When other parents are working, Mami welcomes their children for the night. How come those kids get to sleep on the special cot? It’s not fair!
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Read and Succeed
Use these tools to build in more reading fun at home.
Family Reading Time
Watch the video for tips on supporting your young reader!
Take the Family Quiz
Take the quiz and get reading tips personalized for your life!
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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.
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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.
The Cot in the Living Room
The Littlest Graduate
Noah feels nervous about moving up to a big kid school. What if he’s not ready?
I'm Happy-Sad Today
Big feelings can be tough enough, let alone feeling two at the same time! Maybe you’refeeling happy-sad? Or nervous-excited! Or scared-brave? It’s A-OK to feel that way!
The Little Butterfly That Could
Butterfly is nervous about making a long migration alone. There are still 200 miles to go! Don’t give up, Butterfly! Keep flying, keep trying!
Ruby Finds a Worry
What should you do when you find a worry? You can try to ignore it. But what if it follows you? And grows bigger? Ruby knows!
Family Book Talk
Use the Ask and Share questions to discuss these books with your child.
Meesha Makes Friends
Meesha isn’t great at making friends, so she uses art to make them by hand instead. Then Josh helps Meesha find the courage to make real friends.
A Beach Tail
Gregory draws a lion with an endless tail in the sand, and strays far from Dad. He follows the tail back to where he started and finds his father.
Z Is for Moose
Moose is excited to be in Zebra’s alphabet show, but when unexpected things happen, Moose has a temper tantrum. Then Zebra fits Moose in at the end.
Soup Day
On a snowy day, a girl and her mom chop vegetables, then play while the soup cooks. When the girl’s dad comes home, they sit together and eat the delicious soup.
A Sled for Gabo
As Gabo watches kids playing in the snow, he wishes he had a sled. He receives a tray as a gift, and Isa shows him how to sled down the hill on it.
Family Book Talk
Use the Ask and Share questions to discuss these books with your child.
The Animals Would Not Sleep!
The stuffed animals are having trouble settling in for the night. Not to worry, Marco knows how to think outside the box...and basket.
Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn
Say so long to the season’s late blooming flowers, the frolicking animals, and the warm summer sun. There’s a chill in the air and autumn is on its way.
Ty’s Travels: Lab Magic
Ty’s too little to visit the science lab at the museum. So he and his brother create a lab at home where they mix, wonder, and discover!
Lia & Luís: Who Has More?
Who got more snack to snack on? We’ll need a bit of math and some creative thinking to find out how the siblings’ snacks measure up!
Could You Ever Waddle With Penguins!?
What would life be like if you woke up in Antarctica surrounded by penguins!? Would you slide, glide, dive, and waddle just like they do?
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?
- Kindergarten readers are learning to recognize rhyming words and even think up their own examples. When you read together, ask your child to point out words that rhyme.