Supporting Your Child's Literacy: English Learners

Having language and literacy skills in a primary language helps children develop their language and literacy skills in a secondary language. Therefore, parents and caregivers who speak little or no English should know that they can still support the literacy of their children who are learning English in school in many ways: 

• Starting from birth, build vocabulary and knowledge through meaningful conversations with your children about their experiences and the world around them. Even if they are babies and cannot speak yet, they are absorbing everything they see and hear. 

• Read stories or informational books to your children in their primary language. This will help them to develop an appreciation for reading and to grow in vocabulary and background know that will carry over to their English. 

• Even if you cannot find books in your primary language, use pictures in books to build stories or knowledge. 

• Build a library of books at home or, if you cannot, take your children to the public library where both you and they can borrow books for free.  

Tips on how to support literacy at home for parents of babies though children in 3rd grade are available in 13 different languages at the bottom of the following Colorín Colorado webpage: 

https://www.colorincolorado.org/reading-tip-sheets-parents#languages