People As Reading Partners (PARP) is a collaborative effort among parents, teachers, and the community to build a reading partnership between the home and the school. Learning to read is the single most important activity in a child’s education. Studies show that children who read at home are better prepared to succeed in formal education. PARP is a program that asks parents to read with their children for at least fifteen minutes daily, stressing the fact that reading can be fun as well as informative. The choice of reading materials can vary from books to anything with printed words. The daily activity of reading together strengthens reading and communication skills in the child and also strengthens the parent/child relationship. Note: The term ‘parents’ may be interpreted broadly to include all adults who play an important role in a child’s life. Life goes by so fast and children grow up very quickly. PARP is a unique opportunity to foster reading habits among the whole family AND to slow down to enjoy quality time together. For more information about the history and purpose of PARP please visit the New York State PTA website.
Montauk School's PARP Program runs twice a year: once in the fall or winter and once in the spring. Each PARP season is assigned a theme. Themes are created by students and the winning themes are determined by a student vote conducted at the end of the prior school year. The fall PARP season kicks off with an exciting PARP Guest Reader Day assembly when winning themes are announced. PARP runs for the following three weeks. Students and their partners read together for fifteen minutes for five nights per week for a total of seventy-five minutes per week (it is okay to go over!) Partners fill in weekly time slips to track their reading. Time slips are turned in to classroom teachers each week and students receive prizes distributed by visiting parents during lunch. Students who read and turn in slips for all three weeks receive a bonus reward of a $5 coupon to the Friends of the Montauk Library Book Sale at the Montauk Library. In the spring, the program kicks off with a PARP Rally event and runs for the following three weeks just like the fall/winter program.
BASIC RULES OF PARP
Parents and caregivers are encouraged to be reading partners with their children. However, anyone can be a reading partner for PARP. Partners may read aloud to each other or read independently next to each other, or a combination of both.
Partners should spend 15 minutes per day, 5 days per week reading together for a total of 75 minutes each week. It’s okay to go over time! If you miss a day, you can make it up the next day.
Fill in the time slip each day after reading. Put the number of minutes you read in the appropriate box. If you wish, write down what you read on the back.
Students must bring in their completed slips each Wednesday that they are due for the three weeks of PARP to earn their prizes.
Students who complete all three weeks and bring in all their slips will earn a bonus prize.
Note: If a student forgets to bring in a first or second-week slip, they may bring it in late, and still earn the bonus prize, as long as it is turned in by the third slip due date.
Happy PARPing!
