In honor of National Family Literacy Month®, our friends at the National Center for Families Learning have sent these literacy pointers that to help literacy flourish in your home. –BWB
You don’t need a classroom or textbooks to teach literacy fundamentals. Here are some tips for sharing knowledge with children by using the world around you and maximizing the time you spend together:
1. Teach math skills by letting your child count the money to pay at the store.
2. Ask children to find the letters in his or her name by using signs along the street and on buildings.
3. Increase oral language skills by sharing stories of your own childhood.
4. Make science come alive at home by checking out science experiment books from the library and then trying simple experiments at home. For example, grow a vegetable with your child, chart the growth and talk about it.
5. Tie reading into an outing. If you’re going to a museum, bring home a book about a favorite exhibit, so children see reading as an experience.
6. Use certain techniques for reading that have been proven to increase effectiveness in reading time, including making sound effects to capture attention and changing your voice when different characters speak. Don’t forget to talk about the story to reinforce comprehension and memory skills, and read it again because repetition helps children recognize and remember words.
To get more involved in supporting literacy at home and in families around the nation, visit NCFL’s newly redesigned website at familieslearning.org.
