Parent-School Reading Compacts: A Way to Ensure Reading Success
A Compact for Reading is a written agreement among families, teachers, principals, and students to work together to help improve the reading skills of kindergarten through third grade children. Look at the following sample list of commitments that parents can make to form a strong Compact for Reading. Rank in order of importance each of the following commitments that you want to add to your Compact for Reading. You may add new commitments to this sample list as desired.
Student Learning |
Communication |
Capacity Building |
| Do activities at home that continue my child's classroom learning at home. | Know what is expected of my child, by grade, in reading and other language arts skills. | Ask for workshops on how children learn to read and write and how parents can help. |
| Monitor my child's progress and sign completed homework. | Know what my child is learning about reading and other language arts skills each day, and what the teacher is teaching. | Attend workshops on how parents can help children learn to read and write. |
| Discuss with my child the importance of being a strong, independent reader and writer. | Actively participate in back-to-school events and parent-teacher conferences. | Contact my child's teacher or reading specialist when my child does not understand an assignment or needs special help. |
| Read at home with my child at least 30 minutes a day. | Set up special meetings with my child's teachers when I cannot attend back-to-school events or parent-teacher conferences. | Ask local businesses or community groups to provide the resources (books, tutors, etc.) that my child's school needs to meet its reading standards. |
| Ask for home learning activities in my primary language. | Contact the teachers when I am concerned about my child's progress or have a question about the school's literacy standards. | Work with the school to ensure that workshops have translators or equipment for translations for non-English-speaking parents. |
A Compact for Reading is a written agreement among families, teachers, principals, and students to work together to help improve the reading skills of kindergarten through third grade children. Our publications, A Compact for Reading Guide and the School-Home Links Reading Kit, are designed to help Compact partners set reading goals, and provide lessons and activities that allow children to accomplish these goals.
Find out more: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/CompactforReading/index.html#links
Reprinted with the permission of the U.S. Department of Education.
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