Helping your Child at Home

A positive attitude about books and reading is one of the most important contributions you can make to your child's literacy development.  Here are some ideas to help your child become a successful and confident reader. 

• Read to and with your child- no matter how old they are
  More about reading aloud
  
• Book Access.  Create a personal library for your child or home. Give books as gifts for birthdays and as special treats. Purchase books at garage sales, flea markets, thrift stores and Half Price Bookstores to build up your child’s personal library at a lower cost. Children who are surrounded by books and other reading materials and who are read to on a daily basis are more likely to embrace reading and writing in their own lives.  
  ** Use your public library! **
• Book choice.  Help your child find books about his or her interests.  Children need opportunities to interact with different types of texts and books about different topics in order to determine what they enjoy reading. There are many magazine subscriptions for kids. Many struggling readers first find enjoyment in reading jokes, poetry, and silly series books, like Junie B. Jones or Captain Underpants.
  Check out our suggestions here
• Choose a "just right" book. Children need guidance in how to choose a book that is right for them. Here are some tips we use:
• Choose a book that is interesting to you.
• The 5 Finger Rule- After reading the back or flipping through the book to determine if you are interested in it, choose any page and begin to read. Hold up one finger for each word you do not know or cannot figure out. If you are holding up more than 5 fingers on one page, that book may be too challenging for you to read by yourself.  If you are very interested in it, it may be a good book for you to read with an adult or a friend.
• Children need to read "easy" books and books that are just a little bit challenging for them.  Do not force your child to read books that are frustrating because they are too hard.  Instead, encourage your child to read books by himself or herself that build his or her confidence, and save the more challenging books for the times when you read to your child.
• Provide time and space for reading. Your child may want to choose a special place for reading in the house, a “book nook”. This should be a space that is comfortable, quiet, and well lighted.  You may designate a particular time of day when all family members can sit and read for 20 minutes. Each person can read something different that he/she has chosen or some of you can read together. Children need to see the adults in their lives engage in literacy activities.
• Positive Emotional Experiences. Many of the ideas above create positive emotional experiences for your child and reading. Understand and appreciate your child’s unique strengths and needs. Some children may get frustrated or tire out after reading for a little while. Encourage your child, but do not force him or her. We want them to enjoy reading!
• Social Interactions with Books. Talk to your child about reading. Share with them about something you read and ask what they are reading. Children can trade books with a friend.  Children can be a part of book clubs also. You may want to plan a time where your child and a few friends or siblings can get together and talk about books they are reading, whether they plan and read the same book or just share about what they are reading on their own.  In addition, public libraries or bookstores often sponsor book clubs.  Ask your local librarians or booksellers if they have books clubs for kids.
• Reread Familiar Books. It is normal and perfectly okay for your child to read easy books or to re-read a book they’ve read many times before. This helps your child build fluency, and develop a sense of competence and confidence as a reader.

Resources and Links

Fix-Up Strategies
This document describes different types of prompts and questions to help your child figure out unknown words.

What Parents Can Do
Four things that you can do to help your child become a  successful reader.

For more ideas and book suggestions, visit these websites:

GuysRead by Jon Scieszka
http://www.guysread.com

The Bookhive: Your Guide to Children's Literature and Books
http://www.bookhive.org/

Planet Esme
http://www.planetesme.com/

KidsReads.com
http://www.kidsreads.com/index.asp

The Children's Literature Web Guide
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/

Multicultural Children's Literature
http://www.multiculturalchildrenslit.com/

Books R4 Teens
http://utopia.utexas.edu/explore/books/

BookNuts Reading Club
http://www.booknutsreadingclub.com/index.html

American Library Association Great Websites for Kids
http://www.ala.org/gwstemplate.cfm?section=greatwebsites&template=/cfapps/gws/default.cfm

Reading Is Fundamental
http://www.rif.org/parents/