Read To Your Children!  

Why read aloud?

Because it's fun and enjoyable for everyone...it helps create a special bond.

Children learn to read as they listen and look at books.

Where to start?

• Start at the library.  Your library has it all!  Books...recordings...Videos.

• No matter what your reading interest, ask at the library.

• Share a book you like.

How to read aloud?

• Turn off the television, radio or stereo.

• Let your  voice get soft and loud.  Change the pace of your reading...slow or fast.

• Let your child have fun with the book.  Encourage the child to point out pictures, ask questions or repeat words.

And remember, spending just 20 minutes a day reading gives your child a great advantage when it is time for school!

Tips For Reading to Children

1. Read to your baby:  thymes like "Mary Had a Little Lamb," a birthday card, the cereal box or a newspaper story you are reading.  It's the sounds that are important.

2. Introduce simple pictures and stories as the baby grows.  Shapes, colors and sounds will delight.

3. Visit the library often.  Let the children get their own library cards and select their own books.

4. Make a special time for reading aloud:  after dinner, before bed...anytime, anywhere, anyplace.

5. Try lots of books.  There's a book for everyone.

6. Read more about people, places and things you see on television.

7. Have older children read aloud while you do household chores.

8. Keep plenty of reading materials around the house.  Put children's books on low shelves.

9. Let children see you read.  Talk about what you read.

10. Give books as gifts.  Let children know you think books are special, and reading is important.  

SEE LIBRARY FOR SUGGESTED READING

Ways to Create a Language Rich Environment in Your Home

SHARE A BOOK

Set aside time for reading to your child-EVERYDAY!  Make it a time to cuddle and hold your child on your lap.  Substitute your child's name for the person in the story.  Encourage your child to join you in repetitious phrases.  Let your child make up the ending to a story.  Let your older child read to you!

CREATE A QUIET SPACE FOR READING

Decorate a big box for a special "reading room."  Place pillows in a corner.  Invest in a rocking chair.  Decorate walls with pictures of people, places, and things.  Provide soft things like stuffed animals and puppets.

TALK, TALK, TALK

Talk to your child as you do things.  Say things like, "I like the purple, polka-dot dog you made from playdough."  Make up rhymes--children delight in silly sayings and nonsense words.  Try a tongue twisters like, Please pack a pickle in Patty's picnic.  Introduce new words like "Stegosaurus" or "hilarious".

GAMES AND ACTIVITIES

Write words in wet sand with a stick.
Place magnetic letters on the refrigerator.
Make your own books by stapling paper together.
Write "thank you" notes.
Point out words on signs and storefronts.
Label the things in your child's room.
Hunt for letters and cut them out of magazines.
Records your child's made up stories.

PARENTS AS LITERACY TEACHERS

Although you may not have considered it, you are your child's first and most important teacher.  Children begin to develop as readers and writers before they ever come to school.  You help your child learn to use print in all of its forms whenever you do the following:

• Make a grocery list

• read a newspaper

• read the mail

• look at a magazine

• write a letter

• write a check

• make a "to do" list

• read a menu in a restaurant

These activities make your child aware that the little squiggly things we call letters are one way to communicate.  Take a few minutes to think about the many ways you use print everyday.  Now thing about all those everyday tasks your child could help you do:

• read traffic signs and store signs

• write letters to grandparents

• follow a simple recipe

• make lists for chores, errands, groceries

• look at the newspaper

• take a trip to the library or the bookstore

• read labels on food boxes

• write down a phone message

These are all literacy events-events in our daily lives which can help develop children's reading and writing skills.  By participating in these activities, children gain an understanding of the many uses of print.  Please keep me informed of literacy events in your home as we work together to help our new readers and writers continue to grow.

Complimenting your child when he or she participates in the reading session is very important.  What are some of the things you might say to encourage them?

Good for you!   
That's right!      
Good going!      
That's the best ever!   
Great!    
How did you remember that?
Congratulations
Wonderful
You're doing beautifully
You must have been practicing
You're really learning a lot        

Top 10 Reasons for Reading To Your Children

Books Children Love Reading

Position your mouse over the title to see the book's cover.

Aesop

Aesop's Fables