Activities to get your child ready to read
Talk
Talking with your child helps them to build important language and vocabulary skills. Asking questions while reading, talking about the pictures, or even just reading signs when out for walks are great ways to talk with your child.
Children develop larger vocabularies the more time they spend talking and reading with family members. Knowing many words helps children recognize written words and understand what they read.
Start talking to your baby from the day they are born. By babbling, babies learn to make sounds with their own voices. As they grow and you share more books together, your child practises their language skills. Sharing a book and talking about it also helps to develop your child's storytelling ability.
Talking Tips
- The more you talk with your child, the richer your child’s vocabulary will be. Talk about and explain what you're doing and what's going on around you. Point at and name items as you see them. Whether you’re bathing your child or taking a walk, use words that describe the actions and the things around you. Talk about all the senses involved.
- Start talking to your baby in your home language on the day they are born. By babbling, babies learn to make sounds with their own voices. Encourage your baby to become more vocal by responding to their coos, gurgles and grunts to promote language development.
- Talk about feelings—yours and your child's. Having the words to express feelings may help reduce your child's frustration.
- When your child babbles or talks, listen carefully and answer. Even if you don't know what they mean or they don't have the words to answer, talk to your child and ask them lots of questions.
- When your child says "Aahh", say it back to them, and turn the sounds into real words. Encourage your child to copy you, too. You'll help your child recognize which sounds form language and develop their vocabulary before they can talk.
- Babies love to hear your voice. Copy your baby’s sounds and listen to the sounds they make back. Take the time throughout the day to talk with your child about all kinds of things. Describe daily activities. Talk about what has happened, what is happening and what will happen during the day.