Reading Tips

Easy Things To Do At Home To Raise Readers......

When you snuggle with your child & read books or stories, you stimulate all the senses at once & make the reading experience pleasurable. This creates a positive association with reading. Start with short reading sessions and increase the length as your child's attention span grows. As you are reading, point to words in the text with your finger. By doing this, you are helping to train your child's eyes to automatically follow words & symbols in a left to right progression. Also, encourage your child to predict what might happen next as the story begins to develop.(Scholastic Parent & Child April/May 2001)

Tips from the Office of Commonwealth Libraries - PA Dept. of Ed
Read to your child every day. Make it a special time when you both can relax, snuggle and enjoy books.
Build a home library and fill it with your child's favorite titles.
Sing nursery rhymes and finger plays to introduce an awareness of speech sounds and patterns.
Visit your local library on a regular basis and borrow a wide range of books and audio materials. Take part in activities the library provides for young children.
Use words to describe aloud what you are doing or what you see around your house and community.
Learning depends on repetition. It is good when children ask for favorites to be read again and again.
Encourage your child to "read" picture books to you.
Be a good role model by reading for enjoyment and information yourself.
When reading aloud, use lots of expression, different voices and sound effects when appropriate. Make sure your child can see the pictures easily.
Read books that play with language such as poetry, tongue twisters, rhymes, and riddles.