Words in Our Books
Here's What To Do
While you’re reading a book with your child, choose a simple recurring word that you point to and emphasize, such as “and” or “me.”
You can also point out the letters in the word a few times.
Note that your child isn’t expected to recognize or “read” the word on their own. This will just help them to understand that spoken words can be written and read, and vice versa.
Put PEER Into Action
Pause:
- Ask your child to select the book they’d like to read with you, and settle into a cozy space to read together.
Engage:
- “Words are made up of letters. We can say, read or write words.”
- “Let’s look for the word ___ while we’re reading. I’ll point to it and read it. Then we can read it together.”
Encourage:
- If your child wants to find the word after a while, point to the word and highlight the letters in the word first.
- You can also focus on the initial letter. Then, ask them to choose between two words with different initial letters they know. “‘Me’ starts with ‘M.’ Which word is ‘me?’”
Reflect:
- “Which word should we look for next?”
Not quite ready?
Point to words as you read. You can also point to their name and say their name as you write it. “Your name is made up of these letters. We can write your name like this, and we can say your name. What’s your name?”
Ready for more?
Your child can try to find the word, or a special letter in a sentence on the page.
As your child masters this skill...
They will understand that words or letters are something that can be read or spoken aloud.