Early Literacy: Reading

Read every day. Set aside a designated story time. No matter what your child's age, reading together is the single most important activity you can do to help your child get ready to read. Your child has your full attention and you are enjoying the experience together. This can encourage a love of reading while increasing vocabulary and background knowledge. You are teaching them how books work, how written language looks and how stories are organized - that they have a beginning, middle and end. Children learn best when they are actively involved. So have your child help you turn pages as you read. If they are able, ask them to read sections too. You can also engage them by asking open ended questions, like "What do you think is going to happen next?" Expand on what your child says by repeating or paraphrasing, adding details and using new words. This is an opportunity to introduce less common words that they might not hear in every day conversation. Make sure to stop and explain what the words mean. Children who enjoy being read to are much more likely to want to read themselves. Reading with your child is a great way to spend quality time together while stimulating imaginative thinking and encouraging a lifelong love of reading. Your local library has storytimes for you and your child to enjoy, plus lots of great books you can read together. Visit your library often and checkout lots of books to read with your children.