Reading is one of the most important early learning activities there is. When your child discovers that sharing a book with a loving adult can be a warm, happy experience, they begin to build a lifelong love of reading. Tips for choosing books.
- Physically play with books. Let your little one pick books up, flip them from front to back, and turn the pages.
- Point out pictures and name them out loud. This helps your child make the association between words and their meanings.
- Read in silly voices. It brings stories to life and makes reading all the more fun.
- Talk about letters. Point them out in books and talk to your child about them; “the word ball starts with a ‘b’.”
- Read the same book over. Although reading a wide range of books is good, too, kids learn through — and love — repetition.
- Trace words with your fingers as you read. This helps youngsters make the connection between letters and words, what they sound like and mean.
- Keep topics diverse. This will help to prepare your child to live in today’s “global village.”
- Seeing other kids enjoying reading is a great way to keep your children motivated.
- Enroll your child in Imagination Library, and they will receive free books from birth to age 5.
- Looking at Books Together – Reading with young children improves their understanding of both printed material and oral language.
- A Book by its Cover – Pictures on the cover of a book help your child recognize favorites, and words help them start learning the rules of print.
- Read it Again! – Repeated reading lets children learn the words, story
structure, and use of language in a story. - Active Participation in Reading – What parent or caregiver hasn’t cringed when a child picks out a certain book to read at bedtime for the fifth day in a row? But by having your child select what book he wants to read, he is actively participating in reading; this will help him with the development of early literacy skills.
