Every Child Ready to Read

Saw this parent guide to early literacy for talkers : Two- and Three-Years-Olds at the library. Wanted to jot down here to remind myself on how to help MSLS to be ready to read.

According to research, there are six pre-reading skills that children must learn in order to learn to read.

What can I do to help:
(1) Vocabulary

• Talk with your child about what is going on around you. Talk about feelings - your and your child's.
• When your child talks with you, add more details to what she says.
• Speak in the language that is most comfortable for you.
• Read together every day. When you talk about the story and pictures, your child hears and learns more words.
• Reserach shows that children who have larger vocabularies are better readers. Knowing many words helps children recognise written words and inderstand what they read.

(2) Print Motivation

• Make book-sharing time a special time for closeness between you and your child.
• Let your child see you reading
• Visit your public library often
• Children who enjoy books will want to learn how to read.

(3) Narrative Skills

• Tell your child stories.
• Ask your child to tell you about something that happened today.
• Read books together. Stories help children understand that things happen in order first, next, last.
• Read a book that you have read before. Switch what you do - you be the listener and let your child tell you the story.
• Being able to tell or retell a story helps children understand what they read.

(4) Phonological Awareness

• Say nursery rhymes and make up your own silly, nonsense rhymes.
• Sing songs. Songs have different notes for each syllable in a word, so children can hear the different sounds in words.
• Play word games such as " What sounds like 'ran'? or " What starts with the same soun as " ball"?
• Say rhymes and sing songs in the language that is most comfortable for you.
• Being able to hear the sounds that make up words helps children soun out words as they begin to read.

(5) Letter Knowledge

• Help your child see different shapes and the shapes of letters.
• Talk about what is the same and what is the different between two things
• Write you child's name, especially first letter.
• Make letters from clay or use magnetic letters. Point out and name letters when reading alphabet books, signs, or labels.
• Read alphabet books with clear letters and pictures
• Knowing the names and sounds of letters help children figure out how to sound out words.