School wasn't easy for all of us. Some of us struggled with math facts or spelling rules or history dates or writing paragraphs. And, most of us want our children to experience greater success that we did ourselves. As parents, we are a child's first teacher. From early on, our children watch us for clues on how to make sense of their world.

Piles of research have documented again and again the significant role reading plays in a child's success at school. We can all easily support a child's academic achievement by encouraging those reading and writing skills. How can he work the math computations if he can't read the story problem? How can she write if she can't hear a variety of words that makes our language so rich?

I read recently in a newspaper article about several tips for parents who want to help young children develop an interest in reading. I'd like to share them with you:

Play rhyming games, such as "I'm thinking of a word that rhymes with..." This helps kids develop an awareness of letters and sounds.

Read a variety of things to your children, both fiction and non-fiction. Keep several books and magazines around the house so the kids see you read. Let your child take turns with you reading short stories, poems or even paragraphs.

Talk to your children about the things you've read...a great hunting story, a news article, a real-life people account.

Before reading a story to a child, read it by yourself first. That way, you can read the story with expression when you read it to your kids. Need some help with what to read? Check out www.cbcbooks.org for age appropriate recommendations. OR come by the Counseling Office to pick up a of the reading list flyers I've copied for you! Your child's teacher, Mr. Tuski, or Ms. Cummings can also make lots of suggestions for fun books on a variety of topics.

When you're done reading a story to your child, ask her what it was about. What did he like about the story?

Enlist your kids' help in small writing tasks, such as writing up grocery lists or little reminder notes.

Please make some time in your busy lives for reading together! And one final thought from a favorite poster of mine, "If we don't model what we teach, then we're teaching something else."