The fall semester in Aggieland is upon us. We feel the positive energy and hear the glorious sound of the Aggie Band in the morning. The mornings are getting a little cooler; fall is approaching. The children are beginning to get settled into their new classrooms and making new friends. The resiliency of children always amazes me. We are glad to be here.

Please take a moment and fill out our Family Workshop survey. We typically offer one Family Workshop per semester. This semester, it will occur via Zoom. In the past, our Family Workshops occurred during the lunch hour. Over time, we had less participation. Therefore, we have created a survey to see what the best time would be to offer the Family Workshop this year. Thank you for your help in our planning!

We want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone helping us navigate COVID-19. Thank you parents for keeping your children home if they have any symptoms; thank you for being honest and keeping us updated. Thank you staff for taking care of yourself outside of work so we stay healthy at work. Thank you staff for also being honest and staying home when you need to. Thank you SHS for all your advice and thank you Texas A&M University for your support. We will all continue to do our best. Thank you for your understanding and patience as we get through this semester together!

Maroon Friday is back and it could not have come at a better time. September 4 is College Colors Day and a wonderful time to begin our Maroon Fridays. We encourage everyone to wear Maroon every Friday!

Sept 6 is Read a Book Day. Below are some books you should check out.

• I Walk with Vanessa: A Story About a Simple Act of Kindness by Kerascoët
• The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat
• Explorers of the Wild by Cale Atkinson
• The Quickest Kid in Clarksville by Pate Zietlow Miller and Frank Morrison
• The Empty Pot by Demi

Here are the books we have displayed in our lobby:

We encourage lots of reading with young children. We also encourage our families to read at home in your native language. Read the parenting article, Why Reading to Your Kids in Your Home Language Will Help Them Become Better Readers by Lydia Briseth to learn about the amazing benefits reading to children in their native language has. “Young children who were exposed to age-appropriate books and literature in their native language developed stronger pre-literacy skills than children who were only exposed to books in their second language” (Association for Childhood Education International, 2003).

Some other important happenings in September are:

• Labor Day, September 7, honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United States (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day).
• Patriot Day, September 11, the United States remembers the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 and those who lost their lives.
• Rosh Hashana, September 18-20, the Jewish New Year festival. One tradition is to eat apples dipped in honey to signify a sweet new year to come.
• The first day of Fall is September 22!