Literacy
Literacy begins the moment a parent/caregiver holds a baby in his/her lap. As you sing, tell stories and rhymes, babies are developing listening skills and an interest in the love of words. Frequent times spent cuddling and reading together with babies will encourage a wonderful feeling about books. This relationship will encourage children to taste them, turn their pages and yes, read them.
Encourage exploration of books
Reading to your child will encourage him/her to explore books by:
· turning pages
· lifting/dropping books
· placing corners of the books in the mouth/or chewing pages
· opening/closing books
Looking and recognizing (a picture, character or scene)
Your child will spend more attention to a picture in a book as he/she grows older. You will observe your baby spend more time on a page or story and giggle at his/her favorite page(s).
Understanding pictures and stories
Older babies start connecting pictures and stories to things that
happen in the “real” life. Around the age of 10 months, a baby may
make a connection between a book and her daily life experiences. A
baby boy may point at a fire truck toy after seeing one in a book which
has been read to several times.
Story-reading behaviors
Young children will imitate their readers by pretending they are
reading along by babbling and making excited sounds. They may
also to point to certain pictures. Take this opportunity to repeat
the name of the picture again to your baby.
Suggestions to encourage your future readers:
· Read lots of books – Reading aloud increases
your child’s vocabulary as he/she learns new words
and learn what they mean. Reading together helps
develop a love of reading and books.
· Use books as part of your baby’s daily routines –
Create a special time in the evening time to read
without any distractions. Use plastic books at
bath time. Bring books with you to the park, in the car
and to family visits. Family members can read also
and have additional children participate in story time.
· Read with gusto - Have fun using different voices for different
characters in the books you read to your baby. It will
make book reading enjoyable for you the baby and
you.
Follow your baby’s lead with books
As your child grows and develops, they will show you what they enjoy most about reading. One child will only want to look at the pictures on the second page and another may want only books on teddy bears.
Some of the ways your baby may tell you he likes or doesn’t like a book you
read:
· Giggling or babbling when you choose a story he/she likes.
· Crying, protesting or pushing a selected book that he/she does
not or trying to tell you they would like to do something
else.
· Spends a lot of time focusing on picture and/or page.
Babies between the ages of 6 and 12 months enjoy books that “do”
things. Books that are rubber or plastic, have tabs to pull or lift;
have textures to touch or holes to poke a finger through; have pieces to
lift to see a picture underneath. These features help your child’s physical
skills and teaches his/her dexterity of her fingers which assists her with
his/her literacy skills.
Suggestions to help your baby:
· Let your baby “read” her own way. He/she may decide to
be still while you are reading a one or two pages and
then want to quickly glance at the remaining pages.
Or he/she might be feeling tired and does not want to
look at the book at the book any more. Let your
child set the pace of the activity you choose and
help the event become a positive experience.
· Repeat, Repeat, Repeat - Babies learn vocabulary,
songs and rhymes through repetition. Allow
your child as much time as they are interested to
look over a page in a book or to hear the story
over and over.
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