As our children get ready to go back to school or daycare, it is a great time to freshen up on our “teaching” skills as parents. Below are a few helpful tips on how you can make early literacy a priority (and more interesting!) for your little ones.

2-3 Year Olds:

  • Read to your child everyday, even if it is only for a few minutes
  • Encourage your child to bring you his/her favourite books so you can read them together
  • Talk with your child throughout the day about what is happening
  • Point to pictures and name them out loud
  • Be patient when your child wants to read the same book many times
  • Encourage your child to play with books (flip them from front to back, turn pages)

4-5 Year Olds:

  • Help your child hear words that rhyme (like cat and hat)
  • Let your child choose the book s/he wants
  • Help your child hear and say the first sound of a word (ball, bear)
  • Point out signs and labels that have letters
  • Ask “what?”, “where?”, and “how?” questions when reading
  • Introduce new words
  • Make connections from stories to things that happen in real life

Happy Reading!

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