Tampa Day School celebrated the CAFÉ strategies on September 27, and it had nothing to do with eating…well, almost nothing. Our Literacy Night was designed for families and students in grades 1-5, to provide opportunities focused on developing the home- school connection necessary to foster essential reading skills based on The CAFÉ™ model developed by the ‘2 Sisters’.

Parents and their children traveled around to different stations where they learned a specific reading strategy, modeled by the teacher at that station. They then completed an interactive make-and-take item, designed for the student and parent to use together at home. All activities mirrored the CAFÉ approach to increase reading Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanded vocabulary; areas that are focused on daily by TDS teachers.

With regards to the eating statement in the first sentence, at TDS we believe that staying hydrated and nourished assists in learning, so a light dinner was served. As we were cleaning up one parent said “It was an awesome night- my kids had fun, I learned some interesting things, and I don’t have to make dinner when I get home. That’s priceless!” While we are not VISA…we think that’s pretty priceless too.