Welcome, Pre-K and Kindergarten Parents!

We hope that your child has enjoyed his or her experience with the StoryBus program in the classroom. But even if your child has not been on the StoryBus—even if your child is nowhere near Chicago—we want to introduce you to ways you can help continue language development at home!

When you extend your child’s StoryBus experience to the home environment, you are helping to ensure that literacy truly becomes part of her life. Some simple activities at home will keep her imagination active. Ask your child to tell you about the StoryBus story: What were the smells, the sights, and the sounds from each part of the tale? Act out the story together and have your child retell it in his/her own words. Make a visit to your local library and find a copy of the story and read it together. Ask questions such as, "How is the story the same as the one you read in class?” Or, “How is it different?" Encourage your child to ask you questions about the story.

You are an invaluable part of your child's learning. Reading to him at home, and playing with words, songs, rhymes, and writing helps prepare him for the task of learning to read in school. The StoryBus recognizes the contributions that parents make in their children's education, and we aim to provide creative and fun techniques to support you in your efforts. A literacy-friendly home environment is crucial in building a lifelong love of books and reading for your child.

Check out these tips and activities to get you started!

• "What's So Great About Books?" offers tips to help you and your child get started on the path to reading.
• "Preparing to Read" provides information about the basic skills a child needs to develop before he or she can learn to read.
• "Parent and Child Activities" contains fun activities for families to practice outside of school that help develop the basic skills involved in reading.

Click on the links in the yellow box to the left above to begin!