A love of learning and reading begins early. It isn’t about skill and drill or worksheets. It is about creating a literacy and language rich environment. Everywhere you go there are letters, signs, numbers, magazines, newspapers, books and pictures with words. How can you foster a love of books and reading? How do you boost your child’s language development? The first step is to spend time listening, talking, singing, rhyming and sharing books with them.
When my children were young, we would go on letter and word hunts everywhere we went, play I Spy in the car, sound out the words in the grocery store, and spend time looking and reading books together. Here are a few tips:
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Talk. Sing. Point to words you see.
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Sound out letters.
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Use a cookie sheet and magnetic letters to make the sounds and spell words.
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Share a book, point to the pictures and talk about what is happening.
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Visit the library.
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Talk about what you see as you drive down the road.
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Sing your child’s favorite song (over and over). Young children love repetition.
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Make RHYME TIME! Play with words and say, “What rhymes with cat?, What rhymes with stop?, What rhymes with bug, rug or hug?”
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Talk and point to things you see when you are out and about (the grocery store, post office, drive thru or on a walk).
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Go on a letter hunt! Find as many letters as you can. Go on a word hunt!
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Look at pictures in a book or photo album. Talk about and point to what you see.
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Ask questions about the colors they are using when they draw or paint (Did you color that bird blue? Why?).
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Turn things on and off to show cause and effect. Then talk about what happened. Turn off the lights, fans, radio and ring the doorbell.
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Predict what is going to happen next.
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Explore books, letters, numbers, words and have fun!
The early years are meant to exploration and play. Make it fun and enjoy your time together.
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