Reading & Writing
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Even if your baby is far from picking up a pencil or reading a
book, you can get the ball rolling early. For toddlers and children,
these tips can help them get ready to read and write, or enhance the
skills they’ve already developed.
Talk with your kids.
Children pick up quickly on the sounds and rhythms of
language. Keep the banter going. It will help them grasp the basics of
conversation.
- Provide a running commentary on both your activities and your child’s.
- Follow up on what your child says.
- Recite rhymes, repeating your child’s favorites.
Read with them every day.
Reading to kids boosts their knowledge and
vocabulary. It introduces them to the mechanics of literacy – like turning
pages and reading from left to right.
- Pick a regular reading time when
stories can be enjoyed at a relaxed, unhurried pace.
- Take books along on
errands.
Make sure mom’s not doing all the work.
Boys who associate reading
with women might dismiss it as a “girl thing”.
Choose your books wisely Find books on subjects that interest them – they’ll
enjoy reading more.
- Get them involved in choosing their books.
- Find books
related to current events in their lives, such as starting school or about a
recent vacation destination.
Surround your child with books.
Children love having familiar stories
nearby that they can go back to again and again.
- You can find cheap, used
books at yard sales, thrift stores, and library sales.
- Consider subscribing to
a children’s magazine. This way your child has something to look forward to in
the mail every month.
- Make sure they see you reading.
Slow down and enjoy reading aloud.
Don’t just drone along. Kids pick up on
boredom and lose interest quickly. Add some drama to your voice, act out
different characters and put yourself into the story.
- Pose questions about the
story, and follow up on theirs.
- Pause here and there so kids have time to take
things in.
Read stories over and over.
It takes a long time for kids to take it all
in, and they love familiar stories where they know what’s coming next.
- Tape
yourself reading your child’s favorite stories so kids can hear them when they
want.
Foster their awareness of letters and print.
Point out familiar letters in
their everyday lives, such as the “S” in “Sesame Street”.
- Buy them plastic
letters to play with or make some.
- Write their names on possessions like
lunchboxes.
- Give them writing supplies when they play games like house or
hospital.
Surround them with writing tools.
All kids like having a varied supply at
their disposal.
- Provide them with different kinds of papers, as well as
markers, crayons, and pens.
- Encourage kids to tell you stories, write them
down, and then read them back to them.
Don’t pressure them.
Nagging your kids about what they read may turn them
off to reading in general.
- Comic books are better than no reading material at
all.
- Agree to take turns in choosing their bedtime stories.
- Ask your
librarian for books that are both entertaining and educational.
Show your appreciation.
Nothing encourages good reading habits like
positive reinforcement.
- Display your child’s writing in prominent places, such
as the refrigerator door.
- Don’t jump on every mistake a child makes while
reading aloud, especially if it doesn’t change the gist of the story.
- Talk
with your kids about what they are reading and writing outside the home (at
daycare, grandma’s, etc.).
From Kantrowitz, B., & Wingert, P. (April, 2002) “The Right
Way to Read” Newsweek.
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