• Get to know your child's caregiver or teacher.
• Talk with the caregiver or teacher about your child's progress.
• Read often with your child at home.
• Learn about how your child's needs change as he or she grows older.

When Parents are Involved:

• Children are more confident, happier and make friends more easily.
• Children learn to read more easily and have more success throughout their school years.
• Children experience smoother transitions between home and early childhood or school programs.
• Parents receive helpful information and ideas from caregivers, teachers and other community resources.
• Parents understand more about how their child’s early childhood program operates.
• Parents feel better and more confident about helping their child learn, and about their own parenting skills.
• Caregivers are better able to provide quality care and educational experiences to children.
• Caregivers receive more support from parents.
• Communities reap long-term benefits because children grow up knowing how to communicate and respect one another, and become well-adjusted, more productive members of society.

What Can Parents do?

• Recognize that learning begins at birth.
• Let your child know through your words and actions that you love him or her.
• Read books together daily. Ask your child questions about the story as you read.
• Know your child's interests and abilities so that you can plan activities that he or she will enjoy and learn from.
• Stay in touch with your child's caregiver or teacher. Talk often about your child's progress.
• Try to volunteer a little time regularly to help in your child's day care or early childhood classroom.
• Use your local library and other community resources to learn as much as you can about how children grow and how you can be a supportive parent.
• Get involved in the decision-making process related to the kind of early childhood program your child is in and how it operates.