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Visit this website and take a free Online Assessment to find out if your child is ready to read. 
Get 30 free downloadable books from Reading A-Z
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I. Providing New Experiences
You don't have to go far from home to find places that will spark a child's interest and curiosity. Trips to the
super-market, the airport, and the duck pond provide more
than a change of scenery. New places, faces, and objects add to your children's knowledge and vocabulary.
They provide something new to talk about, wonder about - and read about, so follow up your
excursions with a trip to the library or a bookstore. Help sharpen your children's observation skills by pointing out
things:
a flock of birds, work trucks at a busy construction site, and a rainbow can each be to a source wonder to your young kids,
who have the gift of
of seeing something exciting in even the most familiar things.
The National Center for Learning Disabilities selected Grover (Russ) Whitehurst, Ph.D., to serve as the principal
investigator and developer of the Get Ready to Read! screening tool. Dr. Whitehurst is a nationally renowned expert
on early literacy and child development who serves as leading professor of psychology and pediatrics
and chairman of the Department of Psychology at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook.
Selected as co-principal investigator was Christopher Lonigan, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychology at
Florida State University, Tallahassee.
Advisors to the process included Jack Fletcher, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University
of Texas, Houston; Victoria Molfese, Ph.D., director of the Early Childhood Research Center at the University of
Louisville, Kentucky; and Joseph Torgesen, Ph.D., distinguished research professor of psychology and education at
Florida State University, Tallahassee.
Items included in the Get Ready to Read! screening tool were selected from other tools used in ongoing
(longitudinal) research studies that have been following more than 700 young children from age three through the
early elementary grades. To be sure that these items would provide valid information about a child's emergent
literacy skills, in 2000 researchers field-tested the Get Ready to Read! screening items in New York and
Florida with 342 children attending Head Start centers, pre-kindergarten classes, and private nursery school programs.
Equal numbers of boys and girls were included in the study, and children from African-American, Latino, Caucasian, and
other racial and ethnic backgrounds were represented. These children came from low- and middle-income families and ranged
in age from 48 to 59 months.
Ed Emberley
Discover how easy it is to create whimsical critters, people and images using just your fingers and a few simple
squiggles. The 80-page book inspires creativity and makes drawing simple and enjoyable for kids and adults alike.
Emberley's original Thumbprint and Fingerprint Drawing Books are also available as separate volumes.
Heartsong's exclusive set of 18 Mini Rainbow Stamp Pads and our Bruynzeel spiralbound Sketch Pad add to the fun. Free shipping coupon code: HS78. Expires December 31, 2004.
3).
If you have a child that just loves to build things, likes to read and follow directions, look at the award winning 4). If you are new to The Reading Railroad, then check out last month's recommendations....
Santa personalizes each letter with your child's name, best friend's name (optional), hometown, and state. And you get to
choose from 12 different letters in English and 6 in Spanish. So... read more about sending your child a
Personalized Letters from Santa Review from Amazon.com: Although this book is meant to be read to children, I have given it as a gift to all
of my closest friends and family members as a way to say "I'm so glad we're connected!"
I also used its basic message to reassure my daughter that even though she was going off to all-day kindergarten,
we would still be connected by our invisible strings. This is a very heart-warming story with a bigger
message than appears on the surface.
Madeline's Review: The story is about Liza and Jeremy, a pair of twins, who, during the night,
were scared of the rumbling thunder. Their mother comforted them by telling a story about "the invisible string"
that always connects those with the people whom they love regardless of their whereabouts.
Even when they are in school, outer space, the ocean, France, heaven, and when they are angry.
The illustrator, Geoff Stevenson, captures the soul of this book. The illustrations are not only well-characterized
but also blend well with the storyline and they take the story to the next level.
When Joseph's favorite overcoat gets old and worn, he makes a jacket out of it. When the jacket is more patches than jacket, Joseph turns it into a vest. When the vest's number is up, Joseph makes a scarf. This thrifty industry continues until there's nothing left of the original garment. But clever Joseph manages to make something out of nothing! (And that's the foreshadowed moral of the story.)
In today's throwaway world, Joseph's old-fashioned frugality is a welcome change. Based on a Yiddish song from Simms Taback's youth (lyrics and music reproduced on the last page), the book is filled with rhythms and arresting colors that will delight your child. As more and more holes appear in Joseph's coat, die-cut holes appear on the pages, hinting at each next manifestation. The illustrations are striking, created with gouache, watercolor, collage, pencil, and ink.
Ages Baby through 8.
In Little Whistle's first holiday adventure, Newbery Medalist Cynthia Rylant and artist Tim Bowers once again bring the cozy world of Toytown to life--and capture the magical spirit of Christmas.
Ages: Baby through 8.
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