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School Readiness
Prepare Your Preschooler to be a Good Reader
ABC’s Pre-Reading Fun for Parents and Kids!
Pre-Reading Skills
Getting Ready to Read: Age-by-Age Guide
Getting Ready to Write: Age-by-Age Guide
Prepare Your Preschooler to be a Good Reader
Reading difficulties can be prevented by taking action in the preschool years.
WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW??
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Read bedtime stories every night
o A recent Canadian survey asked parents “How often do you read with your
child before bed?”
o 17% every night
o 9% most nights
o 4% 1-3 times/week
o 1% rarely
o 68% NEVER
o (Survey from Todaysparent.com)
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When reading point out the title to your child
Point to each word as you read them
Make book reading interactive. Ask questions like
“What do you think will happen next?”
Talk about the print and point out letters and words (“Ball that starts with the
letter B, it makes a “Buh” sound. Just like in your name Bob”. “Can you find
another B on this page?”
Talk about words that rhyme in the story (“The hog and the dog went out for a
jog”. “Hey those words rhyme, they sound the same.” “What could be another
word that rhymes with hog, dog, jog?”)
Talk about the length of the words on the page (“Wow hippopotamus is a long
word”)
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Talk about how the words are written on the page, like if they are written in a
bubble, or on the side of the page.
Talk about words that sound funny, “Hooray for Diffendoffer day, diffendoffer
that is a funny word, it sounds silly.”
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Choose 2 or 3 of these tips each time you read to your child.
Help your child to be ready to read!
ABC’s Pre-Reading Fun for Parents and Kids!
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Find a Rhyme: To develop awareness of rhyme, play this game while driving in
the car, walking or during quiet time at home. Have your child name something
he or she sees. Then, think of a rhyming word for your child’s word. For example,
if your child says car, you might say far. If you get stuck, make up a silly rhyme.
Like hydrant- bydrant.
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ABC Books: Sharing ABC books with your child is a great way to develop
knowledge of letter names, letter sounds and awareness of the sounds within
spoken words. You can find these books at your library. As you read ABC books
with your child, make comments about the names of the letters, words that start
with them and the sounds they make.
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Find a toy that starts with….: Using one of your child’s toys, comment about
the beginning sound in the name of the toy. (Ex: “Snake starts with ssss. Let’s
find more toys that start with sss.) Start with sounds that can be stretched: m, n,
f, v, s, z, sh, l, r, h.
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Write to me: Children should have daily opportunities to communicate their
ideas through drawing and writing. First written messages may be scribbles. Ask
your child to tell you what the writing says to help develop the understanding that
writing is like talking on paper.
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Letters in my life!: Your child’s life is full of letters – point them out and repeat
them over and over: decorate child’s room with his/ her name, borders and posters
with letters and words, show letters on shirt designs, in food (alphabet soup, etc),
food and product containers, on the fridge (ex: magnetic letters), restaurant signs
(ex: the “M” for “McDonalds”), and letters on license plates.
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Songs and Rhymes: Sing part of a familiar song or say part of a rhyme, and have
your child fill in the missing rhyming word. Ex: “Little Miss Muffet sat on a
__________”. Draw attention to the rhyming words, Muffet - tuffet and remind
your child that the words sound the same because they rhyme.
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I Spy: Pick an item you can see. Then, give your child hints about the item by
saying a color clue and a beginning sound clue. (Ex: for fire truck you might say
“I spy, with my little eye, something that is red and starts with fffff.)”
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Be sure to give clues relating to the color or size of the object rather than relying
on the sound clue alone. Your child will soon be showing greater awareness of
sounds in words and will be able to give clues to you!
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Rhyming "I Spy": Play the game as described above, but instead of giving a
clue, pick a rhyming word. (EX: “I spy with my little eye, something that is
yellow and sounds like/ rhymes with fanana. Right- Banana!)
-source: The Phonological Awareness Companion (The Wellington County Board of
Education, Lunguisystems, 1995)
Pre-Reading Skills
Children need to develop certain skills in order to become good readers when they go to
school.
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Rhyming – begins to develop at 3 years.
o We will use specific activities to target rhyming as well as emphasizing
rhymes during book reading and songs.
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Sentence Segmentation – breaking a sentence into words.
o We will use specific activities to target this skill.
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Print Awareness – knowing that print has meaning
o We will use Adult-Child Shared Story Book Reading
o During many activities we will focus on drawing attention to print.
