(per National Center for Family Literacy)
As children grow, so do their attention spans. They also become more coordinated and independent. How you read with your child will change, too.
Here are some tips to guide parents of babies and toddlers, preschoolers, and beginning readers.
Birth to Toddlers
As babies, children learn by using their senses to distinguish differences between objects and explore the world around them. By age two, a child’s oral language skills are usually advanced enough to be able to identify objects and communicate ideas. It is important to use activities and books to support and encourage these emerging abilities.
To enrich the reading experience with very young children:
- Sing lullabies and songs
- Choose picture books with one or two pictures per page. Find pictures that are clear, simple and colorful.
- Read your child’s favorite books often. Repetition will create familiarity and associations, which help your child develop language.
- Choose board or plastic books so that your child can explore the cover and pages safely.
- Stimulate your child’s senses by choosing books that have different textures or smells, or books that make sounds.
- Engage your child physically in reading by clapping out rhymes or bouncing on your knee as you tell a story.
- Read simple, soothing “goodnight” books before bedtime.
Preschoolers (Three to Five Years)
Children in this age group begin to understand the difference between words and the objects they stand for. As they explore, kids begin to grasp concepts like shapes, numbers, colors and seasons. This is also a time when children see themselves as the “center of the universe!”
To enrich the reading experience with preschoolers:
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Read stories with catchy, repeated phrases. Books with lots of rhyming words and nonsense words are great for this age.
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Look for sturdy, pop-up and pull-tag books to foster your child’s coordination.
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Choose short stories that relate to everyday events.
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Try a variety of books that focus on important concepts, like ABCs, counting, colors and shapes.
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Select books about real things, like dinosaurs, trucks or farm animals. Kids this age love non-fiction.
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Expand your child’s world by reading folk tales and fairy tales from different countries.
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Introduce longer stories and more detailed pictures, keeping in mind your child’s attention span.
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Look for stories that can be acted out, like “The Three Little Pigs.”
Beginning Readers (Six to Eight Years)
This age group is “grown up” and is much more capable than they were just a year ago. They have a good command of language and are able to describe feelings and events. They also may be getting a little competitive! Kids this age have active imaginations and are starting to be able to see things from another person’s perspective. Encourage children to read on their own as well as with you.
To enrich the reading experience with beginning readers:
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Choose short stories with more words per page. Look for pictures that match the text.
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Explore simple chapter books, especially those with bigger print to make reading a little easier.
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Let your child choose books about people, places and things that interest him.
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Try reading real-life stories, simple biographies and mysteries. Be sure to talk about what you read.
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Have fun with joke and riddle books.
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Introduce simple magazines.
