The U.S. Department of Education has published several booklets and brochures for parents that help them prepare their young children for school and reading and answer many of their questions about helping their children get ready to read.   Most are available in English or Spanish.

A brochure, "Put Reading First," a parent guide for preschool through grade 3, was published by the Partnership for Reading, a collaboration between US ED,  the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Institute for Literacy, from which it can be downloaded in PDF or html format.

One booklet is called Reading Tips for Parents and answers many of the questions parents are likely to have..  

A second booklet, Helping Your Preschool Child, provides activities to do with children from infancy through age 5.

Both are available free of charge from  www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html.

or

Ed Pubs
Education Publications Center
U.S. Department of Education
P.O. Box 1398
Jessup, MD  20794-1398

or by fax: 301-470-1244
email: edpubs@inet.ed.gov
toll free:  1-877433-7827 or 1-800-872-5327