How to Encourage Early Literacy Skills with Books
Reading books to your little one is fun! But do you know how to utilize your time reading so they are picking up on some early literacy skills? I’m going to share a few tips to use when reading books with your kid(s).
- Let your child pick a few books and bring them over to a comfy reading area. Show your child that you sit or lay while reading/looking through books.
2. Teach your child to start at the beginning. Show them the correct way to flip pages front to back (beginning to end).
3. Talk to your child while looking at the book, “now we are going to turn the page” or “turn the page”. “I see a cow. What does the cow say?”
4. Make books fun by acting out parts of the book. If the story has a sleepy character or many then yawn and stretch while reading. If the book has noises like “beep beep”, hit the book and act out the honking of the car horn while saying “beep beep”.
5. Explain or define new words. Most books are going to have at least one word a child is not familiar with so you can familiarize them with it by stating another word after. If the books states she was exhausted then say, “She was exhausted. She was tired. Maybe she needs a nap because she is exhausted.” Another approach could be “She was exhausted, tied.” Again here you could act out the word by acting tired/exhausted.
6. Keep introducing new stories! Sometimes it is difficult to always get to the bookstore or library, I totally get it. But there is another option. You can sign up for a fun subscription with The Story Box. Go and chose from 3 package options of Board Books, Picture Books or Family (one of each). Izzy does well turing pages of all books but I feel at her age (17 months) the board books are less likely to be bent or accidentally torn.
Happy Reading!
XO Eryka
I received the mentioned item in this post in exchange for an honest review. As always all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
I try to implement this advice when reading to my kids. I’m pretty lively when reading…they might think I’m slightly crazy lol. I love the idea of the Story Box! Super convenient!
Hahahaha Izzy knows I’m crazy when we read. That’s funny & yes the story box is super convenient
This is great! We love our Story Box family package! There’s a board book for Gabriel and paper book for Isabella!
That’s so perfect! It’s a great deal
How fun!! I need to order this book box! Xo!
Yes it’s awesome! I got some of my favorite books that I somehow didn’t own! ?
Izzy is so adorable! I just love that you do so much reading with her, we try to do the same here with the kids and they love it!
Thank you Nicole! She LOVES books so much! Ever since she was a tiny baby she would sit for a book
You are just the smartest little mama! ❤️
Thank you Shannan, it’s the college education and teaching experience that gave me all this knowledge
Great post! I don’t think people just how important early literacy is!!!
So true, and it starts young
Great tips! Learning young is so important and it’s our job to teach them!
Thank you & yes it’s so true
Yes! The best way to establish literacy in your child is to READ! Ha, what a crazy thought! I also LOVE the idea of subscription boxes for books! Hopefully I can find one for adults, too!
Thank you! Yes that would be awesome