Reading Tips for Parents of Preschoolers
Language and Literacy Skills: Ages 24-36 Months
The idea of babies and toddlers talking and reading can seem incredible. It is hard to imagine them debating with you about curfews or curling up with a Harry Potter book. However, language and literacy skills start early—even before birth. Watching your baby and learning how they communicate through sounds, facial expressions, and gestures are all important ways to help them learn about language and the written word.
Language and Literacy Continued
It isn’t necessary to teach very young children. Formal classes and other activities that push babies and toddlers to read and write words do not help their development or make them do better in school. In fact, they can even make children feel like failures when they are pushed to do something they don’t enjoy or that is beyond their skills.
Early language and literacy skills are learned best through everyday moments with your child—reading books, talking, laughing and playing together. Children learn language when you talk to them and they communicate back to you, and by hearing stories read and songs sung aloud. Children develop early literacy skills when you give them the chance to play with and explore books and other written materials like magazines, newspapers, take-out menus, markers and crayons.
Language and literacy, while two different skills, build on one another in important ways.
Language and Literacy: What You Can Do
Talking with your toddler helps them expand their vocabulary and learn more complex sentence structures. Talking together also develops their literacy skills as they are more comfortable and confident with language. Talk as you ride in the car, do errands together, make a meal, or even take a walk. Research shows that talking with children during everyday routines increases their vocabularies.
Parent-Child Activities to Promote Language and Literacy
Line up empty food containers (cereal boxes, cracker boxes, etc.). Give your child a grocery bag and let them go shopping. Talk about the different foods they are buying: Which one is their favorite? Which one will they eat first? Point out colors and letters on the food packages.
Literacy is More Than Reading – It Starts the Moment Babies Hear a Voice!
During your day's hustle and bustle ... Remember to READ!
While we all get busy during the day, there are resources that give you a helping hand to keep little learners engaged. PBS Kids is one. They have created some amazing reading and interactive learning resources to help parents and caregivers. We've shared some of these here.
• gpbkids.org and PBS KIDS Video App: Explore full episodes, clips, games, and more educational tools for kids from ages 2-8.
• PBS KIDS for Parents: Find tips, resources, printables, an Activity Finder and more tools for learning at home with young children, including a special virtual event: Prepping for a Very Different School Year.
To get free resources and activities sent directly to your phone, sign up for Bright by Text by texting GPB to 27448.
Online Storytelling
Read 1,000 Books with your child before Kindergarten
1,000 Books Before Kindergarten
The Statesboro Regional Library is excited about its new 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program that started last October. Any child ages birth to five-years-old can participate as long as they have not started Kindergarten.
GET GEORGIA READING IN THE COMMUNITY
Communities across the state are working hard to ensure our children are on track to achieving third-grade reading proficiency—and yours is invited to join this effort.
Bulloch County Literacy Council
The Bulloch County Literacy Council is a collaborative group of educators, representatives from literacy organizations, business and civic organization leaders, and community volunteers. Its purpose is to sustain a community collaborative that works to increase Kindergarten readiness for students from birth through Pre-Kindergarten and to support the improvement of literacy levels for all children in Kindergarten through fifth grade.
The Literacy Council's Bulloch READ initiative works to accomplish the following:
- Reading: Encourage the creation of Reading nooks.
- Environment: Encourage a literacy-rich Environment.
- Access: Increase Access to book and reading resources.
- Development: Increase early brain Development.
Literacy Council's 2nd Annual Reading Nook Photo Contest is Feb. 14 - March 2
The Bulloch County Literacy Council will host its 2nd Annual Reading Nook Photo Contest February 14 through March 2. The contest is sponsored again this year by Kids World Learning Center.
Upload a digital photo of you reading with your child, ages infant to five-years-old, in your favorite reading nook, to www.statesboroherald.com/readingnook anytime during the contest period. A reading nook is anywhere you and your child love to read. Winners will be featured inside the March 5 edition of the Statesboro Herald as we celebrate the end of Read Across America Week and how families help raise readers in Bulloch County.
The community can visit the website as well to vote on their favorite photos. This year the family with the overall winning photo will win a special reading nook with a collection of books. It was crafted from a bedside table donated by Bulloch County's Spike's Habitat for Humanity Restore, refurbished by Statesboro High School Construction students, outfitted with handcrafted cushions from Statesboro First Baptist Church's Caring Threads Ministry, and stocked with new books from the Bulloch County Literacy Council.
About Us
Email: webster@bullochschools.org
Website: bullochschools.org
Location: 150 Williams Road, Statesboro, GA, USA
Phone: 912-212-8500
Facebook: facebook.com/bullochcountyschools
Twitter: @bullochschools