Last week’s post was about the importance of reading and how to teach/encourage children to read at a young age. It looked at activities for infant to toddlers. Below are some suggestions on the steps to take during the Preschool and Pre-Kindergarten stages of development:
PRESCHOOL (30 months +)
• While grocery shopping, ask your child to find an item that starts with a certain letter or find a particular cereal.
• While in the park, ask your child to bring you nature items one at a time. Write the word for each item and then write a story using these words.
• Show your child speech in the written form. Ask your child what he or she would like to buy at the grocery store and add it to your grocery list together, write notes to Dad or make “to do” lists.
PRE-KINDERGARTEN (48 months +)
• Read with your child. Take turns reading pages, modeling intonation and punctuation cues.
• Make up silly rhymes and alliterations.
• Help your child cut large letters from old magazines. Talk about words that begin with each of these letters.
• While driving ask your child to help you find a particular street sign.
As with everything else in your child’s development, reading skills take time and patience to develop, and be assured that reading will happen when your child is ready. Also remember that children learn by example. Let your child see you read often, they’ll want to do exactly what mom and dad are doing.
