- Read to and with your children
for 30 minutes every day. It is very important to read out
loud to your children before they start school. Help your children
to read with you. Ask them to find letters and words on the page
and talk with your children about the story.
- Talk with infants and young children before
they learn to read. Talk with your children all day long,
using short, simple sentences. Talking with them even before they
can speak will help them later when they learn to read and write.
- Help your children to read on their own.
Reading at home helps children do better in school. Have lots
of children's books in your home and visit the library every week.
Help your children get their own library cards and let them pick
out their own books.
- If your child has a developmental delay,
your child may find reading frustrating. Have books on tape
in your home. Borrow or buy a tape player that is easy to work.
If you cannot find recordings of your child's favorite books,
you or a family member could make recordings of them for your
child to listen to while looking at the books.
- Help your child to see that reading is
important Suggest reading as a free time activity. Make sure
your children have e time in their day to read. Set a good example
for your children by reading newspapers, magazines, and books.
- Set up a reading area in your home. Keep
books that interest your children in places where they can easily
reach them. As your children become better readers, make sure
that you add harder books to your collection.
- Give your children writing materials.
Children want to learn how to write and to practice writing,
Help them learn by having paper, pencils, pens or crayons for
them in your home, Help your children write if they ask you. F
your child has a special learning or physical need, regular pens
and pencils may not be the best choice. Ask your pediatrician
or people who work with your child at school or at the child care
center to suggest other writing materials your child can use.
- Read and write with your children in their
native language. Practicing their first language will help
your children learn to read and write English.
- Talk with your children as you do daily
activities together. When you take your children places, talk
with them about what you are doing and ask them questions. If
your child cannot hear, use whatever form of communication your
child usually use
- Ask your children to describe events in
their lives. Talking about their experiences makes children
think about them, Giving detailed descriptions and telling complete
stories also helps children learn about how stories are written
and what the stories they read mean.
- Restrict the amount and kind of TV your
children watch. Watch educational TV programs with your children
that teach letter sounds and words or give information about nature
and science.
- Keep track of your children's progress
in school. Visit your children's classrooms to learn how your
children are doing in school and how you can help your children
become better students. Ask about the school's reading program
and where your children need help.
- Become a learning partner/reading tutor
to a child in your neighborhood or from your local elementary
school. Volunteer to read with or to a child for 30 minutes
a week for at least eight weeks. Take the child to the library
to get him or her a library card.
- Help start a community reading program.
A good way to begin is to help set up an America Reads Challenge:
READ*WRITE*NOW! Program. Offer to volunteer as a reading tutor
or serve as a community contact/coordinator for the program. Call
1-800-USA-learn for America Reads Challenge: READ*WRITE*NOW! MATERIALS.
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