Children need to develop early literacy skills before they begin to learn how to read.

You can help promote these skills by doing these simple activities every day:

TALK, SING, READ, WRITE AND PLAY.

Talk: Children learn new words and other information by listening to adults talk. As children listen to spoken language, they make sense of the world around them.

• Talk with your child in the language you know best and talk to your child even if your child isn’t talking yet.
• If your child is talking, give your child plenty of time to talk to you, and listen to your child.
• Expand on what your child says. If your child says “I see a truck,” you can say “Yes, that is a truck; it is a moving van.”

Sing: Songs are a great way for children to learn language. Singing helps children hear the different sounds that combine to make words.

• Don’t worry if you are not a good singer. Your child will love singing with you!
• Sing songs with rhyming words, silly words, and long stretched out words.
• Clap along to the rhythms in songs to help your child hear the syllables in words.

Read: Reading together is the single most important way to help children get ready to read. Reading increases vocabulary and general knowledge.

• Read together every day.
• Have books at home.
• Ask your child questions as you read and listen to the answers.
• Ask your child to retell the story when you've finished.

Write: Writing and reading go together. Scribbling, drawing and forming letters can help children develop pre-reading skills.

• Give your child plenty of time to scribble and draw.
• Help your child write his/her name on drawings.
• Talk about your child’s drawings and have your child make up stories to go along with them.

Play: Play helps children think symbolically — that this item stands for this thing, which helps them understand that words can stand for real objects and experiences.

• Give your child lots of chances for free, unstructured play during the day.
• Have your child play with puppets or stuffed animals and make up stories about them.
• Have the child tell you a story based on the pictures in a book or have your child read you a book that you've read together many times.