Winter 2014 Baby Babble and Toddler Talk Session 2: Literacy

Today at Baby Babble and Toddler Talk we talked about Family Literacy. The staff here at the Centre are big book fans so this was a fun topic for us! We discussed various ways of introducing literacy, besides the usual story time. Here is a collection of ideas to introduce literacy to your child:

• Remember that an introduction to reading can be more than stories- try reading poetry, recipes and cereal boxes together. One family that attends our program uses music and lyrics. Another plays board games.
• Provide your child with a comfortable spot for reading and try to limit distractions during story time.
• Pick a regular day for a trip to the library- it's free! Our province has a wonderful request system if your local branch doesn't have what you are looking for.
• Try to spend some time reading in front of your child. When they are young, they want to do everything you do! 
• Since reading and writing go hand in hand, make sure you, the parent, are demonstrating writing in everyday life (shopping lists, sticky notes, keeping a journal).
• Provide child-friendly resources for practicing writing. Make sure to pick pens and pencils that are comfortable for small hands.

Have fun reading with your little ones!