Tips for Parents:

1. Read aloud to your child for at least 15 minutes every day. Stop at several points in the story and ask your child what he/she thinks will happen next.

2. Get your child his/her own library card. Take him/her to the public library at least once a month.

3. Ask family members to listen to your child read aloud while they are cooking, cleaning, driving, or relaxing.

4. The car is a good place for you to practice reading skills with your children. Have them read signs, billboards, and other words around them. On car trips, play word games that involve rhyming and/or spelling.

5. Read with your child. Alternate listening to your child read a page or paragraph with you reading a page or paragraph.

6. Check your child's backpack each evening and ask them about assignments that they did at school. Help them review their weekly spelling lists and any other homework that they might have.

7. Help your younger children learn their letters and spell words by using things such as play-doh, shaving cream, or sidewalk chalk to write.