The fundamental skills your child learns in their early years help set them up for success with their future reading and writing. However, this doesn’t just include learning the alphabet and writing words. There is more to preparing your child for literacy success and it all starts with setting a solid foundation.
You and your little one can easily recreate the magic of freshly fallen snow from the comfort and warmth of home! (Even better, you likely have all the materials you need in your pantry.)
Whether it’s “mama,” “dada,” or “uh-oh!” everyone gets excited about baby’s first word! But what about the words that come afterward? Building a child’s vocabulary is never quite as exciting as those first words, but it is no less important. Children start by building their receptive language, the language they hear and understand. Their expressive language refers to the language they can produce. Both are important not only for the ability to communicate but for academic success, as well. Having a great vocabulary is the first step in literacy and can give them many essential tools.
I, like most parents, fondly remember the first time I had my toddler in my lap, reading a children’s book with big beautiful illustrations and simple words like Goodnight Moon or Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? I remember how exciting it was to trace the words on the page with my toddler’s little stubby fingers and showing him how those words were connected to the illustrations.
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