Every Child Ready To Read: Playing

Every Child Ready to Read is a research based early literacy program that encourages caregivers to support their child's pre-reading skills by utilizing the 5 actions of Reading, Talking, Singing, Playing and Writing with their children.

Did you know that taking the time to play with your child does in fact strengthen their pre-reading skills? As Maria Montessori famously said, "play is the work of children", and it is true! When children play, they are encouraged to put their thoughts into words, and verbally express what they are doing. Playing also allows children to begin to understand that real object and actions are represented in written and spoken words.  As the adult in your child's life, you can use games and play scenarios to ask open ended questions, point out and label things in their play environment and bring awareness to any writing or print that might be around them!

Here are some ideas of ways you can enrich your child's play:

• Explore letters and shapes together with puzzles, playdough or by creating a sensory tub at home!
• Play singing, chanting or rhyming games together - these types of games help to encourage phonological (letter sound) awareness
  • Examples: Ring Around The Rosie, B.I.N.G.O & Patty Cake
• When your child is playing pretend ask them questions about what they are doing and encourage them to try new play scenarios that allow you to introduce new vocabulary words to them
• Read a book together and then act out the story

Preparing your children to become proficient readers may seem like a daunting task, but intentionally Reading, Talking, Singing, Playing and Writing with the children in your life truly helps to support this important skill. Parents are a child's first teacher, so don't be afraid to step outside your comfort zone and try something new that will encourage your child to get ready to read, no matter what age they are!