Literacy doesn’t start only when your child starts school. From birth, babies and children are gathering skills they’ll use in reading. The years between ages 3 and 5 are critical to reading growth, and some 5-year-olds are already in kindergarten.
The best way to instill a love for and interest in reading is to simply read to your child. And yet, many parents don’t. Reading gives you the opportunity for close bonding with your child, and it also provides a window into a world of literacy that your child is about to enter.
As your child goes from saying her first sentences to speaking in paragraphs, you will start to see exciting milestones develop with reading. Your child will begin to recognize print on the street, stop signs, familiar store signs, and the address posted on your home.
- Most Preschoolers Will: Know the names of their favorite books; hold a book correctly and turn pages; recall familiar words and phrases in favorite books, pretend to read books; know the difference between a random squiggle and a letter or number.
- Some Preschoolers Will: Recognize and write some letters and numbers; name letters that begin certain words, make up rhymes or silly phrases.
- Some Preschoolers Might Even: Predict what might happen next in a story, read and write their names and some familiar words, retell stories that they know.
Click the link for more information and activities for children aged 3-5.