Family Literacy Day: Early Steps of Reading
While hearing your child read words from pages of their favourite books often doesn’t come until they’ve started school, the journey to becoming a lifelong reader actually begins at birth. “Studies indicate that reading to your child while still in the womb has a significant impact,” says Ashley Tilley, Communications Coordinator at ABC Canada Literacy Foundation.
There are various ways you can help your two- and three-year-old child on the path to developing critical reading skills, such as informal games and activities, language-based play, nursery rhymes, storytelling, reading and lullabies.
Consider these statistics on early reading skills, posted on ABC Canada’s website:
- Activities like reading and telling stories to an 18 month old help brain development (Early Years Study Final Report: Reversing the Real Brain Drain, Government of Ontario, 1999).
- Some experts say that for 80 percent of children, simple immersion in reading and books will lead to independent reading by school age (How to Make Your Child a Reader for Life, Paul Kropp, Random House Canada, 2000).
“Children aged two to three who are read to several times a day do substantially better in kindergarten at the age of four and five than those children who are read to only a few times a week or less,” says Tilley.
Here are some of the ways you can help develop reading skills in your two and three year old:
Vocabulary
At the age of two years, many children have a vocabulary of 150-300 words. Encourage language skills by frequently talking to your child about what is going on around you, and how you and your child are feeling. Research has shown that children with a larger vocabulary are better readers by school age.
Reading
Read and re-read your child’s favourite books, and get them involved in the story. Have them turn the pages and tell you what’s happening, in their own words. Don’t stop at picture books: read menus, road signs, and store displays when you’re out and about with your child.
Storytelling
Tell your child imaginative stories, and have them make up their own. Storytelling is a valuable reading skill as it helps your child understand chronological order.
Singing
Singing songs helps kids with phonological recognition. By singing nursery rhymes and age-appropriate songs, kids start to recognize melodies and words. When a two or three year old starts reading, he or she will be better able to sound out words aloud.
Writing
This could be as simple as sitting down with your toddler to write a letter to a grandparent or friend. Help your child learn how to recognize their name, spell it out, and write the first letter, and to point out letters on signs and in the books you read. Use alphabet books and magnetic letters to encourage letter recognition.
Remember that there is more to early literacy than simply reading books to your child. “You can encourage reading skills in toddlers by playing word games, singing songs and reading to them. There are also many family literacy programs in Canada that show parents ways to encourage literacy at home,” says Tilley.
January 27 is Family Literacy Day. Find more information on early literacy and family reading tips at ABC Canada.
