Print Awareness

Print awareness helps your child identify print and introduces how to handle a book and how to follow the words on a page.

• Being familiar with printed language helps children feel comfortable with books and understand that print is useful.
• Point to each word on a page as you read it.
• Read aloud every day (i.e., signs, labels, menus, etc.)
• Use board or cloth books and have your child hold the book.
   

Activity

Below is a suggested activity that you can do with your little one to introduce print awareness. You'll need a sandwich bag, several empty cartons of food familiar to your child (e.g., cereal boxes, milk carton, or pasta box). The goal is to introduce how print is in our everyday world and how to differentiate print from pictures. 

Instructions

1. Cut the front of the carton into 4 to 5 puzzle-shaped pieces.
2. Place each puzzle into a bag. If possible, have an intact, identical carton in front of your child to see as an example/ 
3. Put the puzzle together with your child. Ask them to point out the food words on the puzzle and say them aloud.

Letter Knowledge

Letter knowledge helps your child identify the name and sounds of each letter.

• Help your child learn new words by talking and reading together.
• Help your child see and feel different shapes as you play.
• Point out letters on toys, food boxes and on objects around the house.
• Discuss the differences and similarities between the items above.

Activity

Below is a suggested activity that you can do with your little one to introduce letter knowledge. You'll need same-colored index cards and markers. The goal is to introduce letter shapes, names, and sounds.  

Instructions

1. Using only the letters in the child's name, write each letter on two cards so that you have several pairs of cards.
2. Shuffle the cards and spread them out face down.
3. Ask the child to turn over any two cards. If the cards match, help the child name the letter. The child then keeps the cards. If the cards do not match, the child turns the cards back over and tries again. Continuing playing until you’ve matched the letters. 
4. Help your child put the letters in order to spell out their name. 

Vocabulary

Vocabulary teaches your child to understand the names of things.

• Read together every day.
• Research shows that children who have larger vocabularies are better readers.
• Talk with your child about what is going on around you.
• When reading, name pictures as you point to them.
• When your baby babbles or your child talks, listen carefully and answer.

Activity

Below is a suggested activity that you can do with your little one to introduce vocabulary. You'll need glue, index cards, scissors, and pictures of familiar items cut from magazines. The goal is to introduce the difference between letters and pictures.   

Instructions

1. In advance or together, glue each picture onto an index card.
2. Give your child two cards, one that has a word or words on it and one that has just a picture.
3. Say, “Letters can go together to make words. Look for letters and words on your cards. Show me the card that has a word on it.”
4. Help your child choose a picture with a word on it. You can challenge your child to tell you what word they see in the picture.
5. Repeat with a few cards. Reinforce the purpose of the print in each picture. For example, say, “This cereal box has a word on it that tells us the cereal’s name.”

Narrative Skills

• Encourage your child to share things with you.
• Read favorite books repeatedly.
• Talk to your child about what you are doing.
• Talking with children develops comprehension skills that will help them understand what they read.

Activity

Below is a suggested activity that you can do with your little one to introduce narrative skills. You'll need paper, crayons, markers or pencils. The goal is to introduce how to describe things, events, and tell stories. 

Instructions

1. As your child watches you, write at the top of the paper, “Today in school, I will…” or “Today at home, we will….”
2. Ask your child to finish the sentence with a drawing of something that will happen that day in school or at home. You can write your child’s description of the drawing at the bottom of the page.

Phonological Awareness

• Add actions to songs to help break down language into separate words.
• Being able to hear sounds that make up words helps children sound out written words as they begin to read.
• Make up your own silly nonsense rhymes.
• Singing songs is a good way to help your child hear syllables in words.

Activity

Below is a suggested activity that you can do with your little one to introduce phonological awareness. You'll need pairs of non-rhyming words, rhyming words, and a rhyming dictionary such as The Scholastic Rhyming Dictionary (Scholastic, Inc., 1994). The goal is to introduce how to identify rhymes. 

Instructions

1. Model the activity for your child. Say a pair of words that rhyme. For example, say, “Cat-bat. The end of those words sounds the same…The words rhyme. I’m going to jump for a rhyme!”
2. Say a pair of words that do not rhyme. Tell your child, “Those words don’t rhyme, so I’ll just sit down.”
3. Play the game with your child, beginning with several pairs that rhyme, and then add in some pairs that don’t rhyme.