Family Literacy Resources

Here are some resources for librarians and parents to use to help families engage with their children to help promote literacy and literacy programming.

Family Literacy Programming

Celebrate National Family Literacy Day November 1

National Family Literacy Day, celebrated across the U.S., focuses on special activities that showcase the importance of family literacy programs. First held in 1994, the annual event is officially celebrated on November 1^st, but many events are held throughout the month of November.

Schools, libraries and other literacy organizations participate by offering various activities to promote this event.

Kick off National Family Literacy Day by inviting parents, grandparents, and other family members to your library for fun events.

• Invite students’ family members to read a favorite story from their childhood, or their child’s favorite bedtime story. (Grandparents can share both their child’s and their grandchild’s favorites!)
• Provide a collection of books for families to share during a group story time session. Invite families to get comfortable by bringing a cushion, beanbag chair, or pillow.
• Provide each family with a printed certificate of participation or a bookmark at the end of the event. Print certificates and bookmarks from your computer.
• At the close of your event, be sure to remind parents about other National Family Literacy Day events in your community.

Remember that family literacy is something that should be encouraged all year round.

Family Literacy Project Resources

The following are some suggested websites to visit for family literacy-related resources:

NJ Department of Education – Early Childhood Education

These videos are part of the NJ Department of Education’s Division of Early Childhood Services’ virtual series of conversations for families interested in supporting the learning and development of their young child from birth to 6 years old. Throughout this series we will be sharing tips and best practices for families. Each PowerPoint can be downloaded which include valuable links to resources.

PBS Parents: Literacy

Parent and caregiver resources to help children ages 2 – 8 learn and grow their language and literacy skills by discovering ways to help them develop by reading, writing, speaking and listening together every day.

The International Literacy Association

The International Literacy Association (ILA) Choices Booklists

The ILA’s Choices Booklists (Children’s, Teachers’, and Young Adults’ Choices) include books chosen by the children, teachers and librarians, and reading specialists rated as outstanding for curriculum use for a particular year. The booklists include lists from 2018, 2019 and 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic forced ILA to pause the program until 2022, when it was rehomed with long-term cosponsor the Children’s Book Council.

In May 2022, the Children’s Book Council relaunched the Choices Booklists under a new name called Favorites. The most current set of lists—Children’s Favorites, Young Adult Favorites, Teacher Favorites, and Librarian Favorites include booklists from 2023, 2024 and 2025. Learn more about the Favorites Lists.

Just Read, Families!

Florida’s resources (library, reading, FCAT, summer reading lists) for families, children, and teens in English and in Spanish.

Reading Rockets

Offers information and resources on how young children learn to read and what adults can do to help. It is produced by WETA and funded by a major grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Reading Rockets Resources for Parents

• How to Create a Home Library
• Tutoring and Volunteering
• Prepare Your Child for Testing
• 103 Things to Do Before/During/After Reading
• Reading Together
• Getting Dads Involved
• Speaking in Tongues (Video)–A Documentary About Dual-Language Education

Scholastic books

And reading (book lists, read-aloud tips, and learning tips, grades preK-8) for parents.

Colorin Colorado!

This bilingual English-Spanish site provides valuable information, activities, and advice for Spanish-speaking parents and educators of English language learners. It is the companion site to Reading Rockets and is funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Includes:

1. Immigrant Stories: Refugees Around the World
2. Reaching Out to Parents–Free Guides and Toolkits (Also in Spanish)

The National Head Start Association

(NHSA) provides a national forum for supporting low-income families and their children (birth-5).

The Reading is Fundamental

(RIF) uses support from the U.S. Department of Education and other organizations to provide over 200 million books to the hands and homes of children who need them most.

Your Child: Development and Behavior Resources.

This website is designed especially for parents as a guide to Internet information on children’s development and behavior.

Website Resources

National Center for Family Literacy

This website provides resources for parents and teachers, including podcasts, interactive games and free courses to foster powerful parent-child partnerships and improve literacy outcomes for children and adults.

Color A Smile

is a nonprofit organization in Morristown, NJ, that collects crayon drawings from children.
Every month they distribute these drawings to Nursing Homes, Meals on Wheels Programs, and individuals all across the country.  Their goal is to make people smile! You can download and print out sample coloring pages featuring holiday and seasonal greetings from the website. Pair this activity with holiday/seasonal themed books.

Ultimate Guide to Reading Comprehension

This information is from SuperSummary™, a website that contains in-depth study guides written by experienced teachers, professors, and literary scholars. It is divided into sections. One includes links to resources that were created to help ESL students improve their English reading comprehension skills. Another has links to worksheets, instructional articles, and fun games and activities to help encourage good reading comprehension practices. A third section includes links to tools and texts designed to help students prepare for standardized exams in reading comprehension. The section for parents and educators includes links to materials to help students engaged in the practice of reading with intention. Some of these sites in this section offer premium benefits for paid members, but all provide ample amounts of study materials at no cost. The last section provides links to quizzes and practices test for learners of all ages, from those geared for young children through collegiate-level questions and test preparation materials.

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