TALK

Talking with children helps them learn oral language, one of the most critical early literacy skills. Talking with your toddler helps them expand their vocabulary and learn more complex sentence structures. Research shows that talking with children during everyday routines increases their vocabularies.

READ

Reading together develops vocabulary and comprehension, and motivates children to want to learn to read. Enjoying books together daily is a great way to nurture a love of reading. Make it apparent that reading is valuable. As little as 15 minutes a day makes a difference. Start the day your child is born and make books available at home.

PLAY

Play is one of the best ways for children to learn language and literacy skills, as the activities help them put thoughts into words and talk about what they are doing. Give your child toys and games that encourage them to act out stories. Creating their own stories helps children better understand stories on the page.

EARLY MATH & SCIENCE

Children's brains are ready to understand number concepts from a very early age, and an understanding of such concepts may predict future math and literacy skills. Count aloud with your child, look for patterns, notice numbers, sizes, shapes, and colors of things around.

 

SING

Singing develops language skills by slowing down language so children can hear the different sounds in words. Have fun and don't worry about how you sound! Singing helps your child hear the sound in words and builds their vocabulary. All of this can be done during everyday moments you share with your child.

 

WRITE

Encourage your child to write! Start with scribbles and move on to real shapes, letters and numbers as they get older. Writing lets them learn that letters and words represent sounds, and that print has meaning.