Boost your child’s language skills with shared reading! Take a look at the strategies below to assist your child with reading at any age!
Infants
Position yourself in front of your baby with your face clearly visible
Pick books with simple pictures
Model saying 1 to 2 words to describe each page
For example, “dog” “hi, dog” “dog run” etc.
Use facial expressions as you read
Great books for infants…
Where’s Spot?
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you Hear?
Little Blue Truck
Toddlers
Position yourself near you child
Be flexible!
Follow your child’s lead
Toddlers often like to ask questions about the book and pictures
Shared book reading with your toddler might NOT be reading the words on the page
Instead, you might spend the time answering your child’s questions
For example, your toddler might point to pictures in the book and ask, “what’s that?”
You should name the picture or action, i.e. “dog” then add another word(s) to describe the picture or action, i.e. “dog run” “big dog” “hi, dog” etc.
You might also ask your child to identify and find things on each page
For example, you might say, “where is the cat?” “what does the cat say?”
Let your toddler practice turning pages
You might say, “next page” then wait for your child to turn the page
Great books for toddlers…
Llama Llama Red Pajama
The Little Engine that Could
Corduroy
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site
Preschoolers
Position yourself near the child
Like toddlers, preschool readers may also want to ask many questions about the book and pictures
Follow your child’s lead
If your preschooler points to a picture and asks, “what’s that?” then you should name the picture or action and add 2+ descriptor words
For example, your child points to a dog in the picture book and asks, “what’s that?”
Then, you might say, “Dog. Dog is big and black. Dog runs fast!”
The number of descriptor words you model will depend on your child’s language level
For example, if your child typically uses 3 words to communicate wants and needs, then you should model 4-5 words in a sentence to describe a picture scene
Alternately, some preschoolers may be ready to answer open-ended questions about pictures
For example, you might ask, “who is in the picture?” “where are they?” “what is the man doing?” “what color is the house?”
At this age, children may also be able to answer questions to make predictions
For example, you might ask, “what do you think will happen next?”
Great books for preschoolers…
I Can Read Biscuit
Pete the Cat books
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
Madeline
Are You My Mother?
School-aged children
Position yourself near the child
At this age, your child will likely be able to enjoy longer stories with more words per page and/or pictures with more details
Similarly to preschoolers, school-aged children will benefit from answering questions about the book or pictures
For example, “what are they doing?” “who is in the tree?” “where are the kids?”
In addition to these simple questions, you might start to ask questions about motivation or emotion
For example, “why are the kids running?” “why is the boy crying?” “why does she feel happy?”
This is also a great age to start asking questions about the main idea
For example, at the end of the story, you might ask, “what was the story about?”
If this is still too difficult for your child, then ask questions about the events of the story in order, i.e. “what happened first?” “what happened next?” “how did the story end?”
You might also ask your child to retell the story from their own memory
For example, at the end of the book, you might say, “now you tell me the story back with as many details as you can remember. What happened in the book?”
Great books for school-age children…
Good Dog book series
The Rainbow Fish
Curious George books
There was an Old Lady Who book series
What’s the role of the Speech Therapist in reading?
At Building Blocks Therapy Services, each of our Speech Therapists is equipped with the skills and knowledge to help you and your child learn language through shared reading! We care about your child’s ability to communicate at home, school and in the community. Please, visit www.buildingblocksgr.com or call (616) 570-925 to learn more about supporting your child’s language development through shared reading. We look forward to building a relationship with you and your child!
Source:
Reading Milestones (2022), Cynthia M. Zettler-Greeley, PhD
https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/milestones.html
