The Reading Series Booklets

Reading is one of the most important keys to learning. If children read well, chances are they will do well in school. Reading is undoubtedly a top priority for you and your teachers, but without the help of parents, studies show that many children will not achieve their highest reading potential. Parents who encourage reading, have reading materials available for children, set a good example for reading at home, and have family conversations about books can make a huge difference in the achievement of their children. Getting parents on your team to boost reading skills will boost student achievement—and your school's test scores.

How to Get Your Child to Read

Motivational Ideas That Work

Experts say that to build reading abilities, children must want to read. Unfortunately, many children aren't interested. Most often, children simply are distracted by television, video games, overly busy schedules, socializing or listening to music. The motivation just isn't there, no matter how important educators say reading is. Parents can make the difference—probably better than anyone else. They can show children that reading is fun and rewarding. This booklet explains how. It also provides ideas to motivate children who already love to read. Parents will learn that when they motivate children to read, they also motivate them to learn. That motivation improves school success more than nearly anything else! Stock # 307A (Spanish #407A)

Building Reading Skills

A Blueprint for Parents

Reading is the foundation of school success. This booklet contains practical, parent-tested ideas that you want all families to know and practice. No matter what a child's age, research proves that parents, grandparents, relatives and friends can all play an important role in school success, especially in building needed reading skills. This booklet gives parents a step-by-step "blueprint" of specific, proven ways they can help their children (of all ages—birth to high schoolers) to build the reading skills they need to succeed in school—and in life. The suggestions, followed with helpful how-to's for parents, include: taking inventory of reading materials available around the house, building children's interest in reading, being a good reading role model, talking with children about what they're reading, using writing to encourage reading, connecting reading to real life, making reading fun and making sure children get lots of reading practice. Stock #308A (Spanish #408A)

25 Ways Parents Can Read With Children

...and Help Them Do Better in School

Helps parents understand that time spent reading with children is extremely important. Reading with children helps build all-important language skills and forms good habits that will last a lifetime. Parents will learn how important reading is to every aspect of learning— in school and out. They will also learn specific ways to take advantage of learning activities while they're reading together. Stock #302A (Spanish #402A) Also part of the Parenting Series.

What Parents Can Do at Home to Help Students With Vocabulary

Learning depends on good speech, reading, writing and communication skills. Thus, improving a child's vocabulary has the benefit of improving school performance in every subject area. This booklet provides specific, easy-to-implement ideas parents can use at home to build the vocabulary of their children and the entire family. Suggestions include helping children use context to understand new words, challenging children to use synonyms and antonyms, making a word web, trying a newspaper scavenger hunt to find interesting words, using word roots to figure out the meaning of new words, collecting a list of "Words I Could Use . . . " in a future job and more! Stock #319A (Spanish #419A) Also part of the Academic Achievement Series.

What Parents Can Do at Home to Help Students With Reading

Reading is a key to success in school for students of all ages. This booklet is designed to help parents help their child develop a love of reading, make reading fun for students of all ages and master the skills that can make any child a better reader—especially those for whom reading is often an unpleasant chore. The ideas, games and activities in this booklet will help parents help their children develop a healthy interest in reading, an appreciation of why reading is so important and a positive attitude about reading in and out of school. Stock #315A (Spanish #415A) Also part of the Academic Achievement Series.

Reading for Meaning

Parents can help their children learn how to get the most out of what they read. The simple activities teach children to find the clues that indicate main ideas and lead to greater reading comprehension—and better grades. The ideas are fun for the whole family and easy for children to apply to their school work. Stock #324A (Spanish #424A) Also part of the Skills for School Success Series.

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