Simple Tips for Promoting Your Child’s Literacy Development

By Joan Spoerl

As an early childhood educator, I share these simple tips with families to help them promote their child’s literacy development that they can work on as soon as today!

Hug your child every day – it will build a stronger brain! Snuggle when you read to your child (at least 15 minutes) every day! Make it cozy, fun and joyful.  When you read the same book repeatedly, you are building their brain and they are automatically learning all kinds of things that will help them when they are ready to learn to read.  Talk about the pictures, characters, and events. Have a conversation.

Tune In, Talk More, Take Turns while you narrate the day and have more conversations throughout the day at home – when walking, riding on the bus, driving in the car, waiting in line, shopping. Talk with your child about what you see – and expand upon the characteristics of what you see (color, shape, number, etc.).  Sing and make up songs, play rhyming games, play around with the sounds of language, and read or recite nursery rhymes. It also helps if you turn off background noise (television, radio) since young children can’t filter it out. They’ll be better able to hear you, understand and learn.

Fill your house with books. Feed your child’s curiosity. Keep your child’s favorite baby and board books even as they get older. When your child reaches kindergarten and first grade, these will support them and offer them success as they learn to read.

  • Visit your local library. If your child doesn’t already have a library card, register for one. Visit both the picture book and the children’s non-fiction section for information books about subjects that interest your child such as animals, trucks, vehicles, nature, etc. You can ask the librarian for help in finding those appropriate for your child’s age and interests & let your child choose some of the books too. This will build their vocabulary and knowledge.
  • Continue reading daily with and to your child for years to come, even well after they’ve learned to read for themselves. This way, you can read books a bit above your child’s reading level, further expanding their vocabulary and attention span. You can read or listen to chapter books and novels together once they enter elementary school.

Encourage imaginative play to build your child’s brain. The best toys and play materials are those that do the least so the child can use them in a variety of hands-on and creative ways. Even everyday objects like cardboard tubes and boxes, empty containers, etc.! Watch this video from our Healthy Families series on Stress-Free Gifts and Toys here.

Provide your child with a spot in your home for them to put their ideas on paper. Just as children had to kick, roll, crawl, toddle and fall before walking, they need practice and experience using these materials to prepare for writing well and spelling accurately. Accept and praise their efforts along the way. They’ll go through many stages of “emergent writing” before full mastery many years down the road.

Visit a nature center, take a nature hike, and visit museums for some new experiences. These will expose your child to new concepts, information and vocabulary and stimulate their curiosity about the world. It will provide you with many opportunities to converse with your child and topics to explore together through library books. And they help everyone to de-stress! Learn more here.

Limit and control screen time, especially for the youngest children (based on brain research, pediatricians recommend no screens until age 3 (with the only exception being videochats with loved ones) and then only one hour per day until age 5 and never more than 2 hours per day after age 5. Screens are not an effective way to build healthy brains. For better brain building screen time after age 3, I recommend: https://www.ideastream.org/ideakids (PBS Kids).

Literacy experts tell us that except for the first reading of a book, it’s good to read a book using ‘dialogic reading’ and the PEER sequence. Learn more about this reading approach here.

Here are some other online resources that I trust and recommend to families:

Reading Rockets – Reading Rockets is a national public media literacy initiative offering information and resources on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help.

Bedtime Math – Their goal is simple: make math a fun part of kids’ everyday lives!

Vroom – Vroom believes all parents want what’s best for their children. So they joined with scientists, researchers, and parents to take the science out of the lab and put it in the hands of caregivers. Vroom provides science-based tips and tools to inspire families to turn shared, everyday moments into Brain Building Moments®.

IdeaKids – Join Ideastream Public Media Education and fellow IdeaKids for virtual screenings featuring well-known and loved PBS KIDS characters. Participants will watch an episode of the featured character, and families will then participate in a hands on activity using materials you already have in your home! This unique virtual event, for both parents and kids, will give parents insights into the learning goals of PBS KIDS programs. Seats are limited!

Common Sense Media – A nonprofit that puts kids’ safety and well-being first in the digital era. Together with families, educators, and policymakers, they’re leading the way to a safer, healthier childhood. They offer families well-researched guidance, age-based ratings, and expert reviews that help them use media and tech in healthy ways and so much more.

HealthyChildren.org – The only parenting website backed by 67,000 pediatricians—committed to the physical, mental and emotional health of all infants, children, adolescents and young adults.

This site is created and powered by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the nation’s leading nonprofit organization dedicated to child health.

Fairplay – Whether you’re looking to learn about marketing’s impact on child development, reduce commercialism in your child’s school, or just make more space to play in your home, their resources have you covered! They’re still updating this directory, so be sure to sign up here to be notified about new additions.