The Power of Home Reading

I am struck again with the importance of really working with parents to read with their kids at home.  I met with a parent earlier this year to talk about their student who was a bit behind.  We talked and then I gave her a stack of leveled phonics books to work through with her child.  She came back a couple weeks later very excited about the progress that her son had made.  It was just having him sit down every day for a bit and work through the words and pages one by one.  That little bit of focused practice went a long way!  I can see it in my own kids at home as well.  We spend time in books every night, often reading the same books.  Their little minds soak up the words that they hear and when it is time to begin reading, there is so much already in place for them to pull from.  Reading every night is important!