Mrs. McDonnell  

Reading Teacher, JTPS

K-12 Reading/Language Arts Coordinator, Systemwide

Parents play an important role in their child’s education! You can do many things to help support your child. In addition to any suggestions your child’s teacher has, below are just a few additional ideas to help your child.

Stay involved in what your child is learning about in school so that you can support him/her at home.

Schedule at least 15 minutes of special time everyday to read to and/or with your child. After each story is read, talk with your child about the book. Engage in conversation about the text. Was their an interesting or surprising part?

Plan to go to the public library or the local bookstore once each week and read new books together.

Engage in rich and meaningful conversation with your child. Take every opportunity you can to help increase your child's vocabulary. You can do this by pointing to things and asking your child to tell you what they are, or you can stop and explain the meaning of any words in your reading that your child may not understand. The more you talk to your child, the faster their vocabulary will grow.

Make learning fun! Your child is working hard all day in school. When they come home from school, make any learning activity you choose to do fun.

Remember: Reading should be enjoyable for all children. The text should never be difficult. If your child has to struggle with more than a few words, that book may be too difficult. You should read the difficult books to your child and choose books at his/her level for your child to read independently.

I am here to support all of the students and families in the Watertown Public Schools. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Thanks for visiting!

Shannon McDonnell  

860-945-2776

mcdonnellsh@watertownps.org