Begin with these building blocks to help prepare your child for success in school.
Click here for Early Literacy tip videos.
Read out loud to your child for 15 minutes every day to build important language skills and encourage reading. A child with a varied vocabulary becomes a better reader.
Even from early infancy, a baby can start to recognize the sounds, rhythm, and tone of language to become familiar with words and their meaning. Reading to your child will prepare them for success in school later on.
Use conversation to teach your child new words to express themselves. Help your child learn how to engage with others by asking questions, pausing, and giving them time to respond.
Talk about what is happening around you and point out all of the different things you read throughout the day. Show your child that reading is fun and important to you and your child will learn from your example.
Play together to build thinking skills, creativity, and give your child an opportunity to express thoughts and feelings. Exploration teaches kids to try new things and learn how to get along with others.
Keep going when your child appears to be distracted. Little ones have lots of energy and even though it may seem like they are not paying attention, listening and learning is still going on!
Sing to your child. It slows down language, helps them recognize patterns, and makes words more memorable. Singing can also reduce stress, have a calming effect, and increase emotional intelligence.
Help little brains make language connections and boost comprehension through the repetition of music. Learning letters and words takes a lot of practice. You can read favorite books over and over, too.
Let you child draw, scribble, or make shapes on paper. This will help build a path to writing skills. A child should know how to write their own name before kindergarten.
Give your child freedom and show them that they can be trusted to make good choices. This will help them develop independent thinking skills, which will lead to positive experiences and happy habits.
Libraries are welcoming places, and we offer more than just books! Get to know library staff, find answers to questions, attend programs like Storytime, and check out resources for you and your child. Click here for library locations.
Use your library account to access ebooks, videos, and other early learning and literacy tools. Many resources are also availabile in Spanish. Click here to get started!
