Read to your child from an early age. This helps your child reach his or her full potential and strengthens the bond between parent and child.

The very first lessons in reading do not happen in school; they begin at home.

To help build a love for words and books you can…

• Talk to your children from the day they are born.
• Read aloud to your child each day. Start when your infant is young enough to grab the book and chew on it (or even earlier). Continue — if you child is willing — even when they are old enough to read by themselves.
• Use story time to cuddle with and be close to your child.
• Don’t be afraid to read the same books again and again. Young children enjoy and learn from when things are repeated to them.
• Use interesting and funny voices, if you are comfortable, when you read aloud. Act out the story and use different voices for different characters.
• Ask questions or play guessing games about the story. Talk about what you see on the page.
• Point to the words on the page as you read them. This helps your child connect spoken words with the printed words on the page.
• When they are old enough, give kids paper and crayons, so they can scribble, draw pictures, and pretend to write stories.
• Talk about letter sounds and names when you read to your preschooler. Young children are ready to learn about the sounds within words.
• Let your child see you enjoying yourself with a good book.
• Let your child read before bedtime. Make sure everyone has a good bedside light for reading.
• Let your child pick his/her own books. They will read with more interest when they have picked the books themselves.
• Use your public library. Look for story times, reading programs, and special events that might interest kids. (Public libraries also provide free internet access to adults.)

 

Commonsense Media is a non-partisan group that rates and reviews books, movies & other media for children.