Reading Fundamentals at PS 306
Reading Fundamentals at PS 306
Last week, we were invited to PS 306 on 96th Street and 89th Avenue. It's the New York City Academy for Discovery -- we love that name. It's an ambitious name, which is what a school should strive to be. On this evening they had a terrific program called "Read to Someone You Love." The children -- and many of the parents -- were in their pajamas and met in the cafeteria before they began.
There were a number of different programs or stations this evening. And the parents and children could pick and choose which programs they wanted to attend. These programs were just as much for the benefit of the parent as they were the child, as you will see below (and in our video report of the evening).
Here was a group reading session, where they did storytelling with lots of interaction with the children. It's so important in a day and age where kids spend so much time in front of a television set or an X-Box that they learn to use their imagination.
The kids were having a great time. I remember being that young -- it was, ahem, many years ago. I remember how much fun it was to be at school at night.
They also had a bookmarking class, where the kids could make bookmarks. This was a popular session!
The kids were encouraged to be creative and they got to use stickers and glue and magic markers -- looks like fun, doesn't it?
Check out our video coverage of the evening -- many thanks to the staff and parents of PS 306 for inviting us. If you are a parent of a child at PS 306, make sure you visit their Parent Association website here. And you should follow them on Twitter!
The walls of the school were covered with beautiful art -- it's so important to encourage this talent in children, and it looks like PS 306 is doing a great job of it.
If you watched the video you got a taste of this program. The instructors were reading to (and with) the kids -- and stopping to explain to the parents the different exercises they could do with their children while reading. Kudos to the parents that came out to take an active role in their children's education! There was also a quiet room, where parents and their children could pick out a book and read together.
This is one of the very best gifts a parent can give a child -- and themselves! Sit down with your child, pick up a book, and read. Together.
And, of course, the evening wouldn't have been complete without some technology -- this is a scene that would have been inconceivable 10 or 15 years ago, like something our of science fiction, right? But if your child is going to grow up and compete in the workforce, they will need a full set of skills.
For the younger kids, there were game which taught them recognition skills -- this one below is one I remember from way back when -- Alphabet Bingo.
And finally, they had workshops for the parents, teaching them how to pick just the right book for your child. You don't want something too complicated, else it will frustrate them. And you don't want anything too simple, because they won't learn anything. This instructor explained about the Five Finger rule -- as your child reads his book, each time he or she asks you what a word means, count that on your hand. If you reach 5 words on a page, then the book is too hard. If you only have 1 word that your child doesn't understand, then the book may be too easy.
We appreciate the staff and parents of PS 306 thinking about us -- and we look forward to working with them in the near future!
If you have any comments, or would like to suggest other projects, drop us a line at info@projectwoodhaven.com or projectwoodhaven@aol.com .
