I    A  A  A

Preschoolers are Pre-Readers

Sachem Library
Learning words begins at birth and grows throughout a child's life. Most children start school knowing between 3,000 and 5,000 words. Research has shown that children who have larger vocabularies become better readers. Knowing many words before they can actually read helps children recognize the written words when they see them and they have a better understanding of what they read.

Children who enjoy being read to will want to learn how to read! Preschoolers enjoy books that tell stories, make them laugh, are about kids like them, are about going to school and making friends, are about concepts (alphabet, counting, shapes, etc.), are about real objects and animals, have playful or rhyming text and are simple enough they can memorize.

Encourage your preschooler to notice print all around them,
from the alphabet magnets on the fridge to signs out and about town. Teach them that reading uses symbols called letters and that these letters have specific sounds that you read from left to right. It is okay if they don't know all their letters just yet, they will eventually.

-Encouarage your child to pick out the books you read together.

-Let your child practice retelling the story to you in their own words.

-Talk about the pictures, characters and events in the story you are reading.

-Encouarge your child to make predictions about what will happen next in the story.

-Casually point out some letters in the book like the letter their first name starts with.

-At times run your finger below the text as you read aloud to show the direction we read the letters.

-Choose some books with repetition and rhyme then pause to allow your child to fill in the words.

-Remember it's not the quantity of time spent reading together, it's the quality. So relax and enjoy!

Great Books for 4 & 5 Year Olds Book List

Early Literacy Skills for Preschoolers

This was posted on 6/18/2013 11:29:37 AM