It is so important to make sure our kids find a love for reading and learning. What better way to help your kids than reading with them daily! The time you get to spend with your kids enjoy some stories is precious! They are only little for so long and then they will be reading on their own!
Our momstown tots celebrated with some crafts based around early literacy. The first start to reading for kids is learning their alphabet and the sounds the letters make.
The kids made an ABC book. They had large foam letters for A B and C and then a variety of pictures that started with those letters.
The kids coloured in the pictures and then cut them out (why not throw in some fine motor skill practice while teaching them to ready!).
Once they had their pictures cut out they matched them up to the letters they started with.
The kids sat for so long making their books and were all proud of themselves!!!
Here are some everyday tips on Family Literacy from ABC Life Literacy Canada
• Ensure your child knows that how well they read or write has
nothing to do with their intelligence. Every person is intelligent
in their own way and each person is unique and needs to learn in
the way that best suits them. With practice, your child will
become a good reader.
• The television can be used as a tool. After your child watches a
television show or an episode, talk to them about it. Ask them
questions like, “What was your favourite part?” or “What was the
episode trying to teach the audience?” This reinforces media literacy skills, a medium
that is encompassing our lives today.
• Don’t lose sight of the fact that children model behaviour they see. Ensure that your
child sees you reading, whether it’s the newspaper, the mail or a recipe. This shows
your child how important it is to read.
• While reading a story to your child, pause to ask them what they predict will happen
next or have them summarize what has happened in the story thus far. Good readers
think about what they are reading and this will reinforce critical thinking skills.
• Today’s children, particularly teens, are influenced by music. Have your child read
the lyrics to their favourite song. When your child hears the song, the will visualize
the lyrics they read. Visualization is a reading skill and this helps develop the skill.
• All reading is good reading. If your child is a reluctant reader, allow them to read
comics, a graphic novel, a magazine or an instruction manual for their favourite sport.
They will be introduced to new words, sentence structure, and they will engage their
brains with new ideas and information.
