- So we are all home from work and school, my husband and I, and my kids.

There are definitely some things we can do to support our kids in their literacy development during this really unusual time.

One is do the work the teachers are sending home, encourage kids to participate.

And make sure you're encouraging them to read something that is engaging and exciting to them.

One of the things we've been doing is we picked a novel and were reading a chapter or two each night at dinner.

Things that we know supports kids motivation for literacy is choice.

So when we tell kids you must do this now, that sometimes is not very motivating.

When we say you can chose the book, or you can chose the time, which is going to be your reading time, that is much more motivating to kids.

And so this is the book that we're reading together, it's "Out of my Mind" by Sharon Draper.

Writing letters or notes to some of our essential workers, who are doing a lot for us right now, that's a way that kids can feel like helpers, and do something really meaningful.

And the other way to get kids really excited is to participate in real life literacy that's happening in our household right.

So if you're only going to the grocery store every two weeks, you're keeping a really long list of what you're gonna get, maybe your kids want to participate in writing that list.

Here are some don'ts.

Don't punish your child with literacy.

If you don't listen to me go to your room to read.

Don't force them to read something they really hate, or are not interested in, that's just not worth the power struggle.

And last, please don't worry about reading level right now.

I'm home like everybody else, I'm trying to work from home, so we're doing the best we can like everybody else.

Chapter six, Mrs. Violet Valencia lives next door to us.

Violets are purple, and valencia oranges are orange.

Purple oranges are just plain unusual, and so is she.