Literacy Development

As your child's first and most important teacher, the role you have in your child's perception and love of reading is crucial. Reading each day with your child and having your child see you read are great ways to model the importance and love for reading.

The time shared with a book should be fun, enjoyable and as long as your child shows interest. From birth it is possible to make books available by borrowing from the library and visiting one of our  centres that have a wonderful collection of books.

You may notice that your child wants to read the same story repeatedly and speaks about the same parts in the same way. Children learn through repetition so allow your child to hear the story over and over. If you get tired of just reading the story, try retelling the story through dramatic play or representing the stories events through a drawing or painting.

As your young child grows into a preschooler, begin to point to words as you say them to demonstrate that the print carries meaning and is related to the words you are saying. Notice the pictures on the page and encourage your child to "read" the book on their own.

Jada