Tips to Help Prepare Young Readers Heading Back-to-School

This post is brought to you by the Buddig Be A Reader Program.

Making the Grade:  Tips to Help Prepare Young Readers Heading Back-to-School

As summer winds down and children begin a new school year, research shows that families play an important role in children's reading success.
Parents can help their children build on important classroom skills with
reading and writing activities that nourish young minds.

Here are a few tips from Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) and the Buddig Be A Reader campaign sure to get your young students on the right back-to-school track:

* Play word games associated with things in the classroom. Use your child's back-to-school
shopping list to prompt ideas.

* Establish a family reading hour. Set a time after school and on weekends when everyone in the family devotes an hour to reading.

* Make up your own story together and write it down. What was your child's favorite summer activity? Who was the most memorable person your child met and why? Help your child write down these memories and add illustrations to move the story along.

* Have your child become a pen pal with a special summer friend or long-distance relative. Supply them with stationary and envelopes, postcards, postage stamps, an address book and a box for saving letters.

* Use the Internet to promote interactive learning. Children reading online develop critical thinking and research skills. Start a Web search for favorite book titles or authors. Conduct a search for your child's favorite music videos.

* Read aloud to your children. Choose a favorite place and special time. Try using different voices for each character.

* Create a reading nook or out-of-the-way special place where your child can read without being disturbed.

* Put up some poster board to create your own word wall. Use this to share comments on favorite books and to tackle problem words your child may be having trouble reading.

* Visit Buddig.com/SandwichAndAStory for games and reading activities and a chance to win fun back-to-school prizes. Prizes include a Scholastic book library and a Buddig backpack filled with school supplies. Weekly winners will be chosen through a random drawing to receive an age-appropriate book.

Carl Buddig & Company - the lunchmeat brand that has been nourishing families for generations - is nourishing young minds through a partnership with RIF to raise a minimum of $100,000 for children's literacy programs. During the
yearlong Be A Reader campaign, parents and their children are encouraged to create their own reading and literacy experiences wherever they may be. For
more information about the Be A Reader campaign visit www.buddig.com. For additional tips and activities to help your child discover the joy of reading, visit www.RIF.org.