Learning to read is exciting for children! We keep bookshelves of age appropriate books, make seasonal reading displays, and frequently check out books from the public library. We read books together, listen to books, and take picture walks. All of these are fun ways to explore books together. We also try to incorporate incidental learning of reading.
Here are some easy ways we’ve found to help build reading vocabulary:
*We turn on closed captioning while we’re watching television or videos. Television time is minimal in our home, but we feel that seeing the words on screen helps with reading.
*We label playroom items by categories. Canvas baskets house toy collections so we put a label on the front so that, even from an early age, words were associated with items.
*Family photo albums are labeled with family member’s names and places of interest. Photos are frequently viewed which results in names being quickly memorized for reading.
We’re always looking for ways to make learning fun. We’ll continue to share our ideas as we add to our learning collection!