When you read with your child, this is a proven way to promote early literacy.  One of the most important things you can do to prepare your child for his/her future is helping to make sure that your child is reading on a regular basis with appropriate grade level texts.  You can help your child’s success in school by making reading part of a daily routine in your home. Research shows that students who read at least 20 minutes per day will score in the 90th percentile on standardized tests.  Students will have access to leveled books to take home to practice reading for at least 20 minutes each night from their classroom teacher.  Students will also be able to check out books from the media center on a weekly basis.

There are important ways you can help your child before, during, and after he or she reads from a text.  Read at home with your child at least 20 minutes every day with books they enjoy.

Before reading:

• You may read to your child a text before he or she reads it.
• Have your child make predictions about what might happen next.
• Have your child use picture clues from the cover to predict what the book is about.

During reading:

• Read out loud to your child.
• Listen to your child read.
• Echo read (you read a line and then have your child repeat the line).
• Read together at the same time (choral reading).
• Reread or retell favorite stories.
• Talk to your son or daughter about what they are reading.
• Talk about how the pictures in the book connect to the words on the page.

After reading, you may:

• Ask “What do you remember from the text?”
•  Ask questions about the reading (who, what, when, where, why).
• Have your child talk about his or her favorite parts of the story and why.
• Ask “What have you learned from the text?”
• Ask “Who was in the book and what did this character do in the story?”
• Connect the story to your child’s life or to other books you and your child have read together.

As a partner in your child’s education, our school encourages you to communicate regularly with your child’s teacher regarding their progress. DuVall Elementary will offer a literacy strategies support session for parents to be able to support student learning at home.  This session may be enhanced and repeated during the school year.  Our school and district are committed to ensuring that your child receives the foundational literacy skills that he or she needs to thrive in our diverse and global world.