Family engagement and family literacy are two of the most important or components for building a strong foundation for children's academic success. Family engagement is about spending quality time with children every day by talking, playing, and asking questions, which builds bonds and promotes language development. Family literacy supports…

Sharing reading techniques with families is an important responsibility of teachers. Dialogic reading is one way to improve young students' expressive vocabulary skills, which are important for later reading success. Dialogic reading also supports students' understanding of story structure and content. This well researched technique has not been…

Research is just beginning to describe the role of reading in the lives of families with deaf children. While the time that deaf children spend reading or being read to represents only a small part of their lives at home, research highlights its importance for young children--hearing as well as deaf. Children whose parents read to them at home…

This guidance report aims to help secondary schools improve literacy in all subject areas. It provides seven recommendations related to reading, writing, talk, vocabulary development and supporting struggling students. Throughout the report, recommendations emphasise the importance of disciplinary literacy. Disciplinary literacy is an approach to…

Authored by two passionate psychologists and educators, "Book Smart: How to Develop and Support Successful, Motivated Readers" is a how-to guide rich with stories, lessons, activities, and ideas aimed at supporting reading development and addressing the broad range of interpersonal, social, emotional, and motivational skills that can be…

What should parents of a child who stutters do if their child speaks more than one language? Research shows that a child's language skills can affect his or her fluency, according to the nonprofit Stuttering Foundation of America. However, it has not been proven that speaking two languages in the home since birth causes stuttering. If the child is…

Noting that young children learn to talk at different ages but within certain developmental boundaries, this document presents two charts to help parents facilitate their toddler's speech. The first chart lists characteristics to look for in a growing, healthy baby at various ages between 3 months and 24 months, and suggestions for when to talk to…

The paper describes methods of natural language enhancement which both teachers and parents can use with young children who have language delays. The importance of connecting language to meaningful, functional communication is stressed. The reinforcement for the child becomes the adult's natural and spontaneous response. Adults, then, must prove…

Let students travel to countries around the world and experience life in different cultures and times by using foreign films with English subtitles in the classroom. Author Kerry Holmes, contends that students want to read as they become involved in the plot of a movie, their interests are piqued by novelty, and their attention is attracted to…

This booklet is intended for use by educators interested in developing environmental vocabulary and stimulating environmental awareness in adults and adolescents who use English as a foreign language. Activity participants are engaged in discussion and analysis, games, field trips, story reading, and projects. Activities are separated into 12…

The "Everyday Learning" series has been developed to focus attention on the everyday ways in which children can be supported in their growth and development. It is for all those who are involved in children's development and learning, including early childhood professionals in all children's services, parents, grandparents and others with an…

Noting that children s first words are exciting for parents to hear, this book describes how babies can "talk" before they learn to say actual words and shows ways parents can help babies learn language. The book addresses a neglected area in child development--how to help low literacy parents and parents for whom English is a Second…

DC Public Schools has adopted new learning standards for core subjects, including reading/English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. The new standards show what students should know and be able to do: (1) in each subject; (2) at each grade level; and (3) in every school. Standards tell all students that they are expected to…

This is a Spanish adaptation of the English version of the book, "Brainworks: From Birth to Kindergarten. The book is to be used with a multimedia presentation that is available on computer diskette. The book and multimedia presentation are designed to help parents and childcare providers understand the concept of early exposure and exploration…

This book is to be used with a multimedia presentation that is available on compact disc. The book and multimedia presentation are designed to help parents and childcare providers understand the concept of early exposure and exploration that is followed by increased development of synaptic connections and ultimately prepares children to handle…