News And Events

Enjoying Books

Watching a child and learning how they communicate through sound, facial expressions, and gestures are all important ways to help them learn about language and the written word. Early language and literacy skills are learned best through everyday moments with children.

We encourage Educators to support a child’s language and literacy skills through reading books, talking with children and laughing and playing together. Children learn language when we talk with them and by hearing stories read and songs sung aloud.

Children develop early literacy skills when we give them the chance to play with and explore books and other written materials like magazines, newspapers, take-out menus, markers, and crayons. Language and literacy, while two different skills, build on one another in important ways.

Educators support a child’s communication skills by:

Copying a child’s sounds and encouraging them to repeat sounds.

Singing songs and making up silly songs for fun

Playing peek-a-boo. This simple turn-taking game is good practice for how to have a conversation.

Read lots of books. Reading together helps a child develop a love of reading and a familiarity with books. Reading aloud also helps a child’s vocabulary grow.

Read with gusto. Using different voices for different characters in stories Children love when adults are silly, and it makes book reading even more fun.

Encouraging a child “read” in their own way. The learning is in turning the pages quickly or looking at the pictures. Learning comes from the experience.

Repeat, repeat, repeat. Children learn through repetition because it provides opportunities to figure things out and make sense of the world around them.  

Language and literacy development is a process that builds over time with each new skill adding to the one before. Children learn at their own individual pace and will like hearing the same stories again and again and will have their favourites. When children have regular time enjoying books with educators, they will learn to associate stories and book time with security and fun.