St. Charles Public Schools Parent and Caregiver Literacy Resources:

 
  • As you read aloud, pause from time to time to ask questions about the text. Help your child make connections between their life and knowledge and what they are reading in the text. Explain new ideas and words as you come across them. Encourage your child to ask their own questions about the book. Ask them to retell the story, or to share what is happening in the book in their own words.
  • Talk often with your child to build vocabulary, listening, conversation, and turn-taking skills.  Your child’s oral language development is incredibly important, and home is the perfect classroom.  
  • Provide opportunities for your child to write often—for example, give them paper and pens to write letters and thank-you notes to relatives and friends, give them ideas for writing their own stories in a notebook or on loose leaf paper, e-mail friends or relatives together, or give them a note pad and help them write items for the grocery list.
  • Visit the local library and help your child get a library card. Make a weekly routine of getting new books and reading them with your child.
  • Cook together!  Students can help write the list of ingredients and then help you shop.  While at the store, talk about what you see to help build vocabulary.  While cooking, read the recipe together.  Lastly, eat your delicious meal and discuss what was the best part.
  • Go places.  Visit a local park or a relative near or far, explore a museum or zoo, spend some time at a parade, fair, or carnival.  Have your child keep a journal of their adventures, but most importantly, talk about them with your child.  
 

Literacy Resource Links for parents / caregivers: