Get Ready to Read! Resources for Parents 
September 2007

Molly Ringwald Hosts Show on Reading Challenges 
Molly Ringwald will host A Chance to Read on WETA TV 26 in Washington, D.C., taking a look at the reading challenges faced by children with disabilities and the ways in which schools are helping them find success.  Check the WETA broadcast schedule to find out when this show will air near you. 

Starfall Helps Teach Basic Reading Skills
Starfall is a Web site that teaches basic reading skills with free online games, animations, and phonetics activities.  For a fee, the site also offers writing journals and downloadable books that focus on specific sounds and skills. 

New Magazine Helps Parents Incorporate Reading Activities into Daily Routines
On National Family Literacy Day, November 1, The National Center for Family Literacy will release a new magazine, Raising a Reader, to provide parents with effective, research-based literacy activities for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and children kindergarten through grade three. 

Back to School Resources from Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets has gathered tips on reading with your child, articles, and other resources to help you get your child get ready for school. 

Read for the Record 2007
On September 20, 2007, Jumpstart's Read for the Record is asking adults across the country to read the same book on the same day to raise public awareness about disparities in early education. The program aims to break last year's record of 150,000 people with this year's book, The Story of Ferdinand.

Bookfinder Finds the Right Book for Your Child
Bookfinder, a new resource from PBS Parents, lets you search by age, theme, and reading aloud or silently for a list of books and descriptions that fit your needs. 

BBC Web Site Offers Fun Interactive Literacy Games
Practice rhyming, punctuation and more with Digby the Mole, The Patchworker, and Fraser the Eraser as they guide you through these fun interactive literacy games for kids ages 4-7. 

The Go-To Mom Answers Parenting Questions
The Go-To Mom is a new Web site offering strategies and advice to parents of children in preschool in the format of a live question-and-answer television program. 

Get Your Child Ready for School by Reading a Book
Patty Leahy, children's librarian at the Woodland Public Library in Woodland, California, suggests a number of books written specifically for children who are starting school. 

Sesame Street Focuses New Season on Early Literacy
Sesame Street will address the rising gap in literacy and language skills between lower- and middle-income children by focusing 26 new episodes on these skills in its 38th season on PBS, with all new features and guests to promote the theme.