Print Awareness
Helps your child notice print, know how to handle a book and how to follow the words on a page.

• Being familiar with printed language helps children feel comfortable with books and understand that print is useful.
• Point to each word on a page as you read it.
• Read aloud every day. (Signs, labels, menus)
• Use board or cloth books and have your child hold the book.

Activity
What you need:

• Plastic sandwich bags
• Several empty cartons of foods familiar to your child (e.g., cereals, milk, pasta)

What you do:

1. Cut the carton front into 4-5 puzzle-shaped pieces.
2. Place each puzzle into a bag. If possible, have an intact, identical carton front for your child to see as a model.
3. Put the puzzle together with your child. Ask him to point out the food words on the puzzle and say them out loud.

Why?
Your child learns about print in our everyday world and learns to differentiate print from pictures.

Letter Knowledge
Your child will know letters are different from each other, know their names and sounds and recognize letters everywhere.

• Help your child learn new words by talking and reading together.
• Help your child see and feel different shapes as you play.
• Point out letters on toys, food boxes and on objects around the house.
• Talk with your child about what is the same and what is different between 2 things.

Activity
What you need:

• Same-colored index cards
• Markers

What you do:

1. Make the game cards: Using only the letters in the child's name, write each letter on 2 cards so that you have several pairs of cards.
2. Shuffle the cards and spread them out face down.
3. Ask the child to turn over any 2 cards. If the cards match, help the child name the letter. The child then keeps the cards. If the cards do not match, the child turns the cards back over and tries again. Play continues until all matches have been made.
4. Help your child put the letters in order to spell his or her name.

Why?
Your child learns about letter shapes, names and sounds.

Vocabulary
Teaches your child to know the names of things.

• Read together every day.
• Research shows that children who have larger vocabularies are better readers.
• Talk with your child about what is going on around you.
• When reading, name pictures as you point to them.
• When your baby babbles or your child talks, listen carefully and answer.

Activity
What you need:

• Glue
• Index cards
• Pictures of familiar items cut from magazines and advertisements (Some pictures should include print, and some should be simply a picture without any print).
• Scissors

What you do:

1. In advance or together with your child, glue each picture onto an index card.
2. Give your child 2 cards, 1 that has a word or words on it and 1 that has just a picture.
3. Say, “Letters can go together to make words. Look for letters and words on your cards. Show me the card that has a word on it.”
4. Help your child choose a picture with a word on it. You can challenge your child to tell you what word he or she sees in the picture.
5. Repeat with a few cards. Reinforce the purpose of the print in each picture. For example, say, “This cereal box has a word on it that tells us the cereal’s name.”

Why?
Your child will learn to tell the difference between print and pictures and learn one of the purposes of print.

Narrative Skills
Your child will be able to describe things and events and tell stories.

• Encourage your child to tell you about things.
• Read favorite books again and again.
• Talk to your child about what you are doing.
• Talking with children develops comprehension skills that will help them understand what they read.

Activity
What you need:

• A variety of drawing materials (crayons, markers, pencils)
• Paper

What you do:

1. As your child watches you, write at the top of the paper, “Today in school, I will…” or “Today at home, we will….”
2. Ask your child to finish the sentence with a drawing of something that will happen that day in school or at home. You can write your child’s description of the drawing at the bottom of the page.

Why?
Your child learns that drawing a picture can tell a story or describe an event.

Phonological Awareness
Your child will be able to hear and play with smaller sounds in words.

• Add actions to songs to help break down language into separate words.
• Being able to hear sounds that make up words helps children sound out written words as they begin to read.
• Make up your own silly nonsense rhymes.
• Singing songs is a good way to help your child hear syllables in words.

Activity
What you need:

• List of pairs of non-rhyming words
• List of pairs of rhyming words
• Rhyming dictionary such as The Scholastic Rhyming Dictionary (Scholastic, Inc., 1994)

What you do:

1. Model the activity for your child. Say a pair of words that rhyme. For example, say, “Cat-bat. The end of those words sounds the same…The words rhyme. I’m going to jump for a rhyme!”
2. Say a pair of words that do not rhyme. Tell your child, “Those words don’t rhyme, so I’ll just sit down.”
3. Play the game with your child, beginning with several pairs that rhyme, and then add in some pairs that don’t rhyme.

Variation
To adjust level of activity, begin with 1-syllable words and progress to 2- and 3-syllable words.

Why?
Your child will become aware of rhymes and learn to identify them.

For more information, please visit Get Ready to Read.