Tips

Ways to Build Early Reading Skills

Seven everyday ways to build your child's language and reading skills at home.

Label and name things

Label and name objects, people and events around your child during daily activities and routines (for example, “the door,” “a park,” “mom”).

Read books with rhymes and sounds

Choose books that focus on sounds, words that start with the same letter, and rhymes (like Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat). Point out the beginning sounds in words (for example, “banana starts with buh”).

Point out written words

Show your child words and letters on signs, logos and food packages.

Chat during daily routines

Talk to your child during bath time, mealtime and other routines. Talk about what you are doing and reuse phrases (for example, “scrub scrub scrub your feet, scrub scrub scrub your head, …”).

Introduce new words

Teach new words during special outings or activities like trips to the zoo (for example, “bear”) or park (for example, “swing”), or even reading a new book!

Point to words and pictures

While reading, point out the words and pictures. Talk about what you see or what you think will happen next.

Sing and play with rhymes

Sing songs and play rhyming games, or enjoy nursery rhymes together.