Tips for Families as Their
Children’s First TeacherU.S. Department of Education,
Ready Set Read for Families, Early Childhood Language (activities for children from birth through age five)Talk with and listen to your children as you play and do daily activities together.
Read with your children at a regular time every day and when they ask you.
Take toddlers and preschoolers to the library so that they can choose books to read at home. Find out about your library’s special books and services.
Create a special place in your home for your children to read and write.
Keep books and other reading materials where your children can reach them. And get new books often.
Keep writing material such as washable, nontoxic crayons and markers, paints and brushes, and different kinds of paper where your children can reach them.
Take books and writing materials for your children with you whenever you leave home, so that they can read and write at the doctor’s office, on the bus, and in the car.
Show your children how to read and write every day to have fun and get things done.
Point out to your children the printed words in your home and in the community.