10 Things To Do With Your Children To Develop Their Literacy
Skills
1. Read to your children
whenever you can. Just 10–15 minutes daily will help them develop the reading
habit. Read stories and information books, newspapers and magazine articles,
poems, catalogues – anything that interests your children and you. If you do
not read in English, read to your children in your home language, talk about
the pictures in the text and share wordless picture books.
2. Reread your children’s
favourite books. Repeated readings help children make sense of print.
3. Talk to your children
often. Tell family stories, talk about what you are doing and encourage your
children to talk to other family members and friends. This will expose them to, and get them working with, different
models of language usage. If English is not their first language, help your
children become proficient in their home language.
4. Be a role model. Listen
to what your children are saying. Avoid responding with “mmm” or “just a
minute”. Let them see you reading for work and pleasure. Draw their attention
to the types of writing you do.
5. Provide your children
with a variety of experiences. Take them on outings in your neighbourhood, to
the local park, and to the mall. Sign them up for public library programs. Go
swimming with your children. Garden and cook with them. Talk about what you are
seeing and doing together. These experiences help children develop background
knowledge, which helps them make connections in their reading and writing.
6. Join the public library,
get library cards for your children and encourage them to borrow materials on a
regular basis. Allow your children to choose their own books.
7. Buy books for your
children as gifts for special occasions. Purchase a subscription to a
children’s magazine on a topic of their interest. Arrange a place in their room
where they can store their books.
8. Turn off the TV and
computer regularly and have a family games night. Jigsaw puzzles and games,
such as Junior Scrabble, Pictionary for Juniors, and Boggle for Juniors, are fun. They also encourage vocabulary development. Take
advantage of moments when your children are “captive” by playing word games in
the car.
9. Encourage your children
to read and write letters, postcards, greeting cards, thank you notes,
invitations, lists, and messages. Accept all spelling attempts. Provide a
variety of paper and writing materials, such as markers, coloured pencils,
chalk, crayons, pens, etc. Put up a family message board and encourage your
children to write and post their own messages. Write notes to your children,
and leave them in their lunch bags and around the house.
10. Let your children read
to you and to anyone or anything (pets, stuffed animals, etc.) willing to
listen. If they make a mistake when they are reading, allow time for
self-correction. If the mistake makes sense, ignore it.
Enjoy your children’s journey towards
learning to read and write.
Encourage and celebrate their efforts.
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As a parent, you can create many enjoyable
opportunities throughout the week to help your child learn to read and write.
Please take a few minutes to check off the box as you and your child complete
the activities below. Send the checklist back to school on Friday.
We
read:
a story
a non-fiction book
a poetry book
a magazine
a recipe or instructions
We wrote:
a list
a note
a letter
a story
We talked about:
a book
a television program
what happened at school
We spent time together:
playing a game
singing some songs
taking a walk
visiting the library