Reading to children in the first five years of life is an important way to develop their early literacy skills and prepare them for kindergarten. Parenting is hard and stressful, and I encourage busy caregivers to fit in reading however and whenever they can. Reading from a cereal box, a street sign, or a shampoo bottle--all of it shows a developing mind that letters mean something and sparks an opportunity for a back-and-forth interaction between the caregiver and the child. You can ask “What is that letter? Is that an ‘a’? Does that say ‘breakfast’? Are you eating breakfast?” Back-and-forth interactions are one of the most impactful early learning experiences a child can have in their brain development.
If you haven't yet started a reading routine with your child, start today with just one book or even part of a book. Children have short attention spans and sometimes won't sit still through a whole book, and that's okay! Start with just a few pages. As you make reading part of your everyday routine, your child's attention span will increase, and they will enjoy sitting and listening for longer periods of time. And if they don't? That's okay! Just read for as long as they are enjoying it, and, when they start to get wiggly or fussy, say "Okay, let's be done," and, as they are able, ask them if they would like to help you close the book and put it away.
The tools a child needs before they can learn to read are called early literacy skills and practices. Last month, my column focused on the early literacy practice of Print Awareness, understanding that letters and words have meaning. This column focuses on Letter Knowledge: recognizing letters and understanding that letters have names and make different sounds. There are lots of fun ways to talk with children about letters. Children are usually very interested in the letters in their name, so that is a great place to start. Write out your child’s name, then point to each letter as you name it: “S-A-M. Sam! That’s you!”
Any children’s picture book with text can be used to point out letters, but picture books that emphasize individual letters by making them large on the page, or having them stand alone, make it even more fun. Point to a large, colorful letter on the page and say “Is that a ‘P’? Does the P say ‘puh’?” Children’s alphabet books are designed for talking about letters. Often they have a different letter on each page, along with pictures of many objects that start with that letter. This is a fun way to interact with your child and help them make the connection between a letter and things associated with it. Alphabet books are often designed so they don’t need to be read in order from front to back, so you or your child can flip the pages and go out of order. Let your child drive the process of turning pages and choosing which one to spend time on, which will make it even more fun for them.
All of the books below are examples of books that make it easy to talk with your child about letters, and all are available at Central Rappahannock Regional Library. Stop by any branch to grab a book and read to your child in a comfortable library chair, or check out some books to take home and enjoy.
B Is for Baby, opens a new window
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, opens a new window
Eating the Alphabet, opens a new window
Let's Read Animal Words, opens a new window
What About X? An Alphabet Adventure, opens a new window
Z Is for Moose, opens a new window
Darcie Caswell is Director of Youth Services at CRRL. This column originally appeared in The Free Lance-Star newspaper.
