Reading Rockets offers a wealth of reading strategies, lessons, and activities designed to help young children learn how to read and read better. Our reading resources assist parents, teachers, and other educators in working with struggling readers who require additional help in reading fundamentals and comprehension skills development.

You are here: > For Families > Recognize Early Signs of Trouble > Get Ready to Read! > Next Steps

Get Ready to Read! Screening Tool

Next Steps

We're glad you took the time to use this screening tool with your child! The following are some resources to help you continue developing your child's skills.

Activity cards

The National Center for Learning Disabilities has created a set of activity cards you can print out. These cards relate directly to the skills in the screening tool – language awareness (look for activities coded with the seahorse); print knowledge (look for activities coded with the octopus); and emergent writing (look for activities coded with the starfish). The cards are formatted to print out on your choice of Avery postcards or regular paper.

Ask the experts

Reading Rockets offers a free Ask the Experts service. A reading expert will provide you with a personal and confidential answer to questions you might have about a child's or student's reading ability.

LD OnLine

For about five to seven percent of children, a learning disability – a different way of processing information and learning – may account for their difficulty learning to read. These children will need additional specialized instruction and support. Our companion web site, LD OnLine, has hundreds of resources to help with learning disabilities and ADHD.

Your school district

Your school district is almost always the best place to begin looking for help for a child. Federal law provides for early comprehensive screening of preschoolers. This service is available at no cost to parents. If the school district can't help you, they will refer you to someone who can provide you with an independent educational evaluation and will generally pay for this assessment if a disability is found that meets the criteria for special education placement. When you call, ask for the district's "Child Find" program.

Parent resource centers

Parent Resource Centers are in each state and provide answers to questions and one-on-one help to parents, particularly those who think their child may need to be assessed or need extra assistance. Ask them if a "Child Find" or similar agency can assess your child.

Find a professional

Some parents prefer to have a professional outside of the school system assess their child. Ask the school district for referrals or visit LD OnLine's Yellow Pages to search for a professional near you.

Reading games

The Get Ready to Read! Web site has a free interactive reading game called "Gus and Inky's Underwater Adventure." Gus, a character who is struggling to learn how to read, is the rabbit who appears on PBS's Emmy Award-winning show Between the Lions.

"I found the information and lesson plan activities in the English Language Learners section to be very helpful and look forward to sharing them with staff."
~ Linda T.

Reading Rockets is a national multimedia project that offers research-based and best-practice information on teaching kids to read and helping those who struggle. It is an educational service of public television station WETA in Washington, D.C.

Visit WETA's educational web sites:

© Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. Reading Rockets is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. Reading Rockets® is a registered trademark of WETA.

Stay informed! Subscribe to our e-mail newsletters.