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Exposure to text

• Kids should know everyone in the family reads.  Do they see you read at home?
• At home
  • Establish a family reading time
  • Have books, magazines and other print material in view
• In the car
  • Young children can look for letters around them
  • Older kids can read signs
• At the grocery store
  • Point out signs, read labels
  • Have children look for letters or words

I read, we read, you read

• Ideally, you want to establish a set reading time each day, such as before bed.
• During the early stages of reading development reading to your child is most appropriate.
  • Point to the words as you read to build concepts of print and phonemic awareness.
• As children progress in their reading ability, choose books children can read. 
  • Have children read the sight words they know.
  • Alternate reading sentences or pages.
  • Alternate the parent reading a book (perhaps a chapter in a book or a more high interest topic) and a book at the child’s reading level.
• When children are old enough to read independently encourage them to do so.
  • Listen to them read aloud.
  • Ask questions about what they have read on their own to check for understanding.
  • If you want to still have a shared reading time, have the child read independently, then read a shared book together, or alternate turns reading.
  • Children (especially kindergarten through first) should track the word as they read.

How long to read

• Before kindergarten
  • Literacy activities should be short, taking place throughout the day, such as singing the ABCs in the car, rhyming words, or looking at books
  • Established “reading” time will be no longer than 10 minutes
• Kindergarten
  • 20 minutes total
  • Could be mostly adult reading, with some kid reading
• First Grade
  • 20-30 minutes
  • With at least 15 minutes of student reading
• Second Grade and beyond
  • 30 minutes or more of independent reading