Early Learning: Birth to 5 Resources

CLL1 

36-48 Months

48 – 60 Months

Kindergarten HCTLS

Standard: 

CLL1: The child will listen to conversations and demonstrate comprehension.

1. Create a routine for your child when they come home to unpack their book bag or to get ready for the next family activity.
2. Create a bedtime routine that has 2-3 steps such as brush your teeth, then go to bed. 
3. Allow your child to have a cleaning up routine. For example, play a song and cleaning up should be finished by the time the song ends.
4. When packing lunch for your child, involve them by asking them to gather food for you, and then giving them multiple steps to perform. 
5. Provide opportunities to create a hand washing routine such as: turn on water, get some soap, rub hands together for 20 seconds, rinse off and dry hands.
6. Have your child repeat steps for a given task such as putting on their socks and shoes. 
7. Encourage your child to repeat directions given for a task such as putting on their coat and hat. 
8. Have your child tell you the steps to a routine task. Help them break the task into individual steps.
9. Allow your child to help set the table following given steps such as: Place down napkin first, then place the spoon and fork. 
10. Play board games with multi-step instructions.

1. Create a routine for your child when they come home from school, such as: unzip bookbag, take out folder, put lunchbox in the kitchen, etc. 

2. Set a bedtime routine with 3 or more steps such as: putting on pajamas, brushing teeth, and drinking water.

3. Allow your child to have a cleaning up routine. Have your child explain their routine to you using step-by-step instructions. 

4. Make following multi-step instructions fun! Give your child silly instructions like, “rub your tummy AND jump up and down!” 

5. Give paper and a drawing instrument to your child and direct their drawing (i.e. “draw a circle. Now, draw a face inside the circle”, etc.) 

6. Involve your child in simple cooking or baking activities. Note how adults also have to follow instructions, like recipes. 

7. Provide an opportunity to make a "Monster" or similar character that your child may "feed." Instruct your child to make or construct a monster, and then roll a dice or similar items to find out how many pieces of food it should eat. Your child can then draw or create the “food” that the monster eats. 

8. Set up a treasure hunt and give your child multi-step instructions (i.e. “First, find the red sock, and then look for the yellow ball!”)  

9. Use objects like chairs, hula hoops, carpet squares, to create an obstacle course. Give instructions in a step-by-step manner using positional language and physical examples such as: "Jump inside the hoop, crawl across the mat, and go around the chair.”

10. Challenge your child to follow three-step instructions, such as: “Jump up and down, turn around and touch the ground.”

CLL 

36-48 Months

48 – 60 Months

Kindergarten HCTLS

Standard: 

The child will use nonverbal communication for a variety of purposes.

1. Provide your child with pictures to point to or bring you such as: bathroom, favorite foods, and toys to show you their wants and needs.

2. Model and have your child use their hand to wave to say hello/goodbye or to gesture “come here” when they want you near.

3. Allow your child to grab your hand to communicate that they need your attention.

4. Encourage your child to pat their chest and say “mine" to show that something belongs to them or that they want it.

5. Allow your child to have a meaningful conversation with you, by asking guiding questions such as “What do you like to do with your friends?”.

6. Encourage your child to use words to tell you their needs/wants.

7. Offer games where the kids must answer with a "OK" sign or by raising their hands to say "no way" in scenarios where they need to make a choice. 

8. Provide your child with a choice board with visuals.

9. Encourage your child to point to where they would like to sit to eat a snack or where they want to go.

10. Provide opportunities for your child to retell and act out previously taught finger plays, songs, and poetry. 

1. Provide opportunities for your child to talk with their hands to communicate.

2. Encourage your child to use thumbs up or thumbs down with the words yes and no to communicate.

3. Have your child use hand signals to indicate wants and needs such as bathroom and something to drink or eat.

4. Encourage your child to use high fives when celebrating or when happy.

5. Model for your child the appropriate ways to say yes and no to questions or scenarios. 

6. Allow children to put their hands out to stop an action by others.

7. Use higher order thinking questions, rather than simple yes/ no questions. For example, “How can I help you?”

8. Use open ended questions after reading books.

9. Provide your child with a choice board for communication of needs with pictures and words.

10. Encourage your child to use words and to demonstrate answers to choices given.

CLL 

36-48 Months

48 – 60 Months

Kindergarten HCTLS

Standard: 

CLL3:
The child will use nonverbal communication for a variety of purposes.

1. Have your child use gestures by shaking their head no and nodding yes.

2. Encourage your child to use facial expressions to communicate emotions. 
3. Provide the opportunity to learn ASL signing (hand movements).
4. Provide the opportunity for your child to use the action of pointing by identifying their favorite restaurant while riding in the car.
5. Have your child create three cards that have different emotions written on them for ex. happy, sad, excited. When your child chooses a card, have your child act out that emotion using facial expressions only.
6. With your child standing in front of a mirror, or holding a hand-held mirror, have them act out different emotions and then ask them how their facial expression changes with each emotion.
7. Model emotions for your child using your face. Have them guess which emotion you’re modeling. 
8. Plan for your child to use an action, such as a high five or thumbs up/ thumbs down, to communicate how they're feeling in the morning. 
9. Provide an opportunity for your child to make up dances to show various emotions.  For example, tired dance, angry dance and excited dance.
10. Have your child listen to two different songs and ask them to draw how each song makes them feel.

