Libraries are great resources for families with young children; you can find books, entertainment, educational and cultural enrichment, literacy tips, and other valuable information. Here are nine reasons to visit your public library!
Research has demonstrated that the most effective read alouds are those where children are actively involved asking and answering questions and making predictions, rather than passively listening. This article describes in detail a technique for a three-step interactive read aloud using sophisticated storybooks.
Learn about evidence-based practices that encourage first graders’ engagement with texts. The authors review reading as a transactional process, revisit the benefits of reading aloud to students, discuss three literacy strategies implemented in one first-grade classroom, and share examples of student work.
Turn travel time during a family trip into a great bonding and learning adventure with activities that build language for literacy and boost kids’ brain development. Here, you’ll find simple, fun ideas for singing, reading, and sharing family stories together.
Sharing wordless books is a terrific way to build important literacy skills, including listening skills, vocabulary, comprehension and an increased awareness of how stories are structured.
Honoring books for self-selection, sharing the excitement of read-alouds, building a balanced book collection, making your passions public, and providing rewards that demonstrate the value of reading are just a few simple but transformative suggestions that can nurture the love of reading in your classroom.
To get the most out of a shared reading, encourage your child to appreciate the pictures, and also guide their attention to printed words. Doing so may help your child’s reading, spelling, and comprehension skills down the road.
Many New Year’s resolutions focus on developing healthy habits. Here’s one that is important to make and keep: provide a regular diet of books and reading for your preschooler. Try this menu of reading activities.
Research has shown the positive effects of improvised story dramatization on language development and student achievement in oral and written story recall, writing, and reading. Learn how to integrate story dramatizations into the classroom, using stories that students are familiar with.
This article from the National PTA features ideas on how to help your school age child improve their reading skills and tips on how to develop pre-reading skills in younger children.
Children are full of questions about the world around them, and summer is a perfect time to tap into your child’s interests. Here are some ways to start a journey of discovery together.
For most parents, it’s a challenge to keep kids reading and writing all summer. Dive into these 10 ideas to help make this summer full of fun, creativity, and learning.
Helping children understand the concept of sequence develops both literacy and scientific inquiry skills. Here are a few simple activities that families can do together to give kids opportunities to observe, record, and think about sequencing.
Sharing lots of different kinds, or genres, of books with your child exposes him to different words, different kinds of images, and whole new worlds. This tip sheet suggests some genres to try with your young reader that complement ‘traditional’ fiction. Some are suggestions for read alouds, while others may be ones your child can read on his own.
Dads play a critical role in their preschoolers’ literacy development. Here are a few suggestions to help fathers strengthen their literacy connections with their children.
Dads play a critical role in their children’s literacy development by modeling reading, sharing stories, exploring the world together, and engaging in meaningful conversations that build critical thinking skills.
Use the power of stories to explore what’s different and the same, new and shared, about ourselves and our experiences. These nine books find wonderful ways to express universal themes through African Americans, both fictional and real.
Children learn when they make connections between what they hear and what they know. One method parents can use to help make these connections is called a think aloud, where you talk through your thoughts as you read.
We asked the parents and teachers who frequent our web site for their ideas about how to encourage kids, especially those who aren’t excited about books, to do more reading. Thanks to all you tip-sters out there, we received tons of advice, which we’ve summarized in the seven tips below.
Whether a tutor is reading aloud, talking, or writing with a child, there are strategies for making these interactions even more valuable. Learn about these strategies in these tips for tutoring preschool and kindergarten children.
The best story times are very interactive: You are talking about and reading the story, your child is talking, and there is conversation taking place between the two of you — what educators call “dialogic” reading.
Teacher read alouds are a vital part of literacy instruction in primary classrooms. Learn how to conduct read alouds that feature high-quality children’s books which will prompt children to think and talk about social issues that impact their daily lives.
