Reading and Literacy

Becoming a literate person is a lifelong journey. A person is always reading, writing, viewing media, listening, and speaking to learn more about the world around them. Young children need opportunities to make sense of their world using these same skills. The number one way to help your child become literate is to read to your child. Reading can also be a bonding experience. It builds your child’s vocabulary, curiosity, imagination, and attention span.

Make reading with your child an important part of your day.

Listed below are helpful tips to use when reading with your child:

• Set aside a time to read together. Most families find reading to be a good bedtime ritual.

• Expose your child to all sorts of reading genres; fairytales, nursery rhymes, concept books (numbers, ABC, colors, etc), biographies, fantasy, realistic-fiction, informational text, magazine articles, etc.

• Read the book with feeling. Your voice sets the tone for the book. Use different voices for different characters.

• Talk about the story before, during, and after you read.

• Talk about the pictures. There are so many books with wonderful illustrations, much of the story is told through the pictures.

• Let your child read repetitive phrases from the text. “No more monkeys jumping on the bed.”

• Ask questions while you read. Ask who, what, where, when, how, and why as you read a book with your child.

• Make predictions as you read. What do you think will happen next?

• Make connections as you read. Does this book remind you of another book you read? Or do you have any personal experiences to relate to the book?

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.”

​ –Emilie Buchwald