Every Child Ready to Read

It’s Never Too Early!

Learning to read begins before children start school.  From the time they are infants, children learn language and other important skills that will help them learn to read.   You can help your child get ready to read with a few simple activities such as talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing.

Talking

·   Make sure your child has lots of opportunities to talk with you, not just listen to you talk.

·   Respond to what your child says and extend the conversation.

·   Stretch your child’s vocabulary.  Repeat what your child says and use new words.

Singing

·   Sing the alphabet song to learn about letters.

·   Sing nursery rhymes so children hear the different sounds in words.

·   Clap along to the rhythms in songs so children hear the syllables in words.

Reading

·   Read to your child every day.

·   Make shared reading interactive.  Before you begin a book, predict what the book is about.  Ask questions as you read.  When you finish the book, ask your child to retell the story.

·   Use books to teach new words.

Writing

·   Writing begins with scribbles and other mark.  Encourage this by providing many opportunities to draw and write.

·   Have children “sign” their drawings.  This helps them understand that print represents words.

·   Talk to your children about what they draw and write captions or stories together.

Playing

·   Give your child plenty of unstructured playtime when they can use their imaginations to create stories about what they are doing.  

·   Encourage dramatic play.  When children make up stories they develop important narrative skills.

·   Pretend to read a book.  Have your child tell you a story based on the pictures in a book. 

Developing early literacy skills makes it easier for children to read once they begin school.   Emma S. Clark Memorial Library has many resources to help you talk, sing, read, write and play with your child.  Bring your children to the library and explore it together!

For more information, go the Every Child Ready to Read ® @ your library® website at www.everychildreadytoread.org.  Every Child Ready to Read® @ your library® is a project of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA), divisions of the American Library Association.