3 Important Guidelines On Introducing Reading Skills To Infants & Toddlers • love beauty thrive

Infants and toddlers (ages 6-24 months) are incredibly busy little learners.

Soon to be preschoolers in the early stages of learning to read, it’s never too early to introduce the ABCs and 123s to their eager (and rapidly expanding) young minds.

Reading with your toddler is not only a great way to bond and spend quality time together, but it also builds the literacy confidence they need before venturing off to preschool (and later, kindergarten).

We’ve put together a list of the 3 most important guidelines on introducing reading skills to infants and toddlers, to get them started on the right track.

Give your little one a passion for reading that will last a lifetime.

HANDS-ON LEARNING

Infants and toddlers are busy, hands-on explorers. They learn well with their hands (and through repetition). Touch-and-feel, or other textured books are great choices that keep this age group focused and engaged (and off screens).

TAKE YOUR TIME

Don’t rush story time. Take your time with each page, allowing your child to really take in and study the letters, numbers, and pictures (even sight words) they see before moving on. Pause, don’t hurry, and let the alphabet, numbers, and images (and the connections between all three) on the page begin to sink in.

REPEAT & RE-READ

Repeat, repeat, repeat. Young children are creatures of repetition. Rereading favourite books and stories (typically those with colourful illustrations) builds fluency and comprehension. It helps your child relate and connect the words they are hearing, to the words/letters (and images) they are seeing on the page.