Parent Tips

Readers Are Leaders
Parents are a child's first teacher. Encouraging parents to play with language and inspire their children to read will help students become happy and confident readers. 

Literacy Websites for Parents to visit...

Reading Tips for Parents
from: Reading Rockets website

Kindergarten
  • Talk to your child and ask about his day. Encourage him to explain something he did.
  • Say silly tongue twisters, sing songs or read rhyming books. These help students to listen to the sounds in the words.
  • Connect what your child reads with what is happening in his or her life. 
  • Use your child's name to teach the link between the sounds and the letters. Say, "The word dog begins with the same sound as Dana.  They both begin with the letter, D."
  • Use puppets to play with language. The puppet says, "My name is Mark. Do you know any words that rhyme with Mark?"
  • Your child can use a finger to trace a letter while saying the sound.
  • Work together to write a sentence or two about something your child did. Have paper, pencils and markers available for writing.
  • Reread favorite books and ask what is happening in the story.
  • Practice the letters and the sounds they make by saying, "I'm thinking of a letter that makes the sound mmmmm."
First Grade
  • Keep books available in your car or purse to be ready to read when there is time. 
  • Reread favorite books and poems. This helps build fluency and accuracy. 
  • Ask questions about the story you read. "Why do you think the character did that?"
  • Encourage reading in place of TV or video games.
  • Wait... give your child time to sound out unfamiliar words. Remind them to look closely at the letters in the word.
  • Choose "Just Right" books. Help your child choose books that are not too hard or not too easy.
  • Play word games changing mat to fat to sat; from sat to sag to sap; and sap to sip.
  • Enjoy a some time taking turns reading aloud at bedtime.
  • Talk, talk, talk! Talk daily with your child about what is happening at home and school. Use interesting  vocabulary.
  • Write, write, write! Encourage your child to write the grocery list, a note to Grandma, or keep a journal. 
Second Grade
  • Share your family stories. Talk about funny things that happened when your child was young. ​
  • Fill a box with drawing and writing materials. Write shopping lists, notes, or cards.
  • Listen enthusiastically while your child reads aloud from a book or what they have written.
  • When your child has sounded out a word, have them reread the sentence for meaning.
  • Ask an author to talk to your child about the writing process. 
  • Create a book together. Fold several pieces of paper together and staple them. Your child can write a sentence on each page and create an illustration.
  • While riding in the car or on the bus, make up stories. Take turns adding to the adventure.
  • Take opportunities to make connections with words, for example knowledge relates to know.
  • Make a writing checklist. "Do all my sentences start with a capital? Do all my sentences end with punctuation?"
  • Use new vocabulary in your conversations. 
Third Grade
  • Make reading special. ​Take a trip to the community library and get a library card for your child, read books to them, buy books as gifts, have a special place for reading in your home.
  • Book series can  encourage additional reading. The Boxcar Children or The Magic Tree House books, or a second book by a favorite author.
  • Let your child see you look of words in a dictionary. This may inspire them to find new words themselves. 
  • Reading and listening comprehension is enhanced when children have experiences and background knowledge. 
  • First drafts need to be revisited and revised. Encourage your child when writing.
  • Read a variety of genres. Include mysteries, nonfiction and poetry. 
  • Encourage your child to summarize a story or chapter of a book and then make predictions about what may happen next. 
  • Play word games while driving in the car. How many homonyms or antonyms can your child think of for a word?