Read, Read, Read!

Keep reading to your child every day. Setting aside a special time to read together helps your child practice her growing language skills, teaches the importance of reading, and strengthens the relationship you have with her. During reading time, focus all your attention on your child. Talk with her and ask questions. This will continue to help your child feel secure and attached to you. This security builds your child's self-confidence and self-esteem. Building a positive relationship with you also helps your child form positive relationships with other people.

Developmental Milestones

Knowing where your child should be developmentally will help you encourage your child's learning. It will also alert you if your child is lagging behind significantly.

• Your preschooler may pretend to read her favorite books. She may look at the pages and create her own story to go along with them, or she might recite the words she remembers as she turns the pages. Encourage this interest in reading. Not only will it help her think of herself as a real reader, but it will also help her reading improve as she gets older.
• Your child can recognize red, yellow, and blue, "big," "little," "tall," "short," and different shapes. She will also want to know what will happen next. Make reading interactive. Ask questions about the story, characters, and pictures on the page.
• By now your child should have a large vocabulary and use correct grammar often. Reading will encourage this.