LEARNING JUMPSTART
EARLY INTERVENTION = SCHOOL SUCCESS
How Can You Increase Your Child's Educational Readiness Skills?
-Facilitate increased oral language skills. Talk to your child about what is happening while he’s eating, bathing, dressing, shopping, playing, etc. Label the tiny green peas that he’s eating. 
Comment on the thin, crunchy potato chips you are eating and listen as they crunch between your teeth. When you go on a shopping trip, talk about where you’re going first, second, third and last. Ask him to follow age appropriate directions (eg., as you are organizing his room together, “Let's put your brown shoes in front of your tennis shoes in the closet.”). Point out the size, shape and color of lots of objects.
-Read aloud in an interactive style. Set aside a special time to read every day. Allow your child to help select books. Read and re-read a variety of story books, informational books, alphabet and number books and nursery rhymes. Make reading a fun time. Be enthusiastic and change your voice to match different characters. Ask your child questions, at her level of understanding, about the book as you progress. Ask her to make predictions about the action. Talk about the different characters and how they might be feeling in different parts of the story. Practice saying the characters’ lines with appropriate vocal characteristics. Encourage your child to retell the story using the pictures.
-Involve your child in activities that promote his phonemic awareness skills. Teach him nursery rhymes!!!! Call attention to the rhyming words in songs, chants, rhymes, poems, etc. Ask him to clap the syllables in his name and in other words and point to pictures and words as you sing songs. Use predictable books (e.g., Brown Bear Brown Bear) and books that have lots of rhyming words or alliteration (e.g., Hop on Pop, Berenstains’ A Book). Play games that focus on rhyming, hearing words in sentences, hearing syllables in words, and later hearing and generating beginning sounds, etc.
-Familiarize your child with letters of the alphabet and their corresponding sounds in a fun, natural way. For example, while reading the book, “Copy Cub”, you can comment, “Look, Copy Cub has an upper case “C” at the beginning of her name just like you, Carol!, as you point to the upper case “C” in Copy and in Cub and then the upper case “C” in Carol’s name.
-Create a print rich environment. Make sure your child has ample access to story books, informational books, nursery rhymes, and alphabet and number books. Children learn a lot about print by being exposed to labels, signs and other print they see around them. Get a library card for your child and visit the library often.
-Provide opportunities for your child to experiment with writing. Keep writing materials, including paper, pencils, markers and crayons handy. Encourage children to scribble, draw, and write letters. Let infants and toddlers experiment with crayons, markers and large paper. Encourage preschool children to incorporate writing into their dramatic play (e.g., making a grocery list, taking an order at a restaurant). Help your child write her own name.
Comment on the thin, crunchy potato chips you are eating and listen as they crunch between your teeth. When you go on a shopping trip, talk about where you’re going first, second, third and last. Ask him to follow age appropriate directions (eg., as you are organizing his room together, “Let's put your brown shoes in front of your tennis shoes in the closet.”). Point out the size, shape and color of lots of objects. -Read aloud in an interactive style. Set aside a special time to read every day. Allow your child to help select books. Read and re-read a variety of story books, informational books, alphabet and number books and nursery rhymes. Make reading a fun time. Be enthusiastic and change your voice to match different characters. Ask your child questions, at her level of understanding, about the book as you progress. Ask her to make predictions about the action. Talk about the different characters and how they might be feeling in different parts of the story. Practice saying the characters’ lines with appropriate vocal characteristics. Encourage your child to retell the story using the pictures.
-Involve your child in activities that promote his phonemic awareness skills. Teach him nursery rhymes!!!! Call attention to the rhyming words in songs, chants, rhymes, poems, etc. Ask him to clap the syllables in his name and in other words and point to pictures and words as you sing songs. Use predictable books (e.g., Brown Bear Brown Bear) and books that have lots of rhyming words or alliteration (e.g., Hop on Pop, Berenstains’ A Book). Play games that focus on rhyming, hearing words in sentences, hearing syllables in words, and later hearing and generating beginning sounds, etc.
-Familiarize your child with letters of the alphabet and their corresponding sounds in a fun, natural way. For example, while reading the book, “Copy Cub”, you can comment, “Look, Copy Cub has an upper case “C” at the beginning of her name just like you, Carol!, as you point to the upper case “C” in Copy and in Cub and then the upper case “C” in Carol’s name.
-Create a print rich environment. Make sure your child has ample access to story books, informational books, nursery rhymes, and alphabet and number books. Children learn a lot about print by being exposed to labels, signs and other print they see around them. Get a library card for your child and visit the library often.
-Provide opportunities for your child to experiment with writing. Keep writing materials, including paper, pencils, markers and crayons handy. Encourage children to scribble, draw, and write letters. Let infants and toddlers experiment with crayons, markers and large paper. Encourage preschool children to incorporate writing into their dramatic play (e.g., making a grocery list, taking an order at a restaurant). Help your child write her own name.