•A National Treasure •Tame Your Temper •Diet Mistakes
•A National Treasure •Tame Your Temper •Diet Mistakes
•A National Treasure •Tame Your Temper •Diet Mistakes
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Raising Readers<br />
By Susan McGinn<br />
There are many skills a child develops as they learn to read.<br />
Children learn that letters group together to make words. They learn that words<br />
have meaning. Children associate pictures with words and derive meaning by<br />
looking at the pictures and talking about what they see.<br />
As a parent, there are many things you can do to help your child develop early<br />
literacy skills at home. One of the strongest indicators of reading success is<br />
reading to your child. Be a reading role model. When your child sees you reading<br />
for pleasure, they learn that reading is fun. Have lots of different reading materials<br />
at home; books, magazines and newspapers are all great options. Point out letters<br />
and small easily recognizable words as you read.<br />
Here at The Family Place, we focus on developing early literacy skills. We hold an<br />
alphabet circle every Tuesday morning at 10:30. The focus is on developing<br />
language skills and fluency. Children also develop thinking skills such as<br />
comprehension, memory, decision making, problem solving, following directions<br />
and creativity. We offer a reading readiness program where we explore the<br />
relationship between sounds and letters. We focus on visual and auditory<br />
discrimination as well as letter recognition in<br />
developing pre-reading skills. These are all easy<br />
activities you can do at home with your child to<br />
nurture their early literacy development.<br />
Take opportunities to explore language in the<br />
environment you are in. Read labels at the grocery<br />
store, read street signs when you are taking a walk<br />
through the neighbourhood, read recipes as you cook<br />
or bake together and tell your child stories about your<br />
life as a child. Make activities for early literacy fun for<br />
your child. Games to play include fishing for letters,<br />
memory games and shaker sounds. Simple board<br />
games help your child learn to follow directions and<br />
take turns.<br />
Overall, the most important thing you can do to help<br />
your child develop early literacy skills is to celebrate<br />
their successes. Each small step they take is a step on<br />
the path to becoming a lifelong reader.<br />
Susan McGinn, BCS is the Program Coordinator at<br />
York North Family Resource Programs and a busy<br />
mom of three boys who love to read.<br />
MOUNT<br />
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VETERINARY<br />
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Mon, Wed, Thurs<br />
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Tues 8am-7pm<br />
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(Across from Home Hardware<br />
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905-473-2400<br />
TheBulletinMagazine.com October 2011 19
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