Parents don’t have to be experts in family literacy to read effectively with their children. But, thanks to a national program, they can learn from the experts on how to get better results and build learning skills with their children.

For 12 years, the National Center for Family Literacy has awarded the Toyota Family Literacy Teacher of the Year to educators who achieve tremendous results in helping families learn together and prepare children for success in school.

This year, those winners came together to create a list of the top five ways families can begin traditions and habits that will make a difference in their homes:

– Children imitate and emulate their parents, so it is important that they see parents reading for pleasure and that there are printed materials in the home.

– Parents must be involved in all aspects of their child’s educational success — from reading to them, checking homework, asking how the school day was, knowing who their friends (and bullies) are and advocating for their rights.

– Reading should become a valued routine in the house. Find a quiet area with a time to snuggle and read with mom or dad or both. Make sure there is proper lighting. Practice how to read with enthusiasm (use different voices for different characters or act out the story).

– Reading is not a passive activity. Parents should ask questions to find out what the child thinks will happen next and expand the story to discuss related personal stories, which make reading real to them.

– Parents should create an activity around the book they are reading with their children. Instead of just reading the text of the book, have children look at the pictures and tell the story in their own words or create a song about the book. If the book is about animals, follow up with a trip to the zoo or the park to make the story come alive. (…)

Source: Earthtimes, UK
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