Early Literacy During the Pre-School Years

As our children get ready to go back to school or daycare, it is a great time to freshen up on our "teaching" skills as parents.  Below are a few helpful tips on how you can make early literacy a priority (and more interesting!) for your little ones.

2-3 Year Olds:

•  Read to your child everyday, even if it is only for a few minutes
•  Encourage your child to bring you his/her favourite books so you can read them together
•  Talk with your child throughout the day about what is happening
•  Point to pictures and name them out loud
•  Be patient when your child wants to read the same book many times
•  Encourage your child to play with books (flip them from front to back, turn   pages)

4-5 Year Olds:

•  Help your child hear words that rhyme (like cat and hat)
•  Let your child choose the book s/he wants
•  Help your child hear and say the first sound of a word (ball, bear)
•  Point out signs and labels that have letters
•  Ask “what?”, “where?”, and “how?” questions when reading
•  Introduce new words
•  Make connections from stories to things that happen in real life

Happy Reading!

For more information about The Speech Therapy Centres of Canada, please visit:  http://www.speechtherapycentres.com/