Make Reading Fun With Activities At Home (NAPSA)—Educatorsagree that when parents read to children at home, children will perform better at school. There are several steps parents can take to strengthen their children’s reading skills, including implementing a family reading night. In addition to reading with children on a daily basis, PTO Today has teamed up with Target to help families create their own special reading night: Make family reading night a special event by setting aside a designated time each week or month. Bring booksto life by creating a theme and choosing books and snacks based on the theme. Add costumes to make it livelier and even have the family act out the book. Invite guest readers to read books to your children; this could be a neighbor, a memberof the community or a family friend. Choose books that are fun and age appropriate for yourchildren. Have the books relate to your child’s current life experiences. Your child’s teacher can help you select books that are most relevant and timely. Encourage your children to actively participate by asking them to do the reading, turn the pages as you read, or point to and namecharacters or objects on the pages. Include a fun activity, such as family poetry, where family members answer questions and the answers are turned into a poem. Look for community events that support reading. For example, Target and PTO Today offer Family Reading Night events, held at your child’s school, which include both the joy of reading and parental involvement. At these events parents and children listen to guest readers, participate in activities, enjoy refreshments Ae When parents make reading part of every day they can makea real contribution to their child’s read- ing skills. and take home a deeper appreciation for reading. Family Reading Night is just one of several ways in which Tar- get demonstrates a commitment to families, reading and education through its Ready. Sit. Read! program. The program is designed to foster a love of reading among children at an early age, with an emphasis on children from birth through age 9. “It is our mission to provide school parent groups with the resources they need to build parental involvement in schools. When parents are involved, test scores rise, children build more self-esteem, and their overall atti- tude toward learning improves,” said John Driscoll, vice president, PTO Today. “We’re proud then to be able to offer the Family Reading Night program with Target because it reaches kidsat a critical age and further spreads the message about the importanceof reading to both parents andchildren.” To learn more about Target’s commitment to reading and additional reading resources and activities, visit www.Target.com/ readysitread. To encourage your school to set up a Family Reading Night event log on to www.school familynights.com.
