Q. Do you have any information on family reading to young children?

A. Children whose parents read to them tend to become better readers and perform better in school. Other family activities such as telling stories and singing songs also encourage children's acquisition of literacy skills.

The percentage of prekindergarten children ages 3-5 read to frequently by a family member (i.e., three or more times in the week preceding the survey) increased from 78 percent in 1993 to 86 percent in 2005. There were also increases in the percentage of children whose family members frequently told them a story (from 43 to 54 percent); taught them letters, words or numbers (from 58 to 77 percent); and taught them songs or music (from 41 to 54 percent).

Nonpoor children were still more likely than poor children to have a family member read to them frequently in 2005, as was also the case in 1993.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics

DEADLINES

DEADLINE IS MARCH 9 FOR NEXT NATIONAL ACT TEST

College-bound high school students can register by March 9 for the next national ACT test that will be administered nationwide April 14.

Students who miss the March 9 deadline can do late registration for an extra fee. The late registration deadline is March 23.

Register online at www.actstu dent.org, or get registration materials from college counselors.

The ACT is accepted by all colleges and universities that use admissions tests in their application process. It's an academic achievement test covering English, reading, math and science. The writing test is optional.

Fee is $29 without the writing test and $43 with it.

ON THE WEB

Students, identify colleges offering the program or degree you want, in the location you want, or by other criteria. Go to http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cool/.