If you're a parent or family member who has an elementary aged child, you know how important it is to expose them to as many stories as possible. It opens their minds to exciting new worlds (some real, some imaginary) and possibilities for their futures. I remember reading not only my own books at my level, but also listening to my older brother and older sister read their books aloud to me. Even though I couldn't quite understand it, I still learned so much just by listening to them read! I did the same thing for my little sister as she was growing up. The exposure to books and stories can change our lives. Books still impact me as an adult, and my love for reading has only strengthened over time. I wasn't always the best reader - I still read slowly and have to re-read words, paragraphs, pages, and even whole chapters! But I was always excited by a new story.

This year more than ever, our families have both the opportunity to read to their students and the burden of providing stories for them to read. I wanted to emphasize how important this responsibility is, and recognize how hard it is for our families. Our families are working so much right now to provide for their families, and the stress of the pandemic has caused many of us as parents to feel like we can't be stretched any more, even to read one more book with our child. I wanted to use today's Patrick Henry Post to provide a few ways to make reading easier for our families at home. Keep reading below for some extra tips, tricks, and resources that you can use while you are at home with your children. And if you have ideas that have worked in your house, please share them with the rest of our Patrick Henry community!

Hard copies of books are still a great and important option for our students while they learn from home. Take a look at some books highly recommended by Dr. Rogers for various age groups, or suggest some of your family favorites!

An anonymous nomination came in for the Kindergarten team this week:

"Ashley and Megan have trained their students so well. When I go into teams, the students are engaged, smiling, muted and know how to unmute themselves. Plus the kids are taking turns and not blurting out. The K team has done such a great job! Many times I do not even see an adult near the child. They have invested the time and energy to teach and model expectations during these first few weeks and it is paying off! Way to go K Team!"

Ms. Von Behren has created an incredible setup to make sure she can access her teaching materials, see all of her students, and trouble-shoot if anyone has any tech issues. It is awesome to see so many teachers figure out creative setups in their homes or in their classrooms!

Ms. Carter, our new Instructional Care Aid, was able to take on Ms. Butler's class this week when Ms. Butler was absent. She got the ultimate shout-out from a student, who said, "She was really fun! I think I like her a lot!" We love having Ms. Carter on our staff, and we can't wait for all of our students to really get to know her. Pictured here were just a few of us who found a moment to act silly for the camera.