An eraser is upset when a pencil makes marks on the page. As the pencil draws more and more, the eraser finds its own creativity.
Explore
Read and Succeed
Use these family reading tools to discuss books with your child.
Family Support Video
Your encouragement and support is key to helping your child be a more confident reader. Watch the video for tipos on supporting your young reader!
Take the Family Quiz
Take the quiz and get tips personalized to your life!
×
1. How does reading currently feel in your family?
Your Family is Ready to Gear Up
Your family is juggling a lot. Though it can be stressful to find time for it all, you’re making it work. Your family is ready for an organized reading journey! Here’s how your family can gear up.
Tips
- Plan the habit. Try taking a few minutes tonight to plan in advance for how you will slot reading time into your schedule.
- Include a book in your child’s bedtime routine. Read aloud to your child, or remind them to read a few pages of their book before bed.
- Schedule a library visit in advance for when you’re already out and about. (PS: Many libraries no longer charge fines for overdue books.)
- If you take a train or bus with your child, or wait at a laundromat, bring a book as a fun distraction.
-
Prioritize choice. Empower your child to choose their own
books, which is proven to increase reading motivation. Ideas:
- Have your child browse the library shelves and/or share their interests with a librarian.
- Children also enjoy rereading old favorites, which builds comfort, understanding, and vocabulary.
Your Family is Ready to Power Up
Your family are adventurous readers! You read all sorts of stories and texts. This is a great way for your child or children to build background knowledge and vocabulary, so they can continue to succeed as they grow. Here’s how your family can power up.
Tips
- Grow vocabulary. Try modeling for your children the habit of looking up unfamiliar words in the dictionary.
- Read together. Your child benefits from independent reading as well as reading with you. Take turns reading to each other, and discuss books.
- Level up. Encourage your child to complete a “reading challenge” in which they try to meet a goal, such as a number of books read or a checklist of a variety of types of books. You can find reading challenge options online or at your library or school.
Your Family is Ready to Level Up
Your family is ready to thrive as readers. Learning to read takes time. Your support makes a real difference in your child’s reading journey! Here’s how your family can level up.
Tips
- Be positive. Celebrate every step forward your child makes.
- Read together. Take turns reading to each other. Make it cozy and fun—snuggle under the covers or make a blanket fort.
- Support. Talk honestly with your child about reading struggles and why it’s worth continuing. Ask them to brainstorm the benefits.
- Empower. Let your child choose their own books and see you doing the same.
- Practice phonics. Ask your child's teacher how you can support specific reading skills at home.
Family Book Talk
Use the Ask and Share questions to discuss these books with your child.
Self-Awareness
Perfect
Where’s Rodney?
Rodney would rather be outside than in the classroom. When his class takes a field trip, he is able to enjoy the majesty of nature.
Cody and the Heart of a Champion
Many things in Cody’s life are changing. With help from her friends and family, Cody is able to handle the new experiences coming her way.
Mae Among the Stars
With big dreams and a supportive family, Mae Jemison became the first Black womanto travel to space. This book tells her story.
Freddie Ramos Hears It All
Freddie wants to use his superpowers to help, but sometimes he gets into trouble! In this book he learns the most important part of having powers.
Family Book Talk
Use the Ask and Share questions to discuss these books with your child.
Challenges and Solutions
The Girl With a Mind for Math
In this biography, Raye Montague becomes an engineer, even though other people don’t believe in her. She invents a new way to design ships using math and computers!
Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood
Mr. Tony has the idea to turn an abandoned lot into a garden. Nevaeh’s class learns how to grow plants and to give back to the community.
Key Hunters: The Mysterious Moonstone
Evan and Cleo are transported from their school library into a mystery book. With the help of the book’s detective, they help solve the mystery.
Pura’s Cuentos: How Pura Belpré Reshaped Libraries with Her Stories
Pura Belpré loves the Puerto Rican stories she grew up with. Determined and brave, she brings her stories to children throughout the city as a librarian.
Jo Jo Makoons: The Used-to-Be Best Friend
Jo Jo is a spirited seven-year-old on her Ojibwe reservation. When her best friend may not want to be friends anymore, she must figure out what to do.
Family Book Talk
Use the Ask and Share questions to discuss these books with your child.
Exploring With STEM
The Rainbow Mystery
When little rainbows mysteriously appear on the living room wall, friends Annie and Mike start thinking like scientists to figure out where they came from.
Pedro Goes to Mars
When Pedro learns it takes Mars 687 days to go around the sun, meaning he’ll have to wait 687 days between birthdays, he becomes unsure about traveling to Mars.
The Elephant’s New Shoe
Chhouk, a baby elephant, has a terrible foot injury and can barely walk. Can Nick create an artificial foot that works for Chhouk?
Monsters and Mold
Gorp the monster has got mold growing on his fur. Zoey uses the scientific method to cure him, and Gorp goes to the Monster Ball mold-free!
Shark Lady
This biography of Eugenie Clark, who grew up to be a shark expert and advocate, shows that girls can study sharks and that sharks are smart!
Family Reading Tips
Here are some easy, powerful ways to support your child with their reading!
Ask Questions About the Book
- Start conversations by asking open-ended questions rather than questions that have yes or no answers.
- Ask, “How would you feel if you were the main character in this situation, and why?”
- Take turns sharing your thoughts and ideas, too.
- It is important for readers to visualize what they are reading.
- While reading, ask your child to close their eyes and imagine what is happening.
- Ask them to describe what they “see.” After reading, invite your child to draw what they saw!
- Children should be able to give examples from the book to answer a question or to explain an opinion. As you read together:
- Ask your child to describe what a particular character is like.
- Then, ask them to point to specific examples in the book.
Build Skills at Home
- Make books easy to reach and reread at home. Rereading books:
- helps children to understand a book more deeply
- increases vocabulary, and
- adds comfort and ease to reading.
- Try to build in 20 minutes of reading with your child each day. Find a comfy spot, and enjoy this time together!
- Encourage your child to bring along a book anytime! Short moments between running errands or traveling from place to place can add up to a lot of reading.
Encourage and Connect
- When children can see themselves in a story, they connect more deeply to it.
- Look for positive qualities (like bravery and teamwork) while reading or discussing books with your child.
- Remind them of times where they—or you—showed the same qualities.
- When your child is reading:
- Ask questions about their book so they know you are interested.
- Celebrate their efforts! Offer a quick high five or join them in a celebratory dance at the end of a book.
- When reading is challenging for your child:
- Share your own struggles. Talk about a time when you faced challenges.
- Let them know that mistakes are okay, and that this is how we learn.
- Build their confidence by talking about what they have already learned.
- Offer a trip to the library to find books that interest them
Reading Milestones
- If you want more information on how to support your child as a reader, reach out to their teacher. You can ask:
- Is my child reading on grade level?
- What books would be a good fit for my child?
- Is there anything specific we should be working on at home?
- Third-grade readers are learning to:
- Read words with multiple syllables.
- Read smoothly and with expression.
- Reread words or sentences when they make a mistake.●
- Have your child read aloud to you. This encourages them to practice these skills while also showing you their progress.