EXPERT ADVICE

The governor and the president recently proposed intensive campaigns to improve the reading abilities of our nation’s children. Improving reading achievement requires greater responsibility for both schools and parents. One positive step parents can take to ensure that their children are developing good reading skills is not to wait for signs of failure.

Children who are most likely to have reading difficulties in the early grades often enter school with fewer skills in their general verbal abilities and less letter-sound knowledge, and knowledge about the purposes of reading.

But how will parents know if their children are acquiring the necessary literacy skills? How will they know if the school literacy program is providing opportunities for developing these skills? The recent passing of Proposition 227 and the renewed focus on early reading proficiency make these particularly crucial questions for parents of English-language learners.

I encourage parents to find out what expectations schools and teachers have for literacy development at each grade level. What should children be expected to know over the course of the year? Are these expectations different for English-language learners? What school-based activities and resources are available to their children, especially children who are underperforming and not learning to read? Parents should also ask teachers or school officials how these expectations will be communicated to the children and families.

Parents can also participate in evaluating their children’s reading progress and in detecting early reading difficulties. Does the child bring books home from school and choose reading as a home activity?

Children who are successful in reading enjoy reading. Parents who listen to their child read aloud, whether in English or the home language, can notice whether the child has difficulty reading, even if they cannot identify the child’s specific problem. For example, do children know the names and sounds of letters? Do they recognize words and symbols and have verbal memory of stories, phrases and sentences from stories?

Parents should be concerned about how much their children are comprehending as they read. One measure of comprehension is whether children can talk to family members about what they have read at home or school. Conversations about books can help prepare children for classroom conversations about texts they have read.

Children should be learning to write about what they have read or stories they have created. Writing can promote strong thinking and reading skills.

Parents of English-language learners who help detect reading difficulties early and who utilize these strategies regularly can serve as productive partners in improving literacy for all children.

BOOK EVENTS

* Tuesday in Los Angeles: Story time at Will & Ariel Durant Branch Library features stories for Valentine’s Day. 403 N. Gardner St., 4 p.m. (323) 876-2741.

* Wednesday in West Covina: Story time at the West Covina Public Library presents stories about black inventors as part of Black History Month. 1601 West Covina Parkway, 6:30 p.m. (626) 338-6235.

* Wednesday in Los Angeles: Book signing, lecture and slide show at the Exposition Park Regional Branch Library features African American art murals in Los Angeles and across the United States, presented by Robin Danitz, author of Street Gallery. 3665 S. Vermont Ave., 6:30 p.m. (323) 732-0169.

* Saturday in Pasadena: Children’s book fair at Barnes & Noble bookstore, sponsored by the Children’s Home Society. 111 W. Colorado Blvd., noon. (626) 585-0362.

* Saturday in Long Beach: Story time at Long Beach Public Library offers stories about Valentine’s Day. 101 Pacific Ave., 11:30 a.m. (562) 570-5644.