Welcome to the new school year! Reading and more reading is a main focus for Bristow Run. The motivation for our at home reading program this year is a sports theme. We were very fortunate to have Coach Dulin from Brentsville H.S. come and speak to the whole school about the importance of reading. He talked about how many books he read about cross country running before he even decided to coach cross country running. He also brought 2 students from Brentsville who also spoke briefly to the assembly. Our mascot, "Run", relayed books(with the help of our P.E. teacher, Mr. Stott) on cross country running and other forms of running to classes for read alouds. Just as you need to exercise and eat well for your body, you also need to exercise and eat well for your brain to learn, and we learn by reading.

It's never too early to start reading aloud to your children. A child's listening comprehension is 3-4 years above their reading comprehension. The more they hear stories read, the better readers and writers they will become. Through read alouds, children get to hear the way a story should sound: expression, intonation, punctuation, rich vocabulary, story sequence and plot. When your child sees you reading for pleasure, he/she will also want to read as well. Reading enjoyment begins at home. Set aside 15 minutes a day for reading good books aloud. This also helps improve writing and speaking skills. Reading and writing go hand in hand. The earliest form of writing is through pictures, so even your pre-school children can write and read it back to you!

Each teacher at Bristow Run has an at home reading goal for their classroom. This is the most important part of homework. As Coach Dulin said, "Knowledge is power", and you gain that power through reading. Research shows that if a student is reading independently, that is easy reading, daily test scores increase. If a student reads 15 min. a day, test scores increase 70%. If they read 30 min. a day, test scores increase 90%;and 60 min. a day, test scores. increase 95%.

Make reading fun! Instead of "It's time to read," say, "Wow, We get to read now!"

Please feel free to contact me for any reading/writing questions. Have a super school year. Mrs. Segovia