Before your child begins to read, they’ll develop a set of skills known as pre-reading skills. These pre-reading skills are signs of early literacy and how they work together to form this magical skill known as “reading.” It’s fun to work on pre-reading skills with your child through simple, imaginative games and activities. At Preschool San Diego, we help your children develop pre-reading skills and follow these points to build your children’s pre-reading activities.

Pre Reading Activities or Skills are: 

1. Read To Your Child:

Read to your child! Many libraries and schools display a poster called “Ten Ways to Be a Better Reader.” Numbers 1 through 10 say “read.” There is no better way to introduce your children to words, cadence, fluency, and sequencing than to read to them daily. Read books they choose as well as books you choose. Read at bedtime, but also at other quiet times throughout the day. Visit the library to select even more books.

Pre-Reading Skills require print awareness (helping kids make the connection between printed letters and words and the ideas and stories they represent), vocabulary building, print motivation (interest in reading, in books, and in how they work)

2. Play With Magnetic Letters:

Invest in a few sets of magnetic letters and an inexpensive cookie sheet. At first, please help your child learn the names of the letters and what they look like. As he gets a little more comfortable, you can move on to putting the alphabet in order. Eventually, he can sound out and spell small words like “cat” or “bat,” or his name. This could be one of the most loved pre reading activities for your kid.

3. Keep Highlighting Names For Common Objects:

Use index cards, labels, or poster board pieces to print the names of everyday items in your home. Make two sets, attaching one to the things and giving your child the other to use for play. Don’t push your child to match the two collections; the idea is to get the child familiar with the look of the words for standard items, eventually making the connection on his own. It won’t be long before your child shows you that he recognizes his words from seeing them around the house.

4. Play Word Games:

Simple word games let your child experiment with sounds, letters, and words. Try:

Spy Games:

Use language-based clues, such as “I spy something that starts with T” or “I spy something that rhymes with ‘duck’.” If that isn’t enough information for your child, add more details, such as “I spy something that starts with ‘T’ and has four big wheels” (a truck).

Word To Word:

Take turns choosing a starter word—this can be the ‘kid’ in the family if you like—and then coming up with as many rhyming words as you can. They can be nonsense words, too. Just list names, or invent a whole family.

Although all children develop at their own pace, there are reading readiness skills that children commonly develop based on their age.