For as long as possible, some parents and educators think it’s better to let kids be kids. Why force them to mature? Why thrust children into a strict educational system before they have even stopped using diapers? We fervently concur. However, we also think that early literacy development is important for children’s healthy development and future academic success. Fortunately, you don’t have to start teaching your child to read right away if you want him to develop literacy skills.
Contrarily, one of the most crucial literacy-building activities you can engage in with your child to help him learn to read and succeed in school is simply reading to him for 20 minutes each day.
Boost children’s literacy
Early Childhood Literacy Improvement Techniques
For as long as possible, some parents and educators think it’s better to let kids be kids. Why force them to mature? Why thrust children into a strict educational system before they have even stopped using diapers? We fervently concur. However, we also think that early literacy development is important for children’s healthy development and future academic success. Fortunately, teaching your child to read doesn’t need you to spend a lot of time or money.
Run your finger beneath each word
Reading aloud to young children while tracing your finger under each word begins to develop literacy skills in ways you might not even realize. Not all young children naturally learn to read and write in these directions (left to right and top to bottom). As you read, have the child place their finger under each word to help them develop their sense of direction. At first your child may not even notice what you’re doing with your finger–but they will sooner or later. Your child will then begin to watch your finger, and as he does, he will start to build an understanding of words, word spacing, and print. This will help him learn how to read and write.
Before you know it, he’ll start mirroring what you do by tracing his finger under words as you read, and he’ll start pretending to read, which is a huge step toward early literacy.
concentrate on vocabulary
Building vocabulary does not require a youngster to read. In actuality, a child picks up a lot of his vocabulary before he even begins to read. In order to learn to read later on, a strong vocabulary is essential.
Early vocabulary development helps kids create “background knowledge” they can use as a foundation for future learning. Most parents and some educators are unaware of how the human brain, and particularly the brain of a child, learns by connecting new information to previous knowledge.
It is simpler for us to comprehend something new if we can relate it to something more familiar. When your child starts school, it will be much simpler for them to learn to read and extend their vocabulary if you help them establish background knowledge by expanding their vocabulary.
Did you know that kids who have a high vocabulary before they start kindergarten can usually pick up 8 new words a day while kids who have trouble with vocabulary only pick up 2? The better your child’s vocabulary, the simpler it will be for him to learn to read and understand what he’s reading.
Developing your child’s vocabulary at an early age can make learning to read much simpler for him.
Clarify the punctuation
Even though it might seem excessive to point out punctuation to a four-year-old, it has a significant impact on early literacy. We just advise that you point them out rather than teaching your child what a question mark, period, or exclamation point is.
As they learn to read, many teenagers have trouble using proper punctuation. Punctuation, believe it or not, is daunting. Early exposure to punctuation while you read your child’s favorite stories to him can make him feel much more at ease and less intimidated by punctuation when he begins reading independently. Again, the goal is not to teach your child how to use punctuation; rather, it is to increase their knowledge and comfort with it while you read to them.
vocal inflections when reading
According to some estimates, 93% of all communication takes place nonverbally (55% through body language and 38% through tone of voice). The same applies to ready. Reading conveys meaning not just through the words themselves, but also through their application. Use voice inflections when reading to your small child or newborn. Voice inflections have two benefits when used in reading.
Voice inflections first aid children in understanding how reading should sound.
Locate letters
If your child is a little older, occasionally going on a letter hunt with him will help him start to recognize and understand his letters while also making story time exciting. To make it more engaging, teach your youngster a specific letter, such as “A,” or you might use the initial letter of his name, “B” (for Brian). Then have Brian look for the letter B on each page you read.
the number of times he encounters B on each page, then the number of times B appears in the narrative.
Ask your child to predict something.
Have your youngster examine the cover, read the title, and even flip over a few pages to look at some illustrations before you begin reading a new book. Ask your youngster now what he anticipates the book will be about. Ask your child to share with you his or her prediction of the book’s content after you’ve finished reading it.
Verify your understanding
One of the most essential abilities for children of school age is reading comprehension. Unfortunately, it’s one of the subjects that many kids struggle with the most in elementary and high school. By putting early emphasis on comprehension, you can assist your child not only get a head start but also develop the early comprehension abilities he’ll need to excel in school.
Ask your youngster a few questions after you’ve finished reading a story to him to determine how much he comprehended or remembered.
Reread it several times!
It could seem a little monotonous to read the same book every day, but if your child likes the book, they’ll want to read it over and over again. To learn, repetition is essential. Reading from the same book repeatedly will strengthen all of the learning tactics you’re using, expand his vocabulary, and make it much simpler for him when he is forced to start reading on his own. That’s not to say you shouldn’t shake it up a little.
If you read the same book to your child every day, it won’t be long before he begins to turn the pages when you reach the end of the text, correct you when you misunderstand the plot or make changes, and even pretend to read the book himself.
Helping your child develop a love of books and a passion for learning is more crucial than teaching them early literacy skills.
