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Reading to your child from an early age will instill a love of reading and open up the world of literacy to them. Your child will soon begin to recognize letters and words in their environment and that print holds meaning.
There are so many benefits to reading to a baby from day one. Get them to look at pictures in books, touch and feel different textures, and listen to the rhythm as you read the text.
As they enter the toddler years, they become more interested in books and will have their favorite stories. Stories that have rhythm and rhyme are often favorites, and the children will recite words and phrases after they have heard the story a few times.
It is helpful at this stage to show the child the correct way to hold the book and to carefully turn the pages. Toddlers often pretend to read books using their recall to recite parts of the book they know well and, as you probably know, will ask for their favorite story over and over again.
From about 2.5 years, children will show an awareness of rhyme and alliteration, and they may start to predict what might happen next and the sequence of events. They may also be able to retell the story accurately. Involve your child in dialogic reading. This is a conversational form of reading that allows your child to participate in a greater way. For example, you can ask your child what they think happens next or what they think a character might be thinking. Would they have written it the same way or perhaps have a different narrative?
Use these fun exercises with your child to help reinforce letter association and recognition.
These can be any pot with a lid and can be seen through although this is not essential. Write a letter on the top of each pot. The child then practices that sound and collects items or pictures from around the house or outdoors that start with that letter’s sound and places them in the pot.
Place some colored tape on the floor, making roads. At certain points, place a letter on the floor and ask the child to take their car down the road, and then instruct them which letter to pick up.
Grab a pot and drop some letters inside. We’re making a batch of Alphabet Soup! Give it a stir and say: 'Stir it high, stir it low, pick a letter and let’s go!' Now, let's see if your child can 'fish' out a floppy fish, a tiger’s tail, or a bouncy ball.
Use an array of fiction, non-fiction, poems, digital print, and classic books in your child’s book list to broaden their literacy horizon.
When reading with your child, make time to discuss the story and events and to look at the illustrations. Have a variety of print in the child’s environment, which can include greeting cards, flyers, comics, supermarket brochures, toy catalogs, etc. Point out letters in the environment and play 'I Spy' games to match up letters. Encouraging children to read cereal boxes while having breakfast or text on a meal carton or a recipe will all help to reinforce recognition. Developing text awareness can be fun and open up the world to children.
Learning letter sounds is one of the first steps to your child’s path to reading. We use a lot of sounds naturally when talking to our children, such as “m, m, m, mommy” or “b, ball." Children will start to recognize the initial sounds in words and link the sounds to letters.
There are many YouTube videos that will demonstrate the correct pronunciation, so familiarize yourself with those to make sure your child is getting consistency.
With screens and digital tools being an inescapable part of everyday life for children, spending time outdoors has never been more important. When you...
