Create Room to Read

Imagine trying to bake without a kitchen or trying to sleep without a bedroom? We all need an environment that encourages and supports our needs.  Your budding reader is no different.

Create a cozy area in the house and a time where reading is sacred. Turn off the TV, your cell phone and other distractions and cuddle up together to explore your library treasures.

Make your child's books accessible by placing them in a basket or on a low shelf so that he can reach them easily. Let him examine the books independently - smell them, hold them, and (for some little ones) even taste them! Your child will find that books are an essential and wonderful part of his world.

Read Together Daily

It is never too soon to start reading to your child.  From nursery rhymes to fairy tales, read together daily.  Ask questions, make predictions or compare the characters to people you know.  Find books that your child will be interested in, from Angelina to anteaters.

Reading aloud together not only builds vocabulary, comprehension and concentration, but it also strengthens your relationship as you escape together into the books.

Be an Example

Be the reader you want your child to be. When you visit the library, get books not only for your child, but also for yourself. Research interesting topics online, read the newspaper, make lists and reference them, read good books or join a book club. Your child will learn as he watches you.

Play With Language

Seek out opportunities to explore the alphabet and language together through your daily interactions.  Exposure to letters, their sounds and rhyming words are essential skills for future reading.  Have fun with some of our expert suggestions.

Alphabet Letters.

• Sing the alphabet song often.
• Create letters with cooked noodles while you eat.
• Make an alphabet album from pictures you took together of letters while on an outing.
• Look for items that start with a certain letter sounds as you drive in the car.

Rhyme Games.

• Find out what words rhyme with the names in your family.
• While grocery shopping, create rhymes for the items on your list.
• Play a rhyme guessing game giving clues to two words that rhyme.