Snuggle Up and Read!!!!!

Dear Parents/Guardian(s):

Next week we will begin our home reading program for the Junior Kindergarten children called Snuggle Up and Read. We will be using a variety of fiction and non-fiction books for this program. Some books belong to the school or our library; however most belong to the other teachers and myself. If a book is lost or damaged, there will be a replacement cost. Please continue to read the songs and poems that come home in your child’s Friday Book as these are what we use in class every week! 

The skills we hope to develop during this program include:

Holding the book the correct way

Turning the pages independently

Knowing where to find the title of the book

Knowing that the author is the person who writes the words

Knowing that the illustrator is the person who draws the pictures

Using the pictures on the cover to predict what the book might be about

Using the pictures to ‘read’ the story

Using the pictures to help make sense of an unknown word

Following and pointing to the words in the book with their finger

Identify a letter, a word, a sentence

Retelling the story in their own words focusing on the beginning, middle and end

Making connections between what they have read and other stories or personal experiences

Some children will be able to read some of the words by sounding them out using the letter/sound connections they will be making over the course of the year. Some children may be able to recognize some of the popcorn words we are learning. Others may memorize the words based on the pattern of the book. These are all excellent reading strategies for our Emergent Readers.

The purpose of this program is to provide the children with the opportunity to read, or be read to by different people outside of school. In the beginning, especially in JK, the child will need to be read to by a family member or friend. The goal is to eventually have all the students reading at their independent reading level on a regular basis. Please remember that all children acquire skills at their own developmental pace, and that the Kindergarten program is taught over two years. Each child will develop these skills individually. This is intended to be a fun activity, a chance to spend some time snuggling up with your child and enjoying a book. There should be no pressure. When your child brings home a book, please take the opportunity to “Snuggle Up and Read”. Read the book to your child, have them ‘read’ the book to themselves several times if possible and then to you or other people. Help your child to point to each word as you (or they) read the book. Please record the title of the book, your child’s response and any comments you may have on the log sheet in your “Snuggle Up and Read” duo tang. You may also list other books that you read at home!

For now your child will exchange their Snuggle up books once a week, on Mondays. Please send your child’s duo tang with their books inside their Important Bags every Monday and their Friday Books every Friday. Thank you for your support, and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask. I can always be reached by email at or grab me at the end of the day for a quick chat.

I will only send home the duotangs and books to families that are interested in participating in the program. If you would like to participate please fill out the bottom of this form and send it back to school in your child’s Important Bag on Monday. If I do not receive the form I will not include your child in the program.

Thank you,

Ms Stephen 

Yes I wish to participate in the JK Snuggle Up and Read program

No I do not wish to participate in the JK Snuggle Up and Read program

Child’s Name: ______

Parent’s Signature______

PLEASE RETURN TO SCHOOL BY MONDAY MARCH 26!