TALKING AND LISTENING

Reading! Talking! Singing! Playing! Writing!

These 5 simple and fun skills are important in getting your child ready for school.

TALKING

How do you go about this you ask? Asking your baby questions is good practice in talking. Keep questions short and simple. It’s important after you make a comment or ask a question that you wait 5 seconds for your baby to say or do something in response. This teaches your child that conversation works two ways and teaches your baby to listen to others and then respond.

TELLING STORIES

Get your children talking! When children become storytellers, it boosts their reading comprehension and writing skills.  

All of Baby Nose to Toes by Victoria Adler.

Rhyming text celebrates everything about a beloved baby,  from eyes to toes.

Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathman.

An unobservant zookeeper is  followed home by all the animals he thinks he has left behind in the zoo.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

Follows the progress of a hungry little caterpillar as he eats  his way through a varied and very large quantity of food.

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox.

Rhyming text compares babies born in different places and in different circumstances, but they all share ten little fingers and ten little toes.

Spot Says Goodnight by Eric Hill.

Spot has a busy day, and now he has to go to bed.

Here is a clever game to encourage questions:

Me Too

How to play: Have a conversation with your baby. Ask him/her a question and pause for an answer. Then provide a response.

Example: “Would you like to go outside?” Pause. “You would? Me, too! Let’s go outside.”