In This Section
Bringing Red Bags Home
Introducing Red Bags at home is super easy!
Our introductory handouts introduces families to the Red Bag, reminds them of the days to receive and return the bags, and links them to a YouTube video about story times at.
Story Time Introduction
Share RAR MA’s YouTube page, which features a video in 7 languages introducing parents to the basics of cultivating an at-home reading habit with their children.
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Family Contract
Partners may use this optional family contract to raise awareness of the Raising A Reader MA program and promote proper care of red bags and books
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Visual Explanation
Use this visual explanation of our Red Bag rotation for as an easy way to help families understand our program.
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Red Bag
Return Reminders
Reminder Slips
Attach these quarter-page reminders to the Red Bags if families need extra support getting materials back in time.
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Reminder Stickers
Print these stickers on 1″x2.5″ address labels, then have children wear them home the day before bags are due.
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Book Request Slips
Use these slips to remind families to bring back missing items. You can also leave one copy as a receipt for missing items in your pocket chart.
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Communicating
With Families
Creating
Routines
Take advantage of face to face communication during pick-up and drop-off.
Remind them of classroom emails or send home newsletters. Use RAR MA Newsletter prompts for a “Raising A Reader MA corner” of your program’s newsletter.
Remind families of deadlines for Red Bag returns and RAR MA paperwork.
Ask about parent’s experience with Red Bags and reading at home.
Encourage
Involvement
Some suggestions for helping get parents involved.
Customize the program depending on parent feedback. For example, maybe families like to see activities in the Red Bags to keep children engaged.
Invite parents and caregivers to RAR-MA family engagement events.
Invite families into your space! Ask parents to be guest storytellers, help with bag rotation, or share tips for other families.
Basic Resources
for Families
Help Parents Establish Reading Routines
Reading logs are an opportunity to support families in creating a reading routine at home. Here are two examples: one with dialogic reading prompts and one where the parent or child can color a block for each day they read together.
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Teach Parents To Ask Good Questions
A brief guide to the types of questions that can foster conversation about books, with an example of each.
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Educate Parents on Age-Appropriate Development
Handout that describes skills students should have when they enter Kindergarten and provides examples of activities to develop these skills
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Help Families Foster Healthy Child Development
The EEC developed guidance for families with young children to understand and foster healthy child development, available in 6 different languages. Check out the “Talk to Me! You are Your Child’s First Teacher” handout.
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The Importance of Relationships
Resources on
Family Partnerships
The importance of parent-teacher relationships is widely known among early childhood educators. Here are some resources on how to have positive family partnerships that best benefit children.
A Theoretical Approach
This article discusses the research on parent-teacher partnerships, including factors that affect the development of effective relationships: (1) cultures and values of teachers and parents, (2) societal forces at work on family and school, and (3) how teachers and parents view their roles.
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Parent Engagement Facts
Discover the 6 ways that families can engage with their child’s school setting, as well as facts about the benefits of parent involvement in children’s education.
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Talking to Parents
Tips for staff to talk with parents about second language acquisition and the benefits of supporting the home language, as well as how teachers can support home language and connect diverse families
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Cultural Meaningful Experiences
Guidelines for incorporating families’ cultures into the classroom and examples of culturally and linguistically responsive strategies.
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Language at Home
A resource from HeadStart, giving ideas for teachers to share with families to encourage bilingual language development at home and at school.
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Family Tips
Reading Red
Bag Books
Books with Diverse Families and Languages
This handout shares why their Red Bag includes books in other languages or families with diverse structures, and how to use these books.
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Wordless Books
Communicates the value of wordless books and how to use them.
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Rereading Books
Handout that describes skills students should have when they enter Kindergarten and provides examples of activities to develop these skills
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Bag Repetition
Celebratory announcement that families may begin to receive repeat bags and tells them some tips and the benefits of re-reading.
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Resources for Families with Bilingual Children
Learning Two or More Languages
This series of handouts created by Head Start provides basic information on being dual language learners. The series includes the following resources:
- The Benefits of Being Bilingual
- The Gift of Language
- Language at Home and in the Community (For Families and Teachers)
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Reading Tips
Colorín Colorado’s one page reading tip sheets offer ideas for parents to help children become successful readers. Available in 13 languages, these tips are divided by age ranging from infants to 3rd grade. Choose the resource that works best with the families that you are working with.
- The Benefits of Being Bilingual
- The Gift of Language
- Language at Home and in the Community (For Families and Teachers)
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LitKits
LitKits are a set of tip cards educators can use with parents to send quick and consistent messages to families about reading at home. These outline easy ways to integrate dialogic reading strategies into everyday conversation, and are tailored to different age groups.
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Resources for
Pregnant Mothers
Sharing Books with Infants
One page bilingual “how to” guide tackling the unique challenges of reading to an infant.
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Prenatal Reading Tips
Tips and information that encourage families to read to babies prenatally.
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RAR with Pregnant Mothers
Learn why and how it is important for pregnant mothers to begin developing reading routines now.