C.++Letter+to+Parents

Nancy sent home a letter to our parents so they would be aware of the importance of reading aloud to his or her child or children. Here is a copy of the letter. ** Attention Parents **** The Time is **** NOW **** to Start **** The Streak!! **  If anyone happened to watch CBS this past Father’s Day, they might have seen the heartwarming story of a father who was left alone to raise his daughter after his wife left them. Being a school librarian, he decided on a way to stay close to his daughter and create an even stronger bond. He challenged her and himself to “The Streak.” They set a goal of reading together every night for the next 100 days when Alice, his daughter, was in fourth grade. The rules were simple: they must read at least 15 minutes, complete a chapter, and get the reading in before midnight. 100 days soon became 1000 and eventually stretched through elementary, middle and then high school. As time passed, the reading became more sophisticated and his daughter had to rush home from parties or outings with friends to get home before midnight. The streak persisted until the girl left home to attend her first year of college. It ended as her father read aloud to Alice for the last time in her dormitory hallway before leaving her to start her freshman year. This young lady eventually pursued a career in English literature and surprised her father one day with a book she would read to him; her first published book entitled //The Reading Promise//, the story of a father’s love for books and his daughter. The book contains a list of all the books they shared together. To this very day this father continues to read aloud to others but now the audience consists of patients in nursing homes. In Stephen Krasen’s book //The Power of Reading// studies prove that there is not more powerful tool to increase test scores and our children’s ability to perform well and succeed in school than reading aloud. Children who are read to each night are leaps and bounds ahead of those who are not. It really is such a simple thing to do, but the results are amazing in both the academic field and emotional bonding between parents and children. The Commission on Reading funded by the U.S. Department of Education stated the “the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.” “The greatest gift you can bestow upon your children is your time and undivided attention,” according to Jim Brozina (the reading dad in this story.) Let’s make reading to our children as regular a part of their lives as eating and sleeping. Start your STREAK today. You and your child will be so glad you did! Please visit [|www.makeareadingpromise.com] to learn more about this, and let me know how you and your child are progressing. Read every day!

// Mrs. Nancy Pelepko //