Ø The more you read, talk and sing to babies, the greater their foundation for vocabulary and understanding. The youngest ones are amazingly receptive to language.

Ø Toddlers will sit to interact with books if you pique their interest with questions like “Who’s that?” and “What else do you see?”

Ø Preschool is the time for children to begin to learn the alphabet, and to become aware of the sounds that make up words-a crucial skill for reading known as phonemic awareness.

Ø Young school-age kids need lots of practice reading to and with their parents. Try echo reading to build fluency: You read a passage and then let your child read one. Call your child’s attention to punctuation and interesting words as you read.

Good Readers Have Better Vocabularies.
Think about the conversations you’ve had with your child today. There’s a good chance that-because of the hectic lives parents lead-most of the words you used were simple, intermediate and directive. For example, “It’s time to go now!” Especially on our busiest days, it’s easy for parents to forget that kids look to us for varied and rich conversations. One study showed that when teachers use more complex speech, very young children learn to create more complex sentences themselves. From third standard on, kids need to learn about 3000 new words a year-that’s eight new words a day. And it takes at least four exposures to make a word on their own. To enrich your child’s word power, try these ideas:

Ø Tell stories about the past, present and future. At dinnertime, relate a story about your childhood or ask about an upcoming school event.

Ø Encourage play. According to child development expert Sue Bredekamp, it’s a crucial way for children to hone their language skills and give voice to their ideas.

Ø Read a variety of books-picture books, stories with rhymes, science or history books that convey cool new information. And engage your child in extended conversations about what you read together.

Good Readers Preview and Summarize.
As you begin a new book, spend a little time with the cover, suggests Francie Alexander who works for a publisher of children’s book. Read the title, look at the illustrations and ask your child what she thinks the book is about. Research shows that prediction triggers the deeper thinking that improves comprehension. Every few pages or so, ask your child to retell what’s happened; ask what might happen next.

Good Readers Picture a Story in Their Mind.
Children who do this are better at remembering details and are much more interested in reading for pleasure. Encourage your child to notice a character’s features or clothing, for example.

Good Readers Connect to what they’re Reading.
Comments from you help create engaged readers. “This story reminds me of the time…” or “I wonder if the character…” Soon your child will be eager to make his or her own links.

Preparing your child to be a good reader is one of the greatest gifts you can give as a parent. Kids who struggle over words and have trouble understanding text find little enjoyment in the process. They avoid reading, and it shows. In an American study of fifth-standard students, the most avid readers spent more than 50 times as many minutes a day reading for pleasure as less fluent readers. By year’s end, the better readers had read more than two million more words, creating an even wider gap of proficiency and knowledge.

Academic achievement certainly isn’t the only reason to nurture reading skills. For one thing, there’s the pure joy of reading. As Jennie Nash, author of Raising a Reader, says in her book, “You can find companion in books, counsel, solace and delight. You can spend hours alone in a room listening to the quiet music of the written word.”
Reading can give your child those magic moments and much more.