The following links will take parents and carers to open access resources specifically developed to support them to encourage their child’s development and love for reading. Educators don’t expect families to teach children to read, that’s a teacher’s job, but they do know that support and encouragement at home makes a big impact on a child’s identity as a reader. And it also brings great joy and connection to both adult and child.

The Queensland Department of Education, Reading and Writing Centre
Helping young children to read – What parents can do

The Department of Education and Training, Queensland has a Reading and Writing Centre dedicated to providing guidance and support to adults involved in teaching young children.

 The Reading and Writing Centre website has a variety of different resources available (see https://readingwritingcentre.education.qld.gov.au/ for full details)

 The Reading and Writing Centre also has resources expressly focused toward families as they support their children to learn to read and write.

 There are guides with ideas for families of children at different school levels available @ https://readingwritingcentre.education.qld.gov.au/resources/guides

 One that you might find particularly useful on this page, is the Helping young children to read – What parents can do, which is available via the link below the Prep to Year 2 Guide section.

 And there is a video series that has been produced to assist teachers and families to improve their skills in supporting students' reading.

For the full range of video resources, go to 
https://readingwritingcentre.education.qld.gov.au/resources/videos

You might find the following selection of videos available on the Reading and Writing Centre web site (and YouTube channel) particularly interesting.

Stages of reading development
https://youtu.be/crebH6ajDu4

Shared reading
https://youtu.be/ItWVGjCqBNQ

What to do... before reading
https://youtu.be/xVK7JGn6mpc

What to do... after reading
https://youtu.be/xVK7JGn6mpc 

Ages 7-12 Comprehension
https://youtu.be/XtfDUsOQytA

 Modelled reading
https://youtu.be/BIC64sazzM8

Reading difficulties: parents, carers and home tutors
https://youtu.be/AU_EDGUO0O8

Kay Lowe has a rich set of resources for parents from the READ 4 SUCCESS and U-CAN READ programs. You can access many of these resources @ https://www.readwritesuccess.com/home .

There is a suggested booklist available from the home page https://www.readwritesuccess.com/ as well. The list is intended only to guide students’ choices. Reading choices are personal – some books we like, some we don’t.

Also available via the ‘videos’ link on this home page are a series of videos about different ways to read with your child. To have a look at the full set of videos available, go to https://www.readwritesuccess.com/videos 

You might find the following selection of videos available on the READ 4 SUCCESS web site (and YouTube channel) particularly interesting.

Why kids choose books
https://youtu.be/LXDEsyDjcPY

Book Orientation
https://youtu.be/BshkXhB8A24

Shared Reading at home 
https://youtu.be/gUuwWzckKrs

Echo Reading
https://youtu.be/HxFLeIZQzV0

NIM Reading Technique
https://youtu.be/QTWW3QYd58Q

Paired Reading
https://youtu.be/j80MHkyIIFs

Prompting Unfamiliar Words
https://youtu.be/iLQorBoGS3A

Have Fun
https://youtu.be/K3RQAHS_a0E

The Australian Parents Council (APC) has a video series based on the Successful Learning program that APC has designed for parents. It is  available @ https://austparents.edu.au/about-us/ 

The APC describe Successful Learning as being focused on helping students and parents to have a successful start to early learning, and to support strong partnerships between home and school.

From the Successful Learning page https://austparents.edu.au/parent-programs-and-training/successful-learning/ you can access videos about:

• Introducing literacy;

• Tips for reading with your child;

• How to help when your child gets stuck on a word;

• How to help older kids learn;

• as well as many other topics related to supporting children as they learn literacy.

The Department of Education, Tasmania: Talk, Read, and Play Everyday 
is available @  https://www.education.tas.gov.au/parents-carers/early-years/bouncing-back-talk-and-read-project/

The Talk, Read and Play website is dedicated to providing information and ideas about talking, reading and playing especially for families with young children.

There are a number of guides and resources to copy and use. There are also links to some other great resources.

Let’s Read https://www.letsread.com.au/Home

Let’s Read is an open access website that was developed by the Centre for Community Child Health at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and The Royal Children’s Hospital. The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and The Smith Family (TSF) now work together to support communities across Australia through this program. They also provide useful resources for families on their website.

The Families page on the Let’s Read website https://www.letsread.com.au/Families provides many different resources, including tips for reading with children of different ages and book suggestions. Many of the resources are available in a variety of community languages.

The Primary English Teachers’ Association Australia (PETAA) is a national not-for-profit organisation with a particular focus on supporting primary teachers as they teach students literacy.  Go to https://www.petaa.edu.au/w/w/About/About_PETAA.aspx?hkey=5eb89fc5-b289-46ed-ab8b-75dcc6b1709b

PETAA also provides a Parents' Guide to helping children with reading and writing at home which was prepared by Kaye Lowe. This Guide is available @ https://www.petaa.edu.au/w/Teaching_Resources/Parents_guide.aspx

The State Government of Victoria, Department of Education and Training provides these tips for creating a reader-friendly home. For more details go to: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/classrooms/Pages/resourcesprctoptips.asp

Reading Australia is a resource developed by The Copyright Agency and available @ https://readingaustralia.com.au/about/

Reading Australia provides 10 Literacy Tips for Parents and Caregivers. You can access these tips @  https://readingaustralia.com.au/2016/11/10-literacy-tips-for-parents-and-caregivers/ 

The NSW Government Department of Education provides ideas for parents and carers in How to read with your child at home in a number of community languages. https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/going-to-a-public-school/translated-documents/reading-with-your-child-at-home 

Noella Mackenzie writes interesting posts on her blog which is available at Noella’s Blog https://noellamackenzie.com/noellas-blog/

There are a number of posts that specifically focus on providing interesting information to families of young children as they support their children’s literacy learning.

Try these posts for example:

Helping your child with reading part 1 @ https://noellamackenzie.com/2020/03/23/helping-your-child-with-reading-1-reading-aloud/

Helping your child with reading part 2 @ https://noellamackenzie.com/2020/03/23/helping-your-child-with-reading-2-reading-with-your-child/

Helping you child with reading part 3 @ https://noellamackenzie.com/2020/03/23/helping-your-child-with-reading-3-children-reading-by-themselves/  

The Australian Literacy Educators’ Association is an independent professional association focussed on literacy and English language learning from early childhood through all stages of schooling and tertiary education contexts. ALEA provides a series of resources Little People’s Literacy Learning: A guide for engaging parents and carers @ https://www.alea.edu.au/public-resources/little-peoples-literacy-learning/ that have been designed to support parents and carers with supporting children’s learning through collaborative play and shared discovery.