Learning how to read and write is not just a skill that begins in kindergarten. The basics of literacy begins as early as infancy. As a child care provider, you play an important role in supporting young children’s developing reading and writing skills. Children will begin learning the basics of reading and writing when they repeatedly encounter reading and writing in and out of the classroom environment. By watching adults around them who read and write, children will become interested in reading and writing, too.
The following articles include some ideas about how to encourage young children’s reading and writing in a child care program. The articles give suggestions on choosing books, how to help them understand what they read and how to help them begin to write.
- Easy Ways Child Care Providers Can Help Young Children Build Literacy Skills
- Helping Young Children Learn New Words
- Helping Young Children Learn to Pronounce Words
- Helping Young Children Learn the Sounds of Letters
- Helping Young Children Understand What They Have Read
- Helping Young Children Learn to Write
- How to Read Aloud with Children in Child Care
- Suggestions Child Care Providers Can Use to Choose Books for Young Children
- Talking with Babies in Child Care
- Ways to Get Children in Your Child Care Program Ready For Reading
For specific activity ideas to use in your child care program, check out the database of Hands-on Activities for Child Care, or visit the the database of Story-Stretching Ideas for Child Care to find activities that expand on favorite children’s stories.