The first five years are so very important.

 Lets talk about why it is important to read to your children.

This website is chocked full of reading tips for families. Find resources, activities, read-aloud stories, glossary for related reading terms, and so much more. The site can instantly be translated to the languages shown on the upper right of each page and has a "user way" tool in the lower right-hand corner (the circle icon) that offers a more robust menu to suit one's needs. 

If you need help navigating, check out this video that walks you through using the "user way" menu for ease of readability of the site.   

Trifold Information Flyer for Reading Tips for Families (English)
Trifold Information Flyer for Reading Tips for Families (Spanish)

Take-away tips from Story Time you can do at home!

Attending story time is great for your child and you. But it is not ALL fun for parent and child, there are educational components associated with the fingerplay, rhyming, and repetition that build on the literacy foundation you have started.
Learn why from  these tips. 

 Lets talk about why it is important to read to your children.

Maya Payne Smart has a book, Reading for Our Lives, A Literacy Action Plan from Birth to Six, that shares why parents should read to their children from birth. It's not just about the act of reading, it's about the brain building with interaction and the connection... babbling conversations back and forth, following the lines of words on the page, turning the page. 

 Lets talk about school readiness.

Literacy coordinator for Marion City Schools shares some facts about the number of words your child should be exposed to. Prepare your children by communicating with them. Interaction builds a baby's brain. Be the connection by communicating.
Talk to your child!!!

Why Read 20 Minutes daily?

It is so very important to READ 20 MINUTES daily to your child. One of our local pre school teachers shares reasons why.

Connecting Rhymes and Reading

Reading and rhymes teach words. Marion Public Library gives an explanation of what and why this prepares kids for reading and learning. 

3 Talking Tips

Literacy coordinator for Marion City Schools shares 3 tips on talking and leading a conversation with your child and why it leads to building literacy skills as a child grows.

 Children learn as you read to them.

Librarian Whittney Mahle covers what your children are learning from your reading to them. Knowing the parts of a book are importing building blocks.

 Why  Early Literacy makes a difference.

Literacy coordinator for Marion City Schools shares why early literacy skill matter before a child's reaches school age.

Reading to Infants and Toddlers

An Early Childhood Interventionist of Marion City Schools shares why you are the most important teacher your child will ever have.

Have you ever heard about Popcorn Words?

These two Elgin students want you to know about the words that always pop up in children's books. The repetition of these words builds a habit of recognizing and become comfortable reading and remembering basic words.

Click here for a list of POPCORN words.

First Stop Resources

Marion Public Library

​With its Kids’ Zone, the Marion Public Library has resources to enhance a child’s reading experience, as well as trained staff to help you pick out an age-appropriate book to read today.  Start with the link to download the form to get a library card.
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Marion Imagination Library

Register your child to receive a book a month delivered in their mailbox through Dolly Parton Imagination Library. This program is brought to you by Ohio Governors Imagination Library with Marion Public Library being the local partner providing fundraising.
 
You can ENROLL a child from age 0-5 today to start receiving books today. 
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Ohio Coalition For The Education ​of Children with Disabilities

You don't have to have a disability to need just a little help. OCECD offers great resources to help your child through reading challenges. Contact Amy Freeman to register for one of her training sessions. This is open to parents, guardians or teachers.

Here is a link to our current NEWSLETTERS downloadable from their website. They are chocked full of additional links to help with reading results. Take a moment to sign up to get them in your own mail box.

While you are there be sure to brows the RESOURCE links as well.

Wonderful Reading Resource Websites

For Parents

Tip Sheets from LR20:
Beat the Summer Slide Tip Sheet
Parent Reader Parts Tip Sheet
Preschoolers 3 & 4 years Tip Sheet

Read Ohio | Ohio Department of Education
Read Ohio - Tips for Administrators, Teachers and Families 
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Choose to Read Ohio features an annual list of books that feature Ohio authors. Youth, teen and adult but a great resource if you want to "read local" (or at least Ohio) with your kids. Many of the selections include activities or discussion sheets. 
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Early Literacy 101 Workshop Handouts
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Step Up to Quality 
A state-based information and rating system for preschools.

Teach Your Monster to Read is an award-winning series of games that’s helped millions of children learn to read.

How to Raise a Reader
Just how do children learn to start reading and what are the basics. Loads of suggestions on how to get started and continue the learning.

The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce aims to increase student achievement through improving language and literacy outcomes for all students. A successful language and literacy framework is built on five interrelated components—teacher capacity, shared leadership, multi-tiered systems of support, parent partnerships and community collaboration.

Have you ever wished that your child came with an instruction manual? Sesame Street Tool Kits are the next best thing. They provide opportunities to build closeness and confidence, making learning fun, and keep your child's world safe and secure. Many life situations presented to give you answers to sometimes difficult situations and questions.

Day By Day Ohio is a tool that families, caregivers, educators, and librarians can use at home, at the library, on the go, and in the classroom.
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How to Teach Vowel Sounds so Kids Will Remember
If a child has not mastered vowel sounds at the kindergarten level it makes difficult to read.  Making it a game offers a great way to make easier to remember.

My First Letters - Consonants For Kids
A fun video introducing the consonants, their sound, their shape and more. 
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Go Hairy: Safe, Fun Learning for Children
Watch the video to get kids ready for school and establish a love of learning. We'll cover phonics, words and numbers

PBS Kids: ABC Literacy
The most powerful ways to develop children’s literacy skills are also the simplest: talk to them, listen to them, read to them and write with them. When caring adults talk to kids about the world — from how recipes work to the rules of baseball — they are planting seeds of knowledge that will help kids grow into curious thinkers, readers and writers.
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Tip Sheets from LR20:
Beat the Summer Slide Tip Sheet
Parent Reader Parts Tip Sheet
Preschoolers 3 & 4 years Tip Sheet

For Teachers

Read Ohio | Ohio Department of Education
Read Ohio - Tips for Administrators, Teachers and Families 

​12 Reader 
Reading resources including printable worksheets and lessons.

​Adlit.org 
Resources and professional guidance for teachers grades 4–12.
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Read Write Think - Classroom Resources 
Lessons, Interactives, Activities, and Instructional Support.

For Volunteers

International Children’s Digital Library 
A repository of books and resources from around the world, offer opportunities to engage readers of all levels.

Reading is Fundamental – Literacy Central
https://www.rif.org/literacy-central

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