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Tips for Reading With Your Child

THESE PROVEN TIPS WILL HELP PARENTS ENCOURAGE A LOVE OF READING AND LEARNING IN YOUNG CHILDREN:

Begin reading with your child at a very early age, before he or she can talk or even sit up.

Read with your child for at least a few minutes each day.

Hold your child in your arms or sit close while reading.

Keep a good supply of reading materials in your home and let your child see you reading or learning to read.

Limit TV and video game time.

Provide paper and lots of writing materials.

Use errands and everyday activities to build vocabulary- discuss the names, colors, shapes, and sizes of things that you see.

Ask your child open-ended questions during play so that he/she must respond with more than “Yes” or “No.”

And most importantly, talk to your child! The more words your child hears, the better prepared he or she will be to become a good reader and a successful student.

Recommended Books & Toys for Children


The Parent-Child Home Program’s National Center recommends these books and toys as tools to encourage:

• parent-child interaction,
• successful development in young toddlers, and
• school-readiness.

These high-quality picture books, recommended for two and three-year-olds, stimulate verbal interaction, expand vocabulary, and reinforce phonemic awareness, which are the foundations of language and literacy skill development. Look for books that:

• use rhyme or repetition;
• relate to the child’s experience;
• incorporate unusual vocabulary;
• have colorful and appealing illustrations;
• have a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end;
• have a narrative that can be told in different ways, sometimes using the illustrations only; and/or can appeal to a child at different developmental levels.

Picture vocabulary books, tactile books, life-the-flap books, fairy tales, Mother Goose rhymes, rhyming books, alphabet books, and books that use repetitive or predictable language are some of the books that support young children’s school readiness.

These educational and engaging toys promote cognitive development, social-emotional development, small motor skills, and many of the basic skills that children need to become successful students. Look for toys that:

• promote problem solving,
• expand vocabulary,
• encourage imaginative play,
• require reasoning,
• involve sorting or finding similarities, and/or
• require those playing with the toy to talk.

Pegboards, puzzles, shape sorters, and picture bingo and matching games are all examples of toys that stimulate cognitive and physical development.

Browse Recommended Books
Browse Recommended Toys



Amazon.com Partnership

YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PARENT-CHILD HOME PROGRAM BY SHOPPING AT AMAZON.COM

When you connect to Amazon.com from The Parent-Child Home Program website and make purchases of any kind, a percentage of what you spend at Amazon.com is donated to The Parent-Child Home Program. When you purchase books or toys from our Recommended Books & Toys section, more of what you spend is donated to the Program!

You can buy anything at Amazon.com and support The Parent-Child Home Program: Click Here

Funds raised through the Amazon.com partnership will help support both the start-up of new sites and scholarships for site coordinators and home visitors to attend The Parent-Child Home Program's annual conference.

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