Guest Post, Carol Hampton Rasco: Parents and Youngsters Together for Stories, Songs, Rhymes, and More at RIF.org

I’m a HUGE fan of stories, songs and finger plays to share with my little boys! During the fall, winter and spring I was going to no less then THREE story times a week and now drive downtown once a week to the only library to continue story times during the summer. I never throw away the handouts that they give to the parents because I always look back at them and try to do the songs with my boys at home. And right now I have several books checked out from the library that focus specifically on rhymes and fun activities. I’m always looking for great resources and so I’m excited to have Carol Hampton Rasco, President and CEO of Reading is Fundamental (RIF), guest posting today to share with us more about this fantastic educational website. And my answer to her very first sentence? Yes! All. The. Time.

Have you ever wished you could remember just how to do a certain finger play…maybe This Old Man? Or wanted to have an online read-along story for you and your children to enjoy?

Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) has a free educational website, in English and Spanish, to help parents and caregivers develop the language skills of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. RIF’s Leading to Reading (Semillitas de aprendizaje) is a fun and interactive online resource featuring stories, games, music, and other engaging activities for adults to experience together with young children. Both sites are accessible at www.rif.org.

Since language develops far more rapidly during the first five years of life than any other time, it is important that parents read and interact with their young children as often as possible. This site encourages children to discover the joy of reading at an early age.

The RIF Leading to Reading site is organized into three easy-to-navigate sections: babies and toddlers (ages birth-2), preschoolers (ages 3-5), and grown-ups. Motivational mascots, Riffy and Rita, guide users throughout the site with “click” and “hear” navigation. Other features of the site include:

A wide selection of animated and audio children’s stories;
Finger play videos such as Itsy Bitsy Spider and I’m a Little Teapot;
Interactive videos introducing children to age-appropriate subjects such as animals, art, and geography;
Nursery rhymes and lullabies such as All Around the Mulberry Bush and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star;
Online coloring and doodling;
Sing-along songbook;
Grown-ups section featuring expert Q&A, a RIF Leading to Reading video with literacy tips and activities, book search, and parent and caregiver journals.

The RIF Leading to Reading website is compliant with all Internet safety guidelines and is advertising free.

What’s happening at RIF?

Check out my blog, Rasco From RIF.

Carol Hampton Rasco is President and CEO of Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. and in addition to her blog may be reached at Toll free: 877.RIF.READ and Twitter as @rascofromrif.

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Tags: literacy

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7 comments

Terry Doherty Said:

Thanks Natasha and Carol! We’ve moved from finger play to clapping games … I can’t remember any of our songs except “Miss Mary Mack.”
on July 30th, 2009 at 7:23 am
Rasco from RIF Said:

Thank you, Terry, for stopping by today. I am thrilled to be on Maw Books and to share another facet of RIF!
on July 30th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Dawn - She is Too Fond of Booksd Said:

Sounds like a great resource – thanks for bringing it to our attention
on August 2nd, 2009 at 11:29 am
Rasco from RIF Said:

Thanks, Dawn, for coming by to visit. I hope you’ll visit RIF.org often and also stop by to see me at http://www.rascofromrif.org. We are open to comments for additions/improvements!
on August 2nd, 2009 at 11:39 am
Natasha Maw Said:

Terry – I can never remember half of the songs we sing! This will be a great resource for me.

Dawn – As a mom of two small boys, anything to help me is always welcome.

And thank you Carol for being on the blog today! I enjoyed learning about RIF and I’ll be on your website a lot!
on August 2nd, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Book Chook Said:

I love the RIF site! Do check out the little video books, Natasha, I think your boys would enjoy them.
on August 2nd, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Rasco from RIF Said:

Thanks for stopping by my first “guest blog” spot, Book Chook! Have a good week!
on August 2nd, 2009 at 9:11 pm