To get good readers, put great books into the homes and hands of kids. Will you join me?

Personal Service on the Path to Reading

Boy dresed in yellow quietly reading read book.

Start Growing Your Reader

Let me give you the tools to grow a reader: I'll help you plant a reading seed. Together we will nurture a strong reader. Let's get together so that I can show you how.

Usborne books fill the needs for each stage of reading.

Poems, songs and rhymes build knowledge of the sounds in our language, an essential first pre-reading skill. You can start your child on the skills they need for reading NOW! You don't even need to wait for birth. Do you see reading as a mysterious process performed upon a child by a teacher within a school? The truth is that the seeds of reading are sown long before the typical reading age of 6 years.

It's time for sharing the joy of books. Make reading a special time - with any luck your child would rather share another book than go to sleep! Continue to build phonemic and phonological skills with interesting, colorful and appropriate books designed for early childhood. Grow a love of books. Build vocabulary and find some favorites. Repetition brings learning.

Play games with language sounds. Encourage your child to choose books she is interested in. With an active child who does not enjoy sitting still for books, you need new ideas - active children can be reluctant readers at first. Contact me for suggestions. Your child can begin to learn relationships between written and spoken language. Get some good phonics books.

Now your child will grow a reading vocabulary. Help him to build a toolbox of frequently used words by providing fun, simple stories that catch his interest. As he processes and learns the relationhips between written and spoken language he suprises you by reading store signs, cereal packets and other items in his surroundings. Support his reading with encouragement. Do not expect him to do all his reading aloud - he may become tired or concerned about his fluency compared to yours. Allow him to read silently to himself. Talk about what he is reading. Make it fun, not a test! Continue to read to him and let him hear the same story as many times as he needs. Books on tape and CD will help him learn for himself.

Explore Some Books for Growing a Reader

Get out in the garden - grow and discover

Plant a green thumb seed! Take your child out into the garden. Get great gardening ideas. Learn about how flowers grow, plant a variety of seeds inside and out, or escape into the secret garden.

Explore the Farm

Baby animals and tractors can be hard to resist! What are the animals doing on the farm? Lift the flaps to explore. Put together a red tractor or meet and learn to love Poppy, Sam, Rusty, Woolly and Ears on Apple Tree Farm. Dot to dots are a great way to practice pencil work and to learn number sequences. Go dot to dotty on the farm!

Got a bug enthusiast?

Collect some creepy crawlies. Nurture your naturalist. Visit your local park, then do a big bug search, or hunt for 1001 bugs on the way home.

Springtime Savings

Usborne Spring Sets encourage exploration of the natural world, celebrate Mother's Day, and grow a love of bugs and growing things.