Liven Up Story Time: Read with Rhythm

Some kids love story time, others have a hard time staying focused. Not only is this distracting, but it can make story time a negative experience for everyone involved.
To get and hold the attention of a variety of different learners, try adding rhythm to your story time. I don’t mean sing story-songs (though if you’re [...]

The Power of Pictures

When I think back on my childhood memories, I find that many of them are rooted in the photos that make up my family photo albums. I’ve often wondered if I actually remember the moment, or have just created a story based on the picture…
In the end, it doesn’t matter. Our memories (whether pure or [...]

Communication: A Skill Best Taught By Example

It’s easy to underestimate the language abilities of young children. Because infants and many young toddlers can’t communicate with words, we often assume that they can’t understand and don’t need to understand what is going on around them. The reality is that children understand language well before they can speak it. Communication begins at birth.
Infants [...]

Tips for Building Early Literacy Skills

These days there is a lot of pressure on parents and teachers to have children reading before they enter kindergarten. While some children may be successful at accomplishing this, there are developmental stages to literacy, and not all children are ready for reading this early.
However, there is a lot you can do to lay the [...]

Using Pictures to Encourage Speech

If you stop and think about it, your typical toddler has to rely on a lot of auditory cues to get through the day. Sure, they often have a visual context to help them figure out what is going on (Mom is opening the refrigerator door and talking, maybe she’s getting me food!), but we [...]