There is a very wonderful video called "Reading 
to Babies" from www.readtome.org .  It shows many 
different parents from a variety of ethnic groups 
and backgrounds reading with their very young 
children and shows close-ups of the children 
responding.  There is a minimum of talk - the 
pictures say a great deal about the joys of 
reading to young children.  I think it is quite 
motivational and allows for follow-up discussion. 
It is about 18 minutes.  Also, reading aloud to 
parents is a good motivator.  They get to 
experience the pleasure that their children feel. 
For many parents it's a new experience.  Also a 
good jumping off point.  Some thoughts that may be helpful.  Jessica

At 10:07 AM 1/30/2007, you wrote:


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>Hi!

>When I worked at a child care center, we would 

>host bi-monthly Family Reading Nights, where 

>families could come and listen to stories, 

>create literacy related/theme related art 

>projects, and have a yummy snack.  These lasted 

>about an hour to an hour and a half, and when we 

>first started, only the dedicated families 

>stayed and participated.  As the program went 

>on, more and more families came because we 

>posted flyers in the community, sent out press 

>releases, and formed a mini-partnership with the local library.

>

>Another thing that was semi-successful was 

>creating reading bags for families to 

>borrow.  We would place either a book or a book 

>and cassette tape in a large zippered bag.  We 

>would also include tips for reading aloud to 

>children, and for older kids, we would list some easy to do activities.

>

>Our local library hosts a summer reading 

>contest, and although it is designed for older 

>children, I think it could be adapted for 

>parents as well.  Basically, each parent would 

>be given a chart and they would color in a 

>square each time they read a book to their 

>child.  They could then be rewarded with small 

>prizes (through donations or some other inexpensive source).

>

>Hope these help!

>Angela

>

>

>From: familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov 

>[mailto:familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Gail Price

>Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 8:44 AM

>To: The Family Literacy Discussion List

>Subject: [FamilyLiteracy 526] Motivating Parents To Read To Their Children

>

>Before Christmas, I asked if there were any 

>topics of interest or any questions that you had 

>for the List. I know that was a busy, winding 

>down for the holidays, so the responses were a 

>little meager. I did, however, hear from a 

>couple of subscribers­one who had three items 

>listed that she would like to learn more about 

>and one who had some thoughts about research 

>relating to parent/child interactive activities. 

>My response to these subscribers is a bit 

>overdue, so I thought perhaps focusing on each 

>separately might garner a little more response 

>for each of their thoughts and requests.

>

>So, on behalf of Sara Mansbach, please respond to the following:

>

>I would be interested in learning about 

>motivating parents to read to their newborn to 4 

>year old children­what works, what doesn’t.

>Sara C. Mansbach, D.Ed.

>Program Director

>Lapsits for Early Literacy

>864-414-0875

>info at lapsits.org

>

>

>Gail J. Price

>Multimedia Specialist

>National Center for Family Literacy

>325 W. Main Street, Suite 300

>Louisville, KY 40202

>gprice at famlit.org

>502 584-1133, ext. 112

>

>----------------------------------------------------

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>settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/familyliteracy

>

>

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