Monthly Message: It’s never too early to read to your children! Young children need nutritious food, stimulating toys and lots of hugs and kisses. But beginning at birth, they also need to be talked, sung and read to.
I like t o read out lou d!
New research from Stanford psychologists shows that by talking and reading to your child, parents can help their children learn language more quickly, which speeds up vocabulary growth.
We have known the importance of reading to your child for a long time, but this new evidence is showing that language and literacy really begins at birth. Gaps can emerge as early as 18 months between children who are read and talked to and those who have those interactions less often. Parents, caregivers and teachers have the most influence on children’s language and literacy development. Don’t wait until preschool or kindergarten to start sharing books with your child. Sharing books with your children can even help them get ready to listen and learn in school. An easy place to begin a new reading routine is bedtime. Set aside time before bed with the TV off and start with one of your childhood favorites or visitscholastic.com for a list of book ideas for young children.
SOURCE: http://toosmall.org, http://www.healthychildren.org, http://www.nga.org, http://www.nytimes.com
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Can Do: What Parentscomfortable place for t,
- Find a quie book sharing. ures your int to the pict po d an e m Na rest in. baby shows inte rn pages. by tu face, hands - Help your ba ures using your ct pi t ou t Ac and voice.
12- 17 M
- Look onth Olds Can at own sou favorite pictu : res an nds fo - Point to 1 or r some of th d make their e 2 anima animal’ ls and m m. - Pay a s sound. ake tha tte t at a tim ntion to a boo k for a e. - Laug few min h and ja utes bber wh book wit ile enjoy h you. ing a fa vorite What P a r ents - Name and say Can Do: a few pictur - Imita es your child words about t te t is p he says w he sound or w ointing to h ile look ords - Name and dem ing at a pictu your child re onstrat e action s in a b ook
Four Year O lds Can:
- Tell you w hich books t hey want to share with you. - Tell you h ow a story is like thing s they have seen o r done. - Ask you q uestions abo ut books yo u are enjoying tog ether. - Point out if you skip a word or pag e in a favorite boo k. - Tell you t he story in a favorite b ook in their own w ords. - Enjoy a tr ip to your lo cal public lib rary for Story T ime or to bo rrow some b ooks.
What Paren ts Can Do: - Ask
your child t o tell you ab out the pictures and the story. - Respond w ith enthusia sm to your child’s questions an d comments . - Ask your child to sho w you all th e things in a picture that are alik e in some w - Point out ay. colors, shap es, numbers and letters in t heir books.
Two and Th
- Name the ree Year Olds Can: bo - Enjoy sha oks they want to shar ring the sam e e book over . over again. and - Repeat so me o you say or r f the words and phras es ead. - Ask you q uestions, lik e: - Pretend t o read a fav “What’s that?” orite book a loud.
What Paren
- Ask your ts Can Do: child pictures and to tell you about the the story - Start a c onversation . by repeating important w an - Respond w ord or phrase. ith enthusia sm to your child
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18-23 Month Olds Can:
- Choose a book to share and tell you if they want to read another book. - Point to a favorite picture and say a word or two about it. - Look at animals and make their sounds. - Finish some sentences from books they know very well.
What Parents Can Do:
- Help your child pronounce words better. - Help your child understand by speaking in slow, short sentences. - Use book sharing as a way to calm and comfort your child.
Monthly Message: It’s never too early to read to your children!
SOURCE: healthychildren.org