1. Have your child rub their stomach when he/she sees their favorite foods.

2. Allow your child to cover and uncover their eyes to indicate the surprise emotion.
3. Provide an opportunity for your child to shrug their shoulders indicating they are not sure about something. 
4. Provide an opportunity for your child to express how they would feel in certain situations (for example how would you feel if….? How does it make you feel when…?)
5. Have your child lie down and trace their body on paper or on the sidewalk with chalk. Have them draw different emotions on the face portion of their body.
6. Have your child create different facial expressions such as happy, sad or mad using paper plates. 
7. Provide your child with different picture cards and invite them to act out how that picture makes them feel. 
8. Use family photos to discuss the emotions of family members in different situations. Encourage your child to identify the emotions based on facial expressions.
9. Play a game of feeling charades with your child. Without speaking, model emotions and let your child guess what you are feeling. 
10. With playdoh or other art supplies, encourage your child to model what they are feeling. Provide a “what if” situation to your child and have them model that as well (i.e. “What if all my cookies fell on the floor? What would my face and body look like then?) 

CLL 

36-48 Months

48 – 60 Months

Kindergarten HCTLS

Standard: 

CLL4: The child will use increasingly complex spoken language.

ELAGSEKSL6 Speaks audibly and expresses thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.

1. Practice spoken rhymes with your child by singing nursery rhymes.

2. Encourage your child to build a structure out of blocks. Have your child describe the structure. 

3. Look at family photos with your child. Ask them to describe what they see in the photo, and any memories they have about the photo. 

4. While playing with your child outside, note any bugs or wildlife that you see. Encourage your child to create and tell aloud a story about that animal’s life. 

5. Choose a story to read with your child. Guide your child to ask questions about the story and share their thoughts and predictions. 

6. Engage in arts and crafts activities with your child, and discuss the colors, shapes, and materials that you use. 

7. Collaborate on story- telling with your child. Begin a verbal story, and then take turns adding sentences until you are done. 

8. Model the game “Simon Says” for your child. Allow them to lead the game and give commands. 

9. Play pretend games with your child, like house, doctor, or supermarket. Encourage your child to speak as they interact with their pretend world. 

10. Use picture flashcards with different objects, animals, or people, and encourage your child to identify and describe what they see.

1. Have your child engage in outdoor play. Encourage them to create a piece of art using the nature around them, and describe their creation to you. 

2. Plan for role-play games with your child. Pretend to be different characters, asking questions like, “What would a firefighter say?” 

3. Play the game telephone with your child. Encourage a message to be passed from person to person, and have your child say aloud the final message, no matter how silly! 

4. Sing a nursery rhyme like “Baa Baa Black Sheep” with your child, and encourage them to repeat it on their own. 

5. Read a story with your child. Afterwards, encourage your child to retell the story in their own words. 

6. Involve your child in simple cooking activities. Give them the opportunity to use new vocabulary related to the ingredients and techniques. 

7. Encourage your child to speak aloud as they build with legos or blocks, describing what they are building and using language to describe any challenges they face. 

8. Play board games with your child. Following rules and taking turns will help facilitate higher levels of spoken language. 

9. Provide your child with a creative story starter like “Once upon a time…” and let them finish the story. 

10.  Practice fun tongue-twisters with your child, like “Sally sells seashells by the seashore” to help improve pronunciation skills.  

CLL 

36-48 Months

48 – 60 Months

Kindergarten HCTLS

Standard: 

CLL5:
The child will acquire meaning from a variety of materials read to him/her.

CLL5. 4c Discusses books or stories read aloud and can identify characters and setting in story.

ELAGSEKRL1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. 

ELAGSEKRL3 With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

1. After reading a bedtime story, engage your child in a relaxed conversation about the book. Ask questions like, “what was your favorite part?” 

2. Hide small props around to represent elements of a favorite story. Have your child find them in a story scavenger hunt, and ask them how the props relate to the story whenever they find one. 

3. Prepare a simple snack related to a favorite story (i.e. animal crackers for a story about animals). As you eat, have a conversation about the story and encourage them to talk about their favorite parts. 

4. Give your child paper and crayons and ask them to draw their favorite part of a specific story.

5. Take a walk around your neighborhood, encouraging your child to talk about things they see. Ask your child if anything they see reminds them of a specific story’s elements. For example, “do you see anything that looks like [character]?” or “what do you think that character would do if they were here?” 

6. While playing dolls or action figures, ask your child to use their toys to act out a recently read story. Prompt your child with questions like, “what would that character do now? Where would they go?”

