The early childhood years are critical to developing a lifelong love of reading. See below for some tips that you can use at home when reading together as a family:
Read together every day, and make sure that your child knows how much you love your family reading time!
When you're reading out loud, make it exciting! Use different voices, add sound effects, turn it into a mini performance!
Go beyond the words on the page- stop to look at the pictures together and discuss what you see. Point out things on the pages and ask questions along the way.
Let your child choose the books you read, and read their favorite books again and again- even if it's the 100th time you've read Pete The Cat!
Talk about the parts of the book- title, author, illustrator, etc. Show your child how you read the words from left to right.
Point out print everywhere- talk about words you see out in the world. Make a game out of finding words in print wherever you go!
Know when to stop- put the books away when it's not fun anymore and your child has lost interest or has difficulty paying attention.
As your child gets ready to read, here are some ways you can encourage their progress:
Read wordless books together, and have your child tell the story.
Have your child "read the pictures" even if a book does have words- they can make up their own by using clues in the illustrations!
Be a reading team and let them point out letters or words they know while you help them with the ones they don't.
Talk about letters and sounds that your child sees within the words- even if they don't know the word, they might know a letter and the sound that it makes!
Be a cheerleader for your child- celebrate and focus on what they CAN do. Don't worry about what they can't do yet- they'll get there!
Keep it a fun, no-pressure situation and as mentioned above, stop if your child gets frustrated or loses attention.
Remember that reading together should always be a positive experience!