By GUS LEBLANC, Principal, Montello Elementary School

Montello School children in kindergarten through second grade are leaving school each week this year with a special bag of books to read at home with their parents. The books and bags are part of a new home reading program developed by classroom teachers to help parents actively participate in their child’s literacy education.

Teaching children to read is one of the most important functions of elementary schools. Building the skills necessary to become successful and proficient readers, however, begins long before a child sets foot in a classroom. Children’s early experiences with books and their initial exposure to print are very important factors in their becoming effective and lifelong readers. Research clearly indicates that home experiences related to reading are strong determinants in the attitudes and motivation of young readers. When children read at home with their parents they have the opportunity to practice reading with the most important people in their lives. This reading experience allows the child to demonstrate new skills and allows parents the opportunity to encourage and support their child’s growth as a learner. Parents can also actively participate by reading to their child and modeling effective reading. By reading to and with their child, parents help support a healthy and positive attitude towards reading and learning to read. Helping to create this home experience and providing children with additional opportunities to practice their reading skills is what the home reading program is all about.

Montello teacher Deanna Nadeau made a suggestion at a literacy committee meeting that helped the committee initially identify the home reading concept as a literacy initiative that could create a partnership between parents and teachers in support of children’s reading skills and attitudes. A home-school reading committee formed and agreed to attend the Summer 2003 Teacher’s Academy sponsored by the Maine Department of Education. Donna Tardif, who teaches in grades 1 and 2 at Montello as part of the school’s looping program, chaired the committee. She was joined by Title 1 teacher coordinator Terry Steinbeiser, Montello teachers Suzanne Tiner, Kelly Johnson, Kathi Asquith, Jane Carver, Rindalee Akinbobola, and principal Gus LeBlanc. Time at the three-day academy was used to develop the home reading program, with the intention of beginning in the fall of 2003.

The availability of books, which had been a matter of major concern, was easily resolved through the generosity of parents, community members, and Geiger employees, as well as through funds donated by Geiger. Approximately two thousand books are currently used in the home reading program. Three hundred of those books were purchased through the Title 1 program, and another two hundred through money raised by Montello School. Peter Geiger, Executive Vice-President at Geiger, donated money raised by employees at Geiger to purchase an additional one thousand books. Individual Geiger employees purchased or donated in excess of two hundred additional books. Montello parents brought in boxes of books to donate, which accounts for four hundred more books. The response to the request for books has been overwhelming and has allowed the home reading program to begin with more than enough books to send children home nightly with a new book.

The reading committee hosted an evening event, the first “Decorate Your Shoe Box Night,” for kindergarten through grade two students and their parents to celebrate the beginning of the home reading program. The September 30 event was attended by over one hundred children and parents and included materials for students to decorate a shoe box that they could use as a special place to keep their home reading books.

Started officially on October 1, the home reading program gives each participating child a book bag approximately four nights a week. The bag contains one or more books that the child takes home to read. The child’s teacher includes a bookmark with each book that indicates if the child is capable of reading the book on his/her own, can read the book with support, or needs to have the book read to him/her. These bookmarks help parents use the books appropriately, given the child’s current reading level.

Making the connection between home and school is not always easy but, in this case, an innovative method is being used to bridge the gap between reading at school and reading at home. The Home-School Reading Program gives parents an additional opportunity to have a significant positive impact on their child’s success in school. Children who become successful and motivated readers greatly enhance their chances of becoming successful students and learners. Modeling and involvement by parents and continual practice by students are two key factors that greatly improve the chance of success. The home reading program developed by Montello teachers uses a creative and thoughtful process to support parental involvement in the growth and learning of their children.