The role of parents in their childs reading development has been proven through research to be critical. For more tips like the ones provided below, or to get involved with an Early Childhood Reading program that successfully prepares young children to read contact:

Success by 6 - Raising a Reader program
Sarah Bishop (757) 853-8500 or e-mail sbishop@unitedwayshr.org

What can YOU do for your child?

• Ask your school if they are a part of a literacy program
  
• Join a library literacy program
  
• Read to your child every day - even if it is the cereal box!
  
• Go to the online sites listed below to print worksheets and games to help teach your child basic reading and math skills
  
• Get involved with a local or national literacy organization
  
• If you are a parent who struggles with reading, get into a family literacy program so that you and your child can learn together

More info for Parents:

	http://www.sqone.org/literacy.htm- Square One is committed to helping Hampton Roads increase the number of children who start school with the skills they will need when it comes time to learn how to read. This website also has tips on reading, reading aloud, book links and more literacy links.
	http://www.hampton.va.us/healthyfamilies- Information on Parent Education Classes, Healthy Start, Public Library Parent Resource Center links
	http://www.pen.k12.va.us/- Virginia Department of Education
	www.verizonreads.net - Verizon is committed to literacy.
	www.aplusmath.com - Use their flashcards, worksheets, and game room!
	www.readingrockets.org- Great articles, homework helpers, flashcards

Being a parent is overwhelming enough without having to worry about your children not being able to read, write or do basic math. According to the National Institute for Literacy:

• Family income greatly affects a youth's chances of dropping out. Youths at high-income levels are much more likely to remain in school than those at the lower income levels. Improve your skills to help your child succeed!
  
  
• Children's literacy levels are strongly linked to the educational level of their parents, especially their mothers. Parental income and marital status are both important predictors of success in school, but neither is as significant as having a mother (or primary caregiver) who completed high school. Sign up to complete your GED and learn along with your child!
  
  
• Children of parents who are unemployed and have not completed high school are five times more likely to drop out than are children of employed parents. Getting a job is important – but keeping one is the key to building a stable home.
  

FAMILY LITERACY

Family literacy services are generally provided in the child’s school setting. During the day, parents and children work and play together, giving parents the chance to increase their skills as their children's first teachers-their most important teachers.

• Parents and children attend school together as a family. Education is a family value passed from one generation to the next. Putting adults and children in separate programs does not encourage reading together.
  
  
• In the adult classroom, parents work on basic educational skills, English language instruction and workplace skills. Their ultimate goals vary from attaining their GED to being better able to enter the workplace. No matter what their personal goals are, parents all want a better future for their families.
  
  
• One component that separates family literacy programs from other literacy programs is Parent and Child Together (PACT) time. During this time, families come together to work and play. Children pick the activities; parents follow their lead and find that they learn with and from their children. Many parents realize for the first time how much impact their teaching can have on their children.
  
  
• Another important feature of family literacy programs is the Parent Time. During this time, parents discuss topics that affect their lives, such as child discipline, self-esteem or how to obtain services available to them. Many programs use this time to build pre-employment and life skills.

Outcomes of family involvement in literacy programs

The Relationship Between Reading and Literacy:

Reading is considered in the Reading First section of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 to mean "a complex system of deriving meaning from print that requires all of the following:

(a) The skills and knowledge to understand how speech sounds, are connected to print
(b) The ability to decode unfamiliar words
(c) The ability to read fluently
(d) Sufficient background information and vocabulary to foster reading comprehension
(e) The development of appropriate active strategies to construct meaning from print
(f) The development and maintenance of a motivation to read."