Reading Matters!

As part of SMART Reading’s Reading Matters campaign, we’ve developed reading resources for parents offering simple suggestions for reading with kids at home.

There are many simple things you can do at home to help keep your child excited about and engaged in reading – and they won’t cost you a thing! Check out the descriptions of various reading resources for parents below.

Handouts

• Download Reading Matters parent handout #1 here: Provides a discussion guide for getting to know children’s reading interests and preferences. It’s a great place to begin by understanding what interests children have about reading, and what their favorite places and times of day are for reading.
• Download Reading Matters parent handout #2 here: Provides ideas for parents to help keep kids engaged in reading over winter break.
• Download Reading Matters parent handout #3 here: Provides a great, simple guide for easy things parents can do while reading with their children at home. It provides tips and sample questions and comments for before, during and after reading that help increase reading engagement and comprehension.
• Download Reading Matters parent handout #4 here: Provides information on the “summer reading slide” – when children can lose some of their reading achievement gained throughout the school year over summer months. We offer tips for easy things parents can do throughout the summer to keep kids engaged in reading and learning.

Bookmarks:

• Download Reading Matters parent bookmark #1 here: A few quick tips for supporting reading at home.
• Download Reading Matters parent bookmark #2 here: Suggestions for keeping reading front and center when kids are out of school.
• Download Reading Matters parent bookmark #3 here: Sample questions to ask kids during reading to get them engaged in the text.
• Download Reading Matters Parent Bookmark #4 here: Tips to avoid the summer reading slide.