Parents are often interested in what they can do to support their children to become successful readers down the road. Zero to Three offers a 2021 article on just that topic: Sharing a Book? We’ve Got Questions!. In it the author describes “reading aloud with your little one (as) a great way to set the stage” for reading success. She goes on to say, “Encourage your child to talk more as you read stories together,” and provides a list of easy-to-adopt strategies. There are practical ideas for reading to children who are just beginning to communicate and others who already have considerable vocabulary and are beginning to put words together. The article concludes by saying that reading should be fun, more like a read-aloud conversation than a quiz. As a child is ready, adults may encourage them to take on more and more of the “storytelling” to build their language and literacy skills and exercise their imaginations. It’s a quick but informative read!
But wait, there’s more! The article links to another resource, Getting Ready to Read: Helping Your Child Become a Confident Reader and Writer Starting from Birth, that might be appropriate to download and share with parents. It provides information on age-level expectations along with strategies parents can implement at each level of development. Even better, there’s a long list of books parents can share with their little ones. There’s also a similar list on the Neighborhood, Children’s Books Related to Social-Emotional Development, which might also be worth checking out.
Happy reading!