Reading Is Fundamental Provides Free Resources To Help Children Continue Their Learning And Development While At Home

WASHINGTON, March 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) is at the forefront of providing literacy resources and support to educators, parents and caregivers for use at home to provide continuity in children's learning. The nation's leading literacy organization is creating opportunities to ensure all children have access to its breadth of eBooks, children's reading activities, bilingual resources, and parent and educator tips and tools for use at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced today.

With schools nationwide closing due to COVID-19, many parents are expanding their role as parent and caregiver to now include educator, and educators are learning in real time how to teach remotely. Both parents and educators are navigating a new learning environment with a common goal - ensuring their children can continue to learn and grow. To meet this moment, Reading Is Fundamental is providing a broad range of high-quality tools and resources designed for remote instruction and continued learning, with resources like read-alouds that can be shared virtually, activities that are designed for at-home use, and age-appropriate books that encourage independent reading at home.

"It is more important than ever that we support continuity in a child's learning and development in a fun and engaging way in this time of disruption and home learning," said Alicia Levi, President and CEO of Reading Is Fundamental. "RIF has developed resources that support children, parents/caregivers, and educators as they continue their children's reading journey. These interactive and impactful resources include Skybrary, RIF's digital library of eBooks, interactive activities, social and emotional learning resources and more. We are honored to support parents, caregivers and the millions of children nationwide as we navigate this incredibly trying time."

Reading Is Fundamental is continually evolving its collection of resources to reach children and engage them in the power of reading anything, anytime, anywhere. The following resources can be used immediately to help children continue their reading journey during these disruptive times:

    1. Free 30 day access to almost 1,000 eBooks with Skybrary: Created by LeVar
       Burton Kids, Skybrary provides children ages 2 - 9 with the opportunity
       to embark on their own reading adventures anytime and anywhere through
       this interactive and engaging digital library. Children will be educated
       and entertained while reading or taking an adventure through the many
       books and video field trips. Parents can be assured that young or
       struggling readers have the benefit of a read-to-me narration option and
       all will enjoy the interactives included throughout each book. To learn
       more about Skybrary, visit RIF.org/Read-With-Skybrary.
    2. Access to an array of activities to keep children engaged at home: Online
       resources include RIF's recommended reading lists available by grade
       level, ability to create their own puzzles using our Puzzle Creator tool,
       and games such as Book Bingo, activity sheets, read-aloud tips, coloring
       sheets and more on RIF's Literacy Central.
    3. Resources for educators to share with parents: How to Connect Home
       Literacy Practices to School Literacy Practices suggests simple ways to
       integrate literacy into daily experiences such as story-telling, cooking,
       music and more. Educators can share links to activities aligned with
       popular books and parents can download these free resources any time.
       Additional RIF online resources for teachers and parents can be found
       here:
        a. Parents:
           https://www.rif.org/literacy-network/resources/quick-guides/quick-gui
           des-families
        b. Parent read-aloud resources: 
           https://www.rif.org/literacy-network/resources/quick-guides/read-alou
           d-support
        c. Teachers: 
           https://www.rif.org/literacy-network/resources/quick-guides/quick-gui
           des-educators
    4. Talk to kids about their feelings: This is a scary time and finding books
       that support social and emotional learning (SEL) will help children
       express how they are feeling about what is going on in the world. RIF
       offers resources for educators and parents at RIF.org/SEL. Book examples:
        a. What to Do When You Worry Too Much -- This interactive book is
           designed to lead children and their parents through techniques often
           used to treat anxiety.
        b. Jacqueline and the Beanstalk -- This modern retelling of the classic
           fairy tale aims to help kids face and live with their fears. When a
           princess climbs up a beanstalk, she meets a giant who is afraid of
           the unknown.
        c. Emily Grace and the What-Ifs -- Bedtime can be a scary time for kids.
           As soon as Emily Grace tries to go to sleep, her mind begins to race
           and worry. After taking a moment to calm down, she figures out a
           method to cope with her fears.
    5. Support for bilingual households: RIF's Spanish language resources
       include word search puzzles and memory match games for books like Tikki
       Tikki Tembo. Examples of RIF's Spanish language resources can be found at
       Literacy Central Bilingual Center.
    6. The importance of reading aloud to your child:  There have long been
       studies on the importance of reading aloud to children and how it
       supports their developmental reading skills as detailed in "Reading
       Aloud, Play and Social-Emotional Development," published in the journal
       Pediatrics. To help parents and caregivers get the most out of the time
       spent reading to their children, here are a selection of read-aloud books
       and activities for families and children:
        a. The Cat in the Hat read aloud by Justin Bieber
        b. Read-aloud support
        c. Reading Logs and Activities

To help RIF provide children in need with books and digital resources visit www.rif.org/donate.

About Reading Is Fundamental:
Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) is committed to a literate America by inspiring a passion for reading among all children, providing quality content to create impact, and engaging communities in the solution to give every child the fundamentals for success. As the nation's largest nonprofit organization for children's literacy, RIF has provided more than 416 million books to 53 million kids in all 50 states, inspiring generations to read, learn and grow.

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SOURCE Reading Is Fundamental, Inc.