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Reading Opportunities - Families of K-3 Children

Reading Opportunities - Families of K-3 Children

Adult and child reading outdoors

Why provide an abundance of reading material?

Having a print-rich environment encourages your child to read. Reading a variety of materials often impacts your child’s literacy growth and has lasting effects on his or her education.

How to Provide Opportunities to Read

Provide a quiet space.

Show the importance of reading.

  •  Give your child a small, comfortable, quiet space where he or she can read without distraction.
  • Offering a desk, a corner, or just a spot at the kitchen table where your child can read daily shows the importance of reading.

Make use of resources.

Schools, libraries, and other agencies provide many free resources.

  •  Ask your child’s teacher to send home different reading materials to borrow.
  • Get a library card and check out both digital and print materials regularly.
  • Share reading material with neighbors and friends and look for reading material at yard sales and online.

Have fun!

Develop a love for reading.

  • Read different kinds of materials together and talk about their purpose.
  • Make reading time a fun part of your routine and encourage your child to try new kinds of books and materials.

Set an example.

Show your child that you read too.

  • Talk about what you are reading, whether it is a book, the newspaper, or the weather forecast on your phone.
  • Read labels and signs with your child.
  • Try reading new types of books or materials and talk about what you learned or thought about while reading.

For more information

The contents of this page were developed for the Michigan Department of Education under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education through the Office of Program and Grantee Support Services (PGSS) within the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), by the Region 8 Comprehensive Center at ICF under Award #S283B190013 in September 2021. This contains resources that are provided for the reader’s convenience. These materials may contain the views and recommendations of various subject matter experts as well as hypertext links, contact addresses, and websites to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any outside information included in these materials. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education. No official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any product, commodity, service, enterprise, curriculum, or program of instruction mentioned in this document is intended or should be inferred.