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Pre-Writing Skills – developing hand skills and concepts needed for writing
o Focus on fine motor skills during craft activities
o Focus during circle times on concept of writing
Getting Ready to Read: Age-by-Age Guide
8 to 12 months:
 Shows interest by looking at books that have very familiar pictures
 She may look at pictures for very short periods of time when named by an adult
At 1 year:
 Points or makes sounds, when a picture is named by an adult
 Responds to songs and rhymes by vocalizing or singing along
Get ready for reading between birth and 1 year:
 Play frequently with your baby. Talk, sing, recite rhymes and do finger plays.
This helps your baby learn spoken language and builds a strong foundation for
reading.
 Talk with your baby, making eye contact. Allow time for your baby to respond
before moving on to the next idea.
 Give your baby board books or soft books to look at, chew on or bang on the
table.
 Look at picture books with your baby and name the objects that he sees. Say
things like "See the baby!" or "Look at the puppy!"
 Snuggle with your baby on your lap and read aloud to him. He may not
understand the story, but he will love to hear the sound of your voice and the
rhythm of the language.
1 to 2 years:
 Turns pages in a book, more than one at a time
 Pats or points to a few pictures, especially when named by an adult
 Shows interest in simple stories for brief periods of time
 Begins to name colourful pictures
2 to 3 years:
 Knows that words have meaning and purposes
 Begins to name black and white pictures
 Points to and names many common pictures when named by an adult
 Enjoys having a favourite book read over and over again
 Enjoys books that have repeatable and predictable patterns, catchy phrases, and
rhymes
 Beings to sit alone and look at books
 Turns pages one at a time
 Knows that books have a front and a back
 Knows how to open and hold books
 Knows the direction of print (left to right in English and French)
 Listens to and enjoys being read to for longer periods of time (5-15 minutes)
Get ready for reading between 1 and 3 years:
 Read to your child every day. Allow your child to pick which books he wants,
even if he picks the same one time and time again!
 Let your child "read" to you by naming objects in the book or making up a story.
 Make regular trips to the library with your child. Most children find it very
exciting to get a library card. Make this moment something to celebrate.
 Continue to talk, sing, recite rhymes and play with your child
3 to 4 years:
 Recognizes familiar print such as restaurant logos, names on cereal boxes, and
street signs like STOP.
 Pretends to read books by holding them, turning the pages, and saying some
words
 Recognizes and may say words that rhyme (bat-cat), and words that begin with
the same sound (big, bad, bear)
 Enjoys being read to and participates in the reading by filling in familiar parts
At 4 years:
 Says rhyming words and word strings that begin with the same sounds
 Understands that an adult is reading words in a book, rather than just describing
the pictures
 Recognizes word boundaries by pointing to spaces between words
 Pretends to read a book, usually by having it memorized
At 5 years:
 Demonstrates understanding that words can be divided into smaller parts by
tapping out or counting the number of syllables in a word
 Names printed letters in the alphabet and numbers 1-10
 May know that letters have sounds and the sounds that some letters make
 Identifies first sounds in spoken words (Ball begins with the ‘b’ sound)
 Begins to point to specific letters on a page
 May read some familiar words by sight
Get ready for reading between 3 and 5 years:
 By 3 to 5 years of age, most children are just beginning to learn the alphabet —
singing their ABCs, knowing the letters of their names. Read alphabet books with
your child and point out letters as you read.
 Help your child recognize whole words as well as letters. Learning and
remembering what words look like are the first steps to learning to read. Point out
common, everyday things like the letters on a stop sign or the logo on a favourite
restaurant.
 As you read together, ask your child to make up his own story about what is
happening in the book. Keep reading a part of your child's bedtime routine.
 Some educational television shows, videos and computer programs can help your
child learn to read. If your child is watching television, sit and talk about what the
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program is trying to teach. Limit screen time to no more than one or two hours per
day of educational, non-violent programs.
If possible, give your child a subscription to a children's magazine. Children love
getting mail, and it is something they can read as well!
Provide opportunities for your child to use written language for many purposes.
Write shopping lists together. Compose letters to send to friends or relatives.
Getting Ready to Write: Age-by-Age Guide
1 to 2 years:
 Holds a large marker or crayon
 May scribble, especially when another person is writing
2 to 3 years:
 Scribbles using wavy and circular lines
 Writes by drawing and scribbling
3 to 5 years:
 Experiments with scribbling letters, numbers, or letter-like forms (wavy lines and
squiggles)
 Prints some large capital letters
 Knows the difference between drawing and writing
 Copies simple lines or shapes (circle, crosses)
 Understands that writing has a purpose
 Writes one letter or word to stand for a whole sentence or idea
 Prints their own name, some letters of the alphabet, and numbers
 Writes strings of letters in no particular order
5 to 6 years:
 Uses 1 to 3 letters to spell words (P=piano, TA=train, PTE=pretty)
 Spells words like they sound (LETL=little, EGL=eagle)