Leading to Reading: Everyday Activities
 There are many everyday activities that can help you foster your child's literacy development. The following provides a list of simple things that you can do with your child as a baby, toddler, or preschooler. Not only will you find an acivity suggestion below, but you'll also learn why each is important.
The activity suggestions are organized by five key themes:
How Literacy Develops
Babies understand words long before they can speak.
When your baby is playing with a toy, describe it for her (ex. "You have a red ball!"). Whenever your child points to something, pretend she’s asking "What’s that?" and name it for her.
Toddlers learn how to handle books.
Have your child show his favorite stuffed animal how he reads. Hand your child a book and encourage him, saying, "Show Bunny how we hold the book; show Bunny how we turn the pages." Praise any appropriate reading behaviors you see.
Preschoolers enjoy rhymes.
Sing songs with your child and make the rhyming words extra loud. With songs your child knows well, stop before the end of a line and see if your child can sing the rhyming word or phrase by himself.
Toys should grow with your child.
Renew old toys and build language skills by playing "Let's pretend." Put toy food in an old lunchbox and chat while you eat at "school," or store a notepad with the play phone and pretend to jot down messages.
Top
A Literacy-Rich Home
Babies respond to pictures in books.
Choose books for your home that have bright, simple pictures with highly contrasting colors. Store books facing out so your child can make his own choices based on the cover pictures.
Toddlers enjoy "reading" familiar books aloud and retelling favorite stories.
Select books that rhyme or are predictable, so it will be easy for your child to memorize and share the stories with others. Goldilocks and the Three Bears is a good example of a predictable story.
Preschoolers learn best through everyday activities and routines.
Place books and literacy materials around your home for your child to use throughout the day. For instance, put waterproof books and foam letters in the bathroom for bath time; put children’s cookbooks on a kitchen shelf and magnetic letters on the refrigerator door.
Books can be as popular as toys.
Your child's books should be as reachable as his toys are. You wouldn't put a favorite puzzle on the top of a chest of drawers, so why put books there? Try placing books on a low shelf where your child can easily spot and use them.
Top
Reading Together
Babies explore books with their hands and mouths.
If your baby keeps grabbing the book you're reading, let her. Talk about each page she flips to, and say "The end" whenever she slams it shut. Or consider giving a baby her own cloth or soft vinyl book just to hold and chew.
Toddlers rely on pictures to comprehend a story. Choose books that have large illustrations and few words on each page. Discuss what is going on in each picture with your toddler.
Preschoolers learn to identify some letters, especially the letters in their names.
Make a homemade alphabet book with photographs of familiar people or things (ex. "D is for Daddy.") Or have your child choose the correct magnetic letter to hang each photograph on your refrigerator.
Use labels on your toy storage to encourage purposeful reading.
Cut out pictures or take photos and label each shelf, basket, and bin where certain toys should be stored (ex. dolls, blocks, markers). Your child will learn that identifying signs and labels is an important reason for reading.
Top
Talking Together
Babies can have conversations without using words.
When talking to your baby, make sure to pause and allow her to coo or react to what you’ve said. You will be teaching her that people take turns speaking and listening to each other.
Toddlers learn that stories are a special form of language.
You don't need a book to tell a story. It may actually be easier to teach storybook language (ex. "once upon a time") through storytelling. Start off retelling familiar stories like The Three Little Pigs. Next, try telling stories that feature your child.
Preschoolers learn to start conversations.
Respond enthusiastically when your preschooler says, "Guess what?" or asks "Why?" again and again. Use these opportunities to have meaningful conversations. He'll be building world knowledge and vocabulary, but most important, he'll be learning that what he says matters.
Provide simple toys and materials that spark the imagination.
Your child's imagination can make a blanket into a superhero’s cape and a cardboard box into a tiger’s cage. Build your child’s language skills and vocabulary by taking one toy or object and playing with it in several different ways.
Top
On the Way to Writing
Babies learn that pictures represent real things.
Read a wordless book with your baby, pointing to each picture as you describe what you see.
Toddlers begin to scribble with the intention of communicating.
When you're sitting down to write a set of birthday invitations, thank you notes, or holiday cards, invite your child to sit with you and write a "note" on the cards for the people he loves best.
Preschoolers use letters that represent the sounds of words.
Give your child plenty of encouragement and opportunities to scribble and "write." As children sound out the letters in words, don't worry about correct spelling. That comes later. Much more important is that children enjoy writing and being able to communicate.
Encourage drawing and scribbling.
When your preschooler shows you a drawing, ask her to tell you about it. Offer to write down what she tells you about the picture and when you hang the drawing up, put her sentence on a strip of paper below it—like a caption or a label in an art museum.
Top |
