Early Literacy

I watched the video from the Educational Summit about early literacy. I can't say that I learned anything extra special but it reminded me of some key things. I was reminded that if a student is not reading at grade level by 3rd grade they face an uphill battle with learning. I didn't write down the percentage that do not graduate based on their 3rd grade level but I do remember that it was high. This is so important to what I do at first grade. I want students leaving me at the end of the year being able to read at grade level and having a love of learning and reading. One of the ladies that was on the panel talked about the importance of being connected with parents as much as possible. Even though I know this and I want to be very connected with the parents this doesn't always happen like I wish. As we come closer to conference time I want to remember that some parents do not have good memories of school and I want to do everything I can to make sure their child does have a good memory of school and a love of learning. Another topic that was discussed was universal pre-k and all day kindergarten. Knowing that so many families have other issues in their lives that take away from the focus of education it is important that these programs can be available to all families to help prepare students for kindergarten and their educational career. Helping families learn how to help their children be successful is something that I have a lot of interest in. I wish we had more programs in our town to really help families once they know they are going to have a child. This might be something I pursue in this class. One person on the panel mentioned the Campaign for Grade Level Reading. I have not looked into this but I plan on checking it out to see what it is all about.