Reading Connects Us! Reading Will Take You Places! Read Across America! Reading is your ticket to adventure! These are the four exciting themes selected by Farmingdale School District’s PTA for this year’s Pick A Reading Partner (PARP) program at the elementary schools.
Students from Saltzman East Memorial, Woodward Parkway, Albany Avenue, and Northside Elementary kicked off the 2021 PARP program this winter. The program is designed to engage and involve parents, caregivers, and other adults in fostering a child’s love of reading. Learning to read is the single most important activity in a child’s education. Studies have shown that children who read at home are better prepared to succeed in formal education. The goal for a PARP program is to encourage children to read with a partner every day.
“We felt it was even more important to continue with PARP this year,” said Saltzman East Memorial, Assistant Principal, Anjany Smar. “Our shared decision making team has created activities and events that encourage the idea that reading connects us to ourselves, to our cultures, and to each other.”
Over at Woodward Parkway, students are set to go on adventures with their books. The children were able to fill out a passport that will take their reading all around the world. In addition, teachers, principals, and even Superintendent Paul Defendini will disguise themselves as mystery readers for all to enjoy.
During PARP last year, students at Albany Avenue read for a total of 46,553 minutes. During this year's Read Across America, students have been challenged to beat that total. Albany Avenue Principal Joseph Valentine has agreed to complete a Principal’s Challenge chosen by students if they are successful.
The PTA at Northside Elementary organized a PARP themed, Reading is your Ticket to Adventure Kahoot trivia night for students and their families and it was a big hit! Northside teachers created the questions and winners received Dunkin Donuts gift cards.
Developed in 1978 by the late State Senator James Donovan, Chairman of the State Senate Education Committee, the PARP program asks a partner (parent, grandparent, babysitter, older sibling, cousin, friend, etc.) to read with a child for at least 20 minutes daily, emphasizing 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 strengthens their relationship.