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"School matters, but literacy starts at home. Teachers...have long urged parents to read aloud to their children. But now there is a second and perhaps more powerful message: Talk to your kids, too."

This message is from Laura Pappano in her article "The Power of Family Conversation," in the Harvard Education Letter.

According to Pappano, mounting research that links language-rich home environments with reading success and school achievement is driving educators and community groups to target families long before children even register for school. It is highly probable that home support for literacy markedly influences kindergarten language skills and in turn, fourth grade reading comprehension scores. In fact, exploratory investigative discussions between parents and children are central to higher-level literacy, while the social-emotional bond parents have with children can amplify learning. Parents remain uniquely able to tailor explanations that click perfectly with their child and also provide more extensive opportunities for rich discussion than a teacher attending to a class of 25 students.

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Exchange offers five 16-page Beginnings Workshop units on language and literacy, and this week they are all on sale at 20% discount, as are the other 83 Beginnings Workshop units on a wide range of curriculum topics.

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