• PARP - Parents As Reading Partners
    PARP Family ReadingParents As Reading Partners (PARP) is a collaborative effort among parents, teachers, and community to build a reading partnership between the home and the school.  Learning to read is the single most important activity in a child’s education. Studies show that children who read at home are better prepared to succeed in formal education.  PARP is a program that asks parents to read with their children for at least fifteen minutes daily, stressing the fact that reading can be fun as well as informative. The choice of reading materials can vary from books to anything with printed words. The daily activity of reading together strengthens reading and communication skills in the child and also strengthens the parent/child relationship. Note: The term ‘parents’ may be interpreted broadly to include all adults who play an important role in a child’s life.   Life goes by so fast and children grow up very quickly.  PARP is a unique opportunity to foster reading habits among the whole family AND to slow down to enjoy quality time together.  For more information about the history and purpose of PARP please visit the New York State PTA website.
     
    Montauk School's Parents As Reading Partners (PARP) Program runs twice a year: once in the fall and once in the early spring.  Each PARP season is assigned a theme.  Themes are created by students and the winning themes are determined by a student vote conducted at the end of the prior school year.  The fall PARP season kicks off with an exciting "PARP Rally" when winning themes are announced.  PARP runs for the following three weeks.  Students and parents sign PARP contracts to show their commitment to read together as partners for fifteen minutes for five nights per week for a total of seventy-five minutes per week (it is okay to go over!) Partners fill in weekly time slips to track their reading.  Time slips are turned in to classroom teachers each week and students receive prizes distributed by visiting parents during lunch.  Students who read and turn in slips for all three weeks receive a bonus prize of a five dollar coupon to Bookhampton in East Hampton.  In the spring, the program kicks off with our Guest Reader Day event and runs for the following three weeks just like the fall program.
     
    Basic PARP Program Rules
    • Spend 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week, reading with your child for a total of 75 minutes for each week.
    • Either you may read to your child, your child may read to you, or you may read quietly together. If you are not available to read, your child may read with a grandparent, brother, sister, or a friend. Students in grades 5-8 may read 60 of the required 75 minutes (i.e. 4 of the 5 days) on their own. A parent must verify that the student has read.
    • If you miss a day, you can make it up the next day.
    • Fill in the time sheet each day after reading. Put the number of minutes you read in the appropriate box.  If you wish, add a list of what you've read on the back of the slip.
    • Sign, then scissor off the proper weekly portion from the time sheet, and have your child give it to his/her homeroom teacher on each of the Wednesdays during the PARP program.
    • All students in grades PreK-8 and their parents or caregivers are eligible.
    • Your child’s time sheet MUST be returned each Wednesday to ensure eligibility for the weekly awards. Students who complete all three weeks will receive a bonus reward of a $5 coupon to our local bookstore Montauk Bookshop.
    • Note: If your child forgot his/her first or second week slip, he or she may bring it in late and still earn the bonus prize, as long as it is turned in by the third slip is due date.