Print Motivation:

• Begin reading books early, even when your child is a newborn.
• Make book sharing a special time.
• Let your baby see you reading.
• Visit your public library often.
• Children who enjoy being read to will want to learn how to read.
  

  Activity:
  What You Need:
  a puppet or stuffed animal and a picture book

  What You Do:

  1. Place the book upside-down where you and your child can see it.
     
  2. Bring out the puppet and introduce it to your child. Explain that the puppet is going to read the book, but will need some help. Encourage your child to interact with the puppet.
     
  3. Begin the activity by having the puppet look for the title, author and illustrator of the book. Since the book is upside-down, the puppet should ask for help from your child. For example, "I want to read this book, but first I need to tell you the title. I can’t find it! The book is upside down. There's the title. What does ‘title’ mean?"
     
  4. Continue the activity with the puppet asking for your child’s help reading the book. For example:
     "What should I do first if I want to read the book?"
     "Where should I start reading?"
     "Help me turn the page."
     "Can you help me find the picture of __________?"

  Why?
  Your child learns about how books work.
  

Print Awareness:
Noticing print, knowing how to handle a book and how to follow the words on a page.

• Read aloud every day. (Signs, labels, menus)
• Point to each word on a page as you read it.
• Use board or cloth books and have your child hold the book.
• Being familiar with printed language helps children feel comfortable with books and understand that print is useful.

  Activity:
  What You Need:
  • several empty cartons of foods familiar to your child (e.g., cereals, milk, pasta)
  • plastic sandwich bags

What You Do:

1. Cut the carton front into 4-5 puzzle-shaped pieces.
2. Place each puzzle into a bag. If possible, have an intact, identical carton front for your child to see as a model.
3. Put the puzzle together with your child. Ask him to point out the food words on the puzzle and say them out loud.

Why?
Your child learns about print in our everyday world and learns to differentiate print from pictures.

Letter Knowledge:
Knowing letters are different from each other, knowing their names and sounds and recognizing letters everywhere.

• Help your child see and feel different shapes as you play.
• Point out letters on toys, food boxes and on objects around the house.
• Talk with your child about what is the same and what is different between two things.
• Help your child learn new words by talking and reading together.

Activity:
What You Need:
• same-colored index cards
• markers

What You Do:

1. Make the game cards: Using only the letters in the child's name, write each letter on two cards so that you have several pairs of cards.
2. Shuffle the cards and spread them out face down.
3. Ask the child to turn over any two cards. If the cards match, help the child name the letter. The child then keeps the cards. If the cards do not match, the child turns the cards back over and tries again. Play continues until all matches have been made.
4. Help your child put the letters in order to spell his or her name.

Why?
Your child learns about letter shapes, names and sounds.

Vocabulary:
Knowing the names of things.

• Read together every day.
• When reading, name pictures as you point to them.
• Talk with your child about what is going on around you.
• When your baby babbles or your child talks, listen carefully and answer.
• Research shows that children who have larger vocabularies are better readers.

Activity:
What You Need:
• pictures of familiar items cut from magazines and advertisements (Some pictures should include print, and some should be simply a picture without any print).
• scissors
• glue
• index cards

What You Do:

1. In advance or together with your child, glue each picture onto an index card.
2. Give your child two cards, one that has a word or words on it and one that has just a picture.
3. Say, “Letters can go together to make words. Look for letters and words on your cards. Show me the card that has a word on it.”
4. Help your child choose a picture with a word on it. You can challenge your child to tell you what word he or she sees in the picture.
5. Repeat with a few cards. Reinforce the purpose of the print in each picture. For example, say, “This cereal box has a word on it that tells us the cereal’s name.”

Why?
Your child will learn to tell the difference between print and pictures and learn one of the purposes of print.

Narrative Skills:
Being able to describe things and events and tell stories.

• Talk to your child about what you are doing.
• Encourage your child to tell you about things.
• Read favorite books again and again.
• Talking with children develops comprehension skills that will help them understand what they read.

  Activity:
  What You Need:
  • a variety of drawing materials (crayons, markers, pencils)
  • paper

  What You Do:

  1. As your child watches you, write at the top of the paper, “Today in school, I will…” or “Today at home, we will….”
  2. Ask your child to finish the sentence with a drawing of something that will happen that day in school or at home. You can write your child’s description of the drawing at the bottom of the page.

Why?
Your child learns that drawing a picture can tell a story or describe an event.

Phonological Awareness:
Being able to hear and play with smaller sounds in words.

• Singing songs is a good way to help your child hear syllables in words.
• Add actions to songs to help break down language into separate words.
• Make up your own silly nonsense rhymes.
• Being able to hear sounds that make up words helps children sound out written words as they begin to read.

Activity:
What You Need:

• rhyming dictionary such as The Scholastic Rhyming Dictionary (Scholastic, Inc., 1994) or online at www.rhymezone.com
• list of pairs of rhyming words
• list of pairs of non-rhyming words

What You Do:

1. Model the activity for your child. Say a pair of words that rhyme. For example, say, “Cat-bat. The end of those words sounds the same…The words rhyme. I’m going to jump for a rhyme!”
2. Say a pair of words that do not rhyme. Tell your child, “Those words don’t rhyme, so I’ll just sit down.”
3. Play the game with your child, beginning with several pairs that rhyme, and then add in some pairs that don’t rhyme.

Variation:

1. To adjust level of activity, begin with one-syllable words and progress to two- and three-syllable words.

Why?
Your child will become aware of rhymes and learn to identify them.

For more information: www.getreadytoread.org