7. Discuss the emotions of a character in a book they have read. Encourage your child to act out the emotions using their face and body. 

8. After reading a story, ask your child how it compares to other stories you have read together. Guide them to compare the characters, setting, and answer simple questions about both stories. 

9. Introduce your child to the concept of a book review. Tell them they can create their own book review, and ask them questions like “what did you like about this book?” or “what else would you include in this story?” 

10. Allow your child to make predictions about a story before you read it. Ask questions like “what does the picture on the front make you think about?”

1. Play story charades with your child. Encourage them to pick a character from a recently read story, and try to guess who they are! 

2. Gather costumes, old clothes, or dress-up clothes and encourage your child to make a costume to represent a favorite character. Encourage your child to describe the character’s appearance and actions. 

3. Provide magazines, newspapers, or printouts with pictures of people and animals. Allow your child to cut out images that represent a character or setting from a recently read story, and glue them down to create a story collage. 

4. Choose two characters from a story (or different stories) and ask your child to compare them. Discuss their similarities and differences in appearances, personality, and actions. 

5. Show your child a printed map. Encourage them to make their own story map, and draw the setting of a recently read story. 

6. Set up a sensory bin for your child (can simply be a big container with sand, water, leaves, or other sensory materials). Put in small materials or toys that represent the plot of a recently read story. Allow your child to find the story props and explain how each one relates to the story. 

7. Print out or draw characters from a favorite story.  

CLL 

36-48 Months

48 – 60 Months

Kindergarten HCTLS

Standard: 

CLL6: The child will develop early phonological awareness (awareness of units of sound).

CLL6.3a Listens and matches rhythm, volume and pitch of rhymes, songs and chants.

CLL6.4a Listens and differentiates between sounds that are the same and different

ELAGSEKRF3a Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary or many of most frequent sounds for each consonant. 

ELAGSEKRF3b Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels. 

ELAGSEKRF3d Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ

1. Sing nursery rhymes aloud with your child, modeling rhythm and pitch. 

2. Clap along with the rhythm of a sing along song or poem and have your child clap at the rhymes.

3. Find a book with rhyming patterns. While reading, have your child finish the rhyming pattern. 

4. Play a game with real words and nonsense words. Challenge your child to identify if the words rhyme or not. 

5. Create a clapping or dance pattern and see if your child can replicate it. For example, “clap, clap, hip shake, hip shake”. 

6. Sing soft lullabies to your child at bedtime, focusing on the rhythm and pitch. Have your child sing those lullabies back to you throughout the day.

7. Encourage your child to sing or chant rhyming phrases. Focus on volume by having them sing “loud like a lion” or “quietly like a mouse”. 

8. Pretend to be in a band with your child. Use pots and pans and drums, and sing songs with rhymes and rhythm. 

9. Use puppets or stuffed animals to sing rhyming songs or chants aloud, and encourage your child to repeat the chant as closely as possible. 

10. Walk around your house or yard with your child, matching your steps to a specific beat or rhythm.

1. While riding in the car, point out letters that you see. Ask your child- “do these letters have the same sound? Or different sounds?” 

2. Clap out patterns for your child and ask your child to echo the patterns back to you, paying close attention to their listening skills. 

3. Give your child a letter and ask them to find an object that matches the letter sound. For example, given the letter “A”, your child may find an airplane. 

4. Challenge your child as you read and find rhyming words in a book. Ask them to find other words that have the same rhyme. 

5. Play a version of musical chairs with your child, where they must sit down at a specific sound you play. As you play a new sound, ask them if it is the same or different from the one before. 

6. Play a game with your child where they change the first letter of a word to make a rhyme. The words they create can be real or nonsense words. Encourage your child to pay attention to how different sounds change the words. 

7. Make flashcards with your child. Encourage them to draw simple pictures of rhyming words (i.e. “mat” and “bat”). Mix up the flashcards and have your child put the rhyming cards back together as a match.

8. Make different letter sounds with accompanying motions (for example, “popping popcorn” with your hands accompanied by the “p” sound). Encourage your child to imitate your sounds and motions. 

9. Play “Simon Says” with different sounds. For example, “Simon Says make the letter R sound.” Have your child point out when sounds do not match or are different. 

10. Pick a word and encourage your child to make as many rhymes as possible

CLL 

36-48 Months

48 – 60 Months

Kindergarten HCTLS

Standard: 

CLL6: The child will develop early phonological awareness (awareness of units of sound).

CLL6. 3b Identifies and produces rhyming words with adult guidance.

CLL6. 4b Identifies and produces rhyming words.

ELAGSEKRF2a Recognize and produce rhyming words.

1. Encourage your child to make up their own silly rhyming words as they eat (i.e. “peas, please!) 

2. Set up a rhyming word hunt for your child! Walk around the house and point out words, encouraging your child to find the rhyme. (i.e. “wall”- “ball”) