A “literacy-rich environment” is one that provides children with easy access to interact with a variety of printed and writing materials. These materials may include such things as books, magazines, crayons, paper, signs, pencils, or word labels. Having a literacy-rich home brings your child one step closer to becoming ready to read! Today I'm sharing a quick checklist of features of a literacy-rich environment that can help you to evaluate your own home.
“Children with access to books and to quality reading experiences in their homes have more rapid language & literacy development compared with children without such advantages, and they are more able to enter school ready to learn. And although early childhood educational programs can do much to help children develop strong language and literacy skills, there is little substitute for the power of children’s rich, positive, frequent experiences with books with their homes under the sensitive guidance of a parent.”– quote from Shared Storybook Ready: Building Young Children’s Language & Emergent Literacy Skills by Helen K Ezell & Laura M. Justice.
Complete this quick checklist of features of a literacy-rich environment
to help evaluate your home:
___ My home includes a variety of books that are easily accessible to my children (that is, placed on easy to reach bookshelves, or in bins on the floor, etc).___ My home includes a variety of other printed materials (for example, card games, newspapers, magazines, notes, informative labels).___ My home contains writing tools that are easily accessible to my children (for example, pens, pencils, crayons, markers, paper, journals). ___ There are numbers throughout my home that are in my children’s view (on clocks, thermostats, calculators, calendars, money).___ There are areas in my home designated for reading (for example, a comfy chair with a light or a “book nook”).___ There are areas in my home designated for writing (for example, a playroom with a kid sized table, a desk with paper and pencils, or a night stand with a journal).___ The play spaces in my home promote literacy skills (for example, having a cookbook in a child’s kitchen area, or a notepad and pencil with a doctor’s set).___ My children often see the adults in the home engaged in reading and writing activities (for example, reading a magazine or writing a shopping list).___ We have a specific time set aside for reading and writing activities (for example, writing or drawing in a journal before bed, or reading stories before dinner every night).
How do you measure up?
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In honor of the good Dr. Seuss' birthday Ava paraded around this morning wearing her cat hat. It thrilled her to pieces once she realized that her hat and the one the cat wears are identical! She has been caring around the Cat in the Hat for a couple weeks and is currently her favorite. I find that plush book characters help to extend the story beyond the pages and really encourage building Narrative Skills. Ava's cat has been involved in all sorts of adventures including a trip through the Ikea store in Cincinnati.
All week Ava and her friends will be enjoying stories and activities that celebrate the work of Dr. Seuss - green eggs and ham for breakfast (
Green Eggs and Ham), making hats, feet painting (
The Foot Book), apple prints (
Ten Apples Up On Top), and decorating fish (
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish). There are many other fun activities to help make the stories pop off the page. Visit
Seussville for even more fun!
Of course no celebration would be complete without the great books by Dr. Seuss. Here is a brief list of our favorites:
And to Think that I Saw It on Mulberry Street
The Cat in the Hat
Fox in Socks
Green Eggs and Ham
Hop on Pop
Horton Hears a Who
The Lorax
My Many Colored Days
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
These books have endured generations because of the impact they have on young readers. Not only are the silly and memorable but they pave the way for success as readers.
Happy Birthday. Dr. Seuss!
Lately we have been enjoying all things ABC! Ava has taken an interest in pointing out letters (and numbers) and to my great pleasure she has begun recognizing several with frequency. One of her favorite toys at home is the magnetic alphabet letters.
The set we have has the chunky letters and numbers which are perfect for little
hands to manipulate. The set also comes with word cards indented to insert the letter for the beginning of each word. We name the image and sometimes spell the words. This activity has spilled over into our reading habits.
There are many, many alphabet books. Some that are excellent and many others that are not. At 20 months we are focusing on alphabet books that prominently feature the letter and one image. While reading we trace the letter and talk about the imagine (this also includes making the appropriate animal sounds). When looking for ABC books for my toddler I am looking for interesting illustrations that lack clutter. The ABC books on our shelf right now are Bruno Munari's ABC, Little Bird's ABC by Piet Grobler, and Eric Carle's ABC.
For Christmas Ava received a red wagon. Kris was very insistent that this was going to be her big gift this year. It was so sweet watching him assemble it on Christmas Eve and attach a big red bow. I think he was more excited than anyone else this year. Ava was thrilled with her gift (which only added to her daddy's excitement). She wanted to sit in her wagon to open all her other gifts and then all day we took turns pulling her around the house. Fortunately the day after Christmas was beautiful - warm like a late Spring day. We were able to get outside for a walk and to play with Ava's new red wagon.
As we were walking through the neighborhood a favorite
storytime song popped into my head - Little Red Wagon. We love the
Wiggleworms CDs! Lots of great songs to get you moving and that is so important with a toddler running around. Music is an excellent way to help get your child Ready to Read prompting
Phonological Awareness. So during the winter months we can
pretend we are riding in Ava's wagon by singing along!
