Ready, Set...Read!

For almost 40 percent of children, learning to read is a challenge. Yet strangely, most very young children can identify their favourite fast food restaurant or breakfast cereal packet without too many problems.

This is because kids learn to discriminate between shapes, colours, line and pictures from a young age and these are a child's first steps when learning to read.

So - what simple things can you do at home to encourage your youngsters' early literacy skills?

• Talk a lot!
  Your child will learn about words just from listening to you, so go ahead - point out the fast car on the street or the pretty flowers in the garden. Your use of simple descriptive language will help your child to discriminate and add to their vocabulary.
• But remember - your children are listening!
  Children are marvellous imitators and the vocabulary and tone you use will have an impression upon them (usually resulting in the repetition of something you have said at an entirely inappropriate and embarrassing moment!) Try to speak well when your children are within earshot, giving them good models for language.
• Read to your child
  Kids love to share the closeness that reading brings, so make reading to your child a part of every day. Always look at and talk about the pictures. Visual images offer children important cues about what is happening in a story and are a valid way of helping them to draw meaning from text. Another tip is to try running your finger under the words as you read. This will encourage your child to learn that, in the English language, text begins on the left and moves to the right. This is an important skill as they begin to read and write themselves.
• Don't just read at home
  In the car, at the shops or in a restaurant - there are plenty of opportunities to show your child that reading is an important skill. When you are at the supermarket, talk about what you are purchasing and look at the signs above each aisle to identify the products that can be found there. Your children will quickly learn the meaning of the shapes and letters used on packaging and this is a valid pre-reading skill. Encouraging older children to find the product on the shelves is also a great way to develop their pre-reading and independence skills.
• Write for a purpose
  Share the writing of grocery lists, thank you notes, postcards and even emails with your child. When children see you engaged in an activity, they learn that these behaviours are an important part of daily life. When you welcome their efforts to copy your behaviours, you will teach them that these skills are worth having. 

Words, letters and sounds can be fun for kids - and learning about them begins at home.

You don't need to be a teacher to give your child great pre-reading skills -so go on, write your child's name in the sand or sing silly songs that your child will remember. It's worth the effort - and the moments spent with your child developing these skills will be ones you will never regret.

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