mad Gab with the students. They will learn new words when they hear the words you come up with. It will also challenge them to apply new words they have learned over time.

Learning Arabic after school in Multicultural Club 2017!