Reading is a form of expressive language.

Reading to your child helps:

  • Develop vocabulary and story telling abilities
  • Develop a positive attitude toward reading
  • Teach important pre-reading skills (idea that letters create words and words create ideas)

 

General strategies for reading books with your child

  • Choose books according to your child’s interests and level of development
  • Catch your child’s attention
  • Make your reading dramatic (make your voice interesting, talk slowly)
  • Take your time and go at your child’s pace
  • It’s OK if your child wants to go backwards
  • Involve your child – allow him to turn the pages
  • Link books with other activities (pretend play themes)
  • Repeat, repeat, repeat
  • Make books readily available
  • Remember the “snuggly factor (find a comfortable spot, turn off the television)

 

Reading books with Early Communicators (children who are non-verbal or who are just starting to talk)

  • Give books that are durable and have good clear pictures and photographs
  • Give books that have nursery rhymes and are repetitive
  • Use actions with nursery rhymes
  • Give board books that encourage labeling and pointing
  • Use song books and interactive books (e.g. Pat the Bunny)
  • Look at family photograph albums
  • Use simple language and short sentences when sharing a book
  • You do not have to read all the words on the page
  • Use gestures and repeat
  • Books should be short and related to your child’s interests
  • Make sure that books are at your child’s level of understanding
  • Books should have a small amount of print on each page

 

Reading books with Practicing Communicators (children who speak in short phrases)

  • Give books with lots of pictures
  • Give books with a repetitive ideas and fun sounding words o (e.g. Wee…, “ooh”)
  • Read short stories with a simple ideas
  • Use your own words when the written words are too complicated.
  • Let your child join in!
  • Bring the book to life – be animated and fun!

 

Reading books with Experienced Communicators (children who speak in sentences)

  • Your child will start to understand the world of make believe in books and enjoy books with characters that interact (e.g. Dora)
  • Give books that introduce your child to some new vocabulary words (e.g. joyous, ashamed)
  • Read more detailed stories that have a beginning, middle and end
  • Don’t rush through the book
  • Talk about what’s happening in the story
  • Talk about what might happen next.
  • If the book has been read and enjoyed many times, pause to see if your child will fill in the blanks or “read” for himself
  • Point out the title and author of the story
  • Look at the front cover of the story and hypothesize about what the story may be about
  • Retell the story using the terms first, next, last
  • Predict what may happen