Hello Epworth Elementary Families,

Wow! It is pretty crazy that we are two months into the school year. Fall is upon us and you will see in this newsletter that we are already talking about conferences and the end of the first trimester. The students at Epworth Elementary are doing a great job of being ROAR students and are engaging in amazing learning opportunities.

One of the most frequent questions I have been asked as an educator (special education teacher, instructional coach, principal) is, "What can I do to support my child/ren at home?" The answer is pretty simple, read. Reading is one of the most impactful things that kids can be doing outside of the school day. Taking a look at the numbers we can see the power of repetition, consistency, and time on the amount of text a child will see.

• Student "A" reads 20 minutes each day - this totals 3600 minutes a school year, or roughly 1,800,000 words.
• Student "B" reads 5 minutes each day - this totals 900 minutes a school year, or roughly 282,000 words.
• Student "C" reads 1 minute each day - this totals 180 minutes a school year, or roughly 8,000 words.

As a dad of five children who are actively involved in after school activities I understand how fast evenings go. In the midst of the business I encourage you to look for opportunities to build reading habits into your child's day. This could be in the car, on the bus, before bed, before school, after dinner, etc. It is not so much about when this habit is built but instead that it is built.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out.

Take Care,

Greg Deutmeyer

Principal

[email protected]