Developing reading skills in toddlers and young kids

Reading skill is an important part of child development. It may seem to be an easy job but actually, it requires careful effort developing reading skills in toddlers. Toddlers like to learn and do new things. Their enthusiasm for new things and skills help them to become better in different tasks. For motivating them to read, the role of parents is inevitable. Similarly, with young kids, the parents have to help in developing reading skills.
                                     

Developing reading skills in toddlers through full participation

Effective Tips to Develop Reading Skills in Toddlers and Young Kids

There can be various opportunities where parents can encourage the reading habit in toddlers without any stress.

• Readout loudly the labels of their favorite pack of eatables. Show them the pack and tell details about it. This would make the child curious about written words and develop pre-school reading skills.

• Encourage story-telling habit. Narrate a story and use some new action words. Repeat the exercise daily so that the child learns and uses new words.

• Reward them with storybooks and picture books. Sit with the child, point out the pictures in the book, and tell their names. Speak loudly the names of characters while pointing towards the printed words. It would develop their vocabulary.

• Make their favorite storybooks easily available in the house so that they may reach out to the books whenever they want to.
• Let them hold the book properly. Teach them how to hold and turn the next page while reading.

• Instead of just reading the stories, bring out the characters live with playful narration. Besides, discuss the feelings of the characters and involve the child in discussion over the story to enhance his story comprehension.

• While on the bus or in the park, show them the various symbols and signs and explain their meanings.

• Sing nursery rhymes with the child and read them out, pointing each word you sing to the printed word.

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• Read out the big captions written outside a shop or on the street.

• Combine learning with playing. Buy educational toys and games for the children. They are a lot of fun and sharpen the skills of the kids.

• Introduce the alphabet and words in a playful manner. The parents can use colorful blocks of the alphabet that would capture the attention of toddlers.

• Play 'guess the word' game with the child. Spell out simple words like R-A-T and ask your child to guess which word it is. This would help him to join the sounds together and name the word.



Develop reading in toddlers through picture books

• Include the alphabet challenge and puzzles to make the learning easy and fun.

• For kids beyond toddler age, entrust them with menu planning and ask them to choose a new recipe from the recipe book. While browsing through recipes, they will read out different names of the dishes, ingredients, and words related to cooking such as stir, garnish, etc. This activity would further enhance their vocabulary and develop reading skills in kids.

• Besides, ask the young children to write the words they have learned or weave them in a story of their own. They may choose characters from the storybook, a movie, or animated shows.

An encouraging reading atmosphere and full participation of parents will go a long way in the development of reading skills in toddlers.

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