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Reading Tips for Parents

How Can I Help My Child Be Ready to Read and Ready to Learn?

-Take children's books and writing materials with you whenever you leave home. This gives your child fun activities to entertain and occupy them while traveling and going to the doctor's office or other appointments.
-Create a quiet, special place in your home for your child to read, write and draw. Keep books and other reading materials where your child can easily reach them.
-Help your child see that reading is important. Set a good example for your child by reading books, newspapers and magazines.
-Limit the amount and type of television you and your child watch. Better yet, turn off the television and spend more time cuddling and reading books with your child (even older children, 3rd-6th graders love being read to). The time and attention you give your child has many benefits beyond helping him be ready for success in school.

Simple Strategies for Creating Strong Readers

-Invite a child to read with you or to you every day.
-When reading a book where the print is large, point word by word as you read. This will help the child learn that reading goes from left to right and understand that the word he or she says is the word he or she sees.
-Read a child's favorite book over and over again.
-Read many stories with rhyming words and lines that repeat. Invite the child to join in on these parts. Point, word by word, as he or she reads along with you.
-Discuss new words. For example, "This big house is called a palace. Who do you think lives in a palace?"
-Stop and ask about the pictures and about what is happening in the story.
-Read from a variety of children's books, including fairy tales, songbooks, poems and information books.