We are busy. Feel rushed. There’s never enough time. We’re dealing with and managing a lot, every day. We do a lot with a little. We work at one, two, sometimes three jobs while being full-time parents with little to no time off.

We love our children. We want better for them. While we understand our roles as moms and dads, we don’t fully understand how we can specifically support our children to become strong readers. Nor how all the small things we do for and with our children can build the blocks of our children’s literacy. Like all families, we want to make the most of our time together with our children.

We are still learning our own power in shaping family experiences that encourage our children’s reading ability and confidence. Many of us don’t know if we have what it takes to do all this, especially since some of us don’t consider ourselves to be strong readers. But we’re more than willing to do more, especially when we understand that we should and that we can. 

We’re open to learning. We welcome ideas, tips, and support, as long as they come in ways that are thoughtful, helpful and respectful—of who we are, our strengths, as well as our cultural values, and the new challenges we face as schools, libraries and other community resources shut down.