Puck's Literacy Folder

Nanny reading to Puck and Bug (2011)

Puck is in pre-K this year. It's a half-day (his class is the afternoon class, which works well) at the same school he'll attend for elementary school. I'm happy for him. He's a smart kid, and he's getting the chance to learn more, make new friends, and have a new, exciting experience in his life. It's good.

And, because reading is important to me, I love the weekly Literacy Folder Ms. C has. Each Wednesday, Puck brings home a book and a journal. Together, we read the story and he draws in the journal what the book is about. The folder goes back to school on Monday.

I don't know if this is a common pre-K (or kindergarten) practice, but I'm excited that Ms. C is taking this step to get parents actively involved in the students' educations, and helping to create a connectivity between classroom learning and home learning. Puck loves reading and drawing, so this is a really good exercise for him. And he was astonished yesterday when I told him he had homework to do! Of course, he wanted to fill his whole journal with pictures about this first book. I convinced him we had to save room for the rest of the books we'll be reading this year. It worked. This time.

Do you have little ones in school? How do their teachers encourage parental involvement and home learning?