Teachers who work with English as a Second Language learners will find ESL/ESOL/ELL/EFL reading/writing skill-building children's books, stories, activities, ideas, strategies to help PreK-3, 4-8, and 9-12 students learn to read.
Family Literacy
Reading at Home with Your Child
Delta Publishing sells videos, DVDs, and handouts available in English and Spanish for educators to teach parents how to read with their children.
Audible Kids provides digital audio content for children. Shop, purchase, and download digital audio editions of books, newspapers, and magazines; original programming; and TV and radio subscriptions. Spanish titles are also available.
Pat Mora's author Web site gives information about her bilingual books for adults, young adults, and children. She coined the word "Bookjoy" and promotes a children's book day called "Día" all year long through the American Library Association.
Connecticut Family Learning Initiative
The CT State Department of Education's Family Literacy Initiative works to expand, strengthen and coordinate family literacy services in the state. Family literacy publications and resources are available on the program's website, including a family literacy guide in Spanish.
Celebrate the joy of reading with Cuentos y Más, a dynamic show offered by the Arlington Public Library in Arlington, VA and winner of the Outstanding Children's Program award by the Virginia Public Library Directors Association. The program features the talented and engaging bilingual storyteller Mariela Aguilar, who tells stories in English and Spanish and then visits places in the community such as the library. Produced for television, the program is now available as an online video for free viewing.
Cultivating Readers: A Magazine for Parents
The National Center for Family Literacy puts the family at the forefront of educational reform in the area of national literacy. They have produced a free downloadable bilingual magazine in English and Spanish for parents called "Cultivating Readers," which gives tips on promoting reading to children from birth until age 8.
This section of the Learning Network is designed to help parents stay connected to their children's learning. Find homework help, creative activities, printables, games, and ideas from other parents and experts.
Family Education: Printables Center
Valuable printables resource center with thousands of printable activities. Database can be searched by grade level and topic.
This website from PTO Today provides all the information needed to organize a successful Family Reading Night event. You can also request a Family Reading Night Kit, which includes a planning guide, posters, brochures, and many fun creative ideas to use at your event.
The Latin Baby Book Club Blog was created to provide parents with suggested reading for their families and to help children develop pride for their Latin culture through education and literature. The blog also strives to support Hispanic authors through monthly interviews and reviews of bilingual young adult and children's books.
Lee y Serás uses vivid Flash animation, research-based curricula, and local events and activities to inspire Latino children to be strong readers and empower families and communities to foster children's literacy development.
Massachusetts DOE Resources for Family and Community Involvement: Additional Resources
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education offers online federal resources for educational excellence, family resources from the MA Department of Social Services, and guidelines for learning at museums.
Raising A Reader's mission is to foster healthy brain development, parent-child bonding, and early literacy skills by engaging parents in a routine of daily "book cuddling" with their children from birth to age five. It offers its program through organizations such as Head Start, and has documented participating children's superior book knowledge and story comprehension.
Reach Out and Read is a national program that seeks to make early literacy an integral part of pediatric primary care. Pediatricians encourage parents to read aloud to their young children and give books to their patients to take home at all pediatric check-ups from six months to five years of age. Parents learn that reading aloud is the most important thing they can do to help their children love books and to start school ready to learn.
My favorite part of the website is the newsletters. It helps me stay updated on issues concerning ELLs, struggling readers, learning disabilities, and
great books for students.
~ T. H.
