A Child Becomes a Reader: Proven Ideas From Research and Parents

The road to becoming a reader begins the day a child is born and continues through the
end of third grade. At that point, a child must read with ease and understanding to take
advantage of the learning opportunities in fourth grade and beyond—in school and in life.
Learning to read and write starts at home, long before children go to school. Very early,
children begin to learn about the sounds of spoken language when they hear their family
members talking, laughing, and singing, and when they respond to all of the sounds that fill
their world. They begin to understand written language when they hear adults read stories to
them and see adults reading newspapers, magazines, and books for themselves.
Mothers, fathers, grandparents, and caregivers, this booklet is for you. Your role
in setting your child on the road to becoming a successful reader and writer does not end
when she* begins kindergarten.