Activities to get your child ready to read
Write
Writing helps children learn that letters and words represent sounds, and that print has meaning. Before learning how to read a book, a child must learn what a book is, how words work, how letters represent words and that written words are made of individual letters.
Pointing to words as you read them helps your child become familiar with printed language. This helps your child see that in English, we read from the top of the page to the bottom, from left to right, and that it's the print on the page being read, and not the pictures.
The letters in your child's name are most interesting to them. Write your child's name together, write captions for their drawings, and have them help you with your lists, or simply give them crayons to draw shapes and letters.
Writing Tips
- Encourage scribbling, writing and drawing in daily activities. Give your child opportunities to practice writing their name or let them "write" notes or lists.
- A shopping list is one way to show your child that printed words represent real things. Show your child how you write your shopping list (and let them "write" one, too). At the store, read the list with your child and find the items together. You can use pictures from flyers to create lists as well.
- Say the names of the letters as you print your child's name. Help your child write and read their own name. Print their name on labels for their toys or other personal items. Eventually, your child will recognize their name.
- The same letter can look different between upper and lower case. Show and teach your child that there is a big R and a little r; a big G and a little g. With any book, not just an alphabet book, you can point out specific letters and talk about them.
- Show your child how you make lists or write notes. Make paper, pencils, markers, crayons, chalk and finger paints available for scribbling, writing and drawing. Visit the public library often and regularly for a fun outing. Get your child their own library card.