At this age and stage, reading with your child is all about spending special time together, and having fun by enjoying the language and illustrations in picture books. Here are some tips that can help you and your preschooler make the most of your reading time.
Looking at the book
Before you start, ask your child some questions about the book:
- Who are the author and illustrator of the book?
- What do you think this story is about?
- Who might be in it?
- What do you think will happen?
Reading the story
- Vary the pace of your reading, as well as how loud you read. Changing your voice and expression for different characters can also be fun.
- Encourage your child to use their finger to trace the words while you read them.
- Let your child turn the pages of the book.
- Ask your child some questions about the story – for example, ‘What do you think happens next?’, ‘Why is the baby happy?’ or ‘Who has the ball?’
- Ask your child questions that help them relate to the story – for example, ‘How would you feel if this was you?’ or ‘What would you do if this happened to you?’
- Chant or sing repetitive phrases and words together.
Looking at letters, words and punctuation
- Point out the differences between letters and words, and the difference between a lower-case and capital letter. For example, ‘There is a capital M. Can you see how it’s bigger than this lower-case m?’
- Point out different punctuation marks, including full stops, exclamation marks and question marks. Explain what these mean. For example, ‘There is a question mark. When we see one of those, we know that somebody is asking a question’.
- When you see words printed in bold or large font, point these out and explain how this changes the way that we say those words. For example, ‘Look at how big the word BOOHOO is. The baby must be crying very loudly’.
- Ask questions about the names and sounds of letters.
- Play ‘find the letters and words’ games, especially with the letters in your child’s name.
Other reading activities
- Help your child make up stories, and drawings to go with them.
- Make a storybook together. Let your child choose the story or use your child’s own made-up stories and drawings.
- If your child can’t read words, encourage your child to tell you a story based on the pictures in a storybook.