Tips to Support
Your Child's Literacy

Read with your children! Read billboards, street signs, maps, books, the information channel on television, their textbooks, library books, and anything you see.

Get a library card and use it with your child.

Let your child see you reading for enjoyment.

Talk to your child about the importance of reading.
Subscribe to the newspaper.

Encourage your child, especially if his reading is below grade level. Students tend to rebel under pressure but will very often blossom with encouragement and praise for their efforts.

To help your child enjoy reading, try to help him or her find literature that is at the appropriate age and reading levels, dealing with a subject that interests him or her.
When you are in the car, make up stories together.

Avid readers "see" the story happening in their heads, much like we see a movie screen. Stop occasionally when you are reading and help your child "see" the picture. This may take some effort at first, but it is an important part of reading comprehension.

Your child's reading teacher will have some ideas about helping your child read. The teacher knows what strengths and weaknesses your child has and will be able to suggest some books that he or she might enjoy reading.

Even if you do not have a child in school, volunteer for a few hours a month to listen to a child read. The Traverse City Area Public School system needs volunteers for their Remarkable Readers program, which targets first through third graders who need assistance reading.

* Adapted from "Reading Knows No Limit," a publication of the Newspaper Association of America Foundation to celebrate International Literacy Day.