What is the practice?

Having lots of opportunities to play with and read books, vocalize and "talk" to others, do fingerplays, and play other sound and word games provide infants with the building blocks for learning to read, write, and talk. The fancy words for all these different kinds of opportunities are literacy-rich home experiences.

Mother reading to child

What does the practice look like?

Imagine an infant sitting on an adult’s lap and reading a book, an infant and parent playing peek-a-boo, an infant in a high chair at the dinner table listening to his or drawing in pudding or yogurt. These are just a few of the kinds of activities that make up literacy-rich home experiences.

How do you do the practice?

This practice is about your child’s involvement in different kinds of activities and opportunities that encourage interests in reading, talking, and writing. The activities and opportunities should be things that are fun and interesting to your child. Don’t overdo it. A small number of highly interesting activities is better than a lot of uninteresting things to do.

How do you know the practice worked?

  • Does your child try to communicate using sounds or gestures?
  • Does your child anticipate the "next lines" in a story or nursery rhyme?
  • Does your child show interest in trying to draw with his or her fingers?
  • Different kinds of commercial and homemade picture books, ABC books, talking books, homemade photo-album books, and the like are all good bets for encouraging interest in stories.
  • Read to your child as often as he or she seems interested. Find favorite books and let your child become part of reading the book by encouraging touching, pointing, showing, and talking.
  • Play lap games and fingerplays, and sing nursery rhymes and made-up songs, as part of playing with your child.
  • Talk to your child while you are doing different activities like diaper changing or preparing your child's meals. Involve your child in conversations you are having with other people. Ask simple questions like "What do you think about that?" It isn't important that your child understand what is being said. The important thing is making your child part of the activity.
  • Prvoide your child opportunities to do finger drawing using pudding, yogurt, finger paints, and other materials. Involve your child in activities like seeing you make a grocery list or write a note or letter.
  • Encourage your child to play with alphabet toys that make sounds when they are shaken or dropped.

Take a look at more touch-and-feel play

Reach for Reading

Susan became interested in books and other reading materials not long after she was able to reach and hold onto things with both hands. Looking at pictures of familiar things and having mom or dad read stories to her are just a few of the reading activities Susan especially enjoys. Susan’s parents want to encourage her interest in books and reading, so they make sure their daughter has lots of day-in-and-day-out opportunities to play with reading materials. Board books, cloth books, homemade picture-album books, magazines, talking books, and other reading and storytelling materials are readily available to Susan. Mom and Dad watch for opportunities to use Susan’s interests to read to her, tell her stories, and have her become as involved as possible in these activities.

All Kinds of Writing

Landon, age 14 months, has become especially interested kinds of ways for Landon to be part of these activities and for encouraging him to try to “write” on his own. He may only be able to scribble, but he surely likes writing with Mom. Landon’s mother lets him use crayons and felt-tipped markers while she is in the bathtub before having a bath, scribble with big pieces of chalk on the pavement outside their house, and type on the family’s computer. As Landon is doing any of these things, his mother talks about, describes, and asks Landon questions to keep him involved in all of these prewriting activities.

Tried-and-Tested Fun

Infants like David, who is blind, and Sarah, who cannot hear, still enjoy tried-and-tested lap games, nursery rhymes, and and lots of opportunities to listen to sounds and words, interact with their parents and other people, communicate wants and needs using gestures and sign language, and learn the basics of your-turn/my-turn, back-and-forth conversations. Both David’s and Sarah’s parents involve their children in lots of these kinds of play activities. As part of the activities, the children’s parents talk about everything that is going on by using simple words, signs, and sentences that David and Sarah have learned to understand and decipher.