Making your home a place for readers

Several tips to help parents of young children promote literacy at home:

Choose a quiet time for reading to your child, as in before nap, bedtime and after dinner

Choose a special place for family reading, like a comfortable chair or pillows piled on the floor

Let your child select the book for you to read aloud

Hold the book so that he can see the pictures. If possible, also let him turn the pages

Take time to look at and talk about the pictures. Don’t just read the story: talk about it. Let your child point out letters, shapes, colors and animals.

Understand that reading begins at home. Children read their environments, so make your home a print rich environment

Read! Don’t expect reading to be important to your children if they see that it’s not important to you

Invite your child to read to you. If he is a pre-reader, he’ll often interpret his own story using illustrations and his imagination

Make lists, lots of them. Make them for grocery shopping, books to buy and things to take on trips

Read aloud to your child everyday