Just for fun! Here is a link to a video of a different version that works really well with older children.
Little Red Wagon.
At times we are often very relaxed in our routine. We let Ava set the pace without controlling our lives and this has made for a very happy household. However, when it comes to the betime routine we have been pretty strict. I believe this consistency is what has helped foster the positive experience bath and bedtime have become. When told that it is time for a bath, Ava stops what she is doing and heads to the stairs.
Daddy typically takes the lead with bathtime and getting dressed. I do all the prep work (laying out jammies, straightening the crib, searching for pacifiers). We take turns with the the bedtime story. Sometimes Ava chooses who she wants to read.
Lately there has been a clear favorite when it comes to book choice - Dinosaur vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea. This is an excellent picture book with fun, simple, modern illustrations. The story flows well when read aloud and captures the listeners imagination. This book is excellent in reinforcing Print Motivation. If Ava is having a "toddler moment," all we have to do is ask her if she wants to read the dinosaur book and the outburst is over. Last night Kris observed her reading the book to herself. Each time she turned the page she would point and say, "Roar!" This is a new sound and later in the evening we were able to apply it to pictures of lions.
Our favorite bedtime stories include:
I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt
Hush Little Ones by John Butler
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Snuggle Up, Sleepy Ones by Claire Freedman
Dinosaur vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea
Ten Tiny Babies by Karen Katz
Song of Night by Katherine Riley Nakamura
Ava has been showing an interest in tools lately. Recently we visited a friend who had a play tool bench and she had the best time! Without any guideance Ava uses the tools correctly reminding me of the power of observation.
She has watched a deck being added to the back of our house, a room addition to her grandparents house, and many other projects involving tools. Ava stole a small wrench from PawPaw while he was assembling a table and took it to "work on" her riding school bus. She pretended to turn the wrench on bus and when her work was complete Ava lifted the seat and stored the wrench inside. We will be adding a toolbox to Ava's Christmas wish list!
My mother-in-law has a small collection of books for the grandchildren to enjoy. In the pile Ava found 2 Bob the Builder board books - one shaped like a hammer and the other a saw. These fun little books are excellent for Print Motivation. After reading the story Ava can pretend to work like Bob making the story come to life. We are also enjoying Tools by Taro Miura, Tools by Byron Barton, I Love Tools by Philemon Sturges, Whose Tools are These? by Sharon Katz Cooper, Monkey with a Tool Belt by Chris Monroe, and The Toolbox by Anne Rockwell.
Today kicks off the College Football Season and the whole family is geeked out in their Buckeye gear. A couple weeks ago Kris took Ava to OSU to walk around and take pictures. They had a great time and it was a special day for daddy and daughter. Ava loved mirror lake and watching the ducks (see previous post for photo).
I think Kris' favorite part was the time they spent exploring the stadium. Above is a photo of Ava in front of Ohio Stadium ready for Game Day. Our hope is to try to attend a pre-game session with TBDBITL (Ava's second favorite thing is music) as a fun family outing.
Today will be a great day to introduce new vocabulary words - she is already familiar with "TOUCHDOWN!" Some fun Buckeye books we will be sharing: Go Buckeyes: My First Ohio State Words by Connie McNamara, Ohio State Buckeyes 123: My First Counting Book by Brad Epstein, Buckeyes Big Game by Tom Kearney, and It's Fun to Be a Buckeye by Amy Wurth Fowble.
Game Day Prediction: Ohio State 28 Youngstown State 3
Recently I received a poll in my inbox asking the number of words my toddler recognizes - the choices were None, 1-5, 5-10, & More the 10. As I mentally began to list all the words she recognizes I was amazed at how vast her
vocabulary has become. She use 2 and 3 word sentences with ease and seems to have little difficulty with comprehension. If you ask her to do something she responds, "I did."
Vocabulary size aside, the battle of words (better yet - wills) continues on when defining Ava's feathered friend. Pigeon has become a new favorite. We work very hard at giving her the words to define the world around her but she is stuck on the word duck. If you were to stumble on a typical conversation between mother and daughter, this is what you will undoubtedly hear:
"Duck?"
"Pigeon."
"Duck."
"Pigeon."
"Duck."
"Pigeon."
And on and on and on until one or the other finally gives up (truth be told it is usually me). If after all this banter I ask Ava to kiss the pigeon, she immediately gives Pigeon a kiss - complete with sound effects. I am comforted in her ability to associate the word to the object regardless of her unwillingness to cease with the word duck. Until then we will continue giving her the words to help build her skills as a pre-reader.
Our favorite Mo Willems Pigeon books include:
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus,
The Pigeon Loves Things That Go!, and
The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!
Very cute! We love Dr. Seuss over here too. And I agree, plushies and art activities really are a great way to bring a book even more alive. We love our Olivia, Max and Maisy that we brought all the way to the UAE :)