This month Lauren and Caitlin will be participating in the Speechie Library Talks with Belconnen Library. The Speechie Library Talks are an initiative of Speech Pathology Australia in collaboration with the Australian Library and Information Association.During this talk we aim to support you to strengthen your child’s language and literacy development, explain the role of the speech pathologist in building a child’s literacy, and mainstream supports available through your local library to help you along the way.
We know that literacy is important, and a skill used in all environments every day, but if your child is not yet at school is reading to your child still important? The answer is yes! “But my toddler just eats the books, listens to only one line of the story, or tears the pages” I hear you say.
Here are my top tips for still engaging with books with children aged 0-3 years old:
- Purchase or borrow board, cloth, or bath books which are more durable than typical paperback stories,
- Choose books with bright colours that have only one picture per page,
- Find books with repetitive lines which your children can anticipate and copy, e.g. “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”, “Where is the Green Sheep”, “I Went Walking”,
- Lift the flap books or search books can be fun for slightly older children to build engagement, e.g. “Spot goes on holiday”, “Each Peach Pear Plum”
- Use silly voices, tickles, and role play to act out some of the story line with your child, e.g. acting out the story of “The Three Little Pigs”.
Book reading at every age is an important and key strategy in developing language and literacy abilities in children. Research has identified that children read to by their caregivers at a young age have stronger language and literacy skills by the time they enter primary school. So, grab a book and get talking!
For more information reach out to your speech pathologist for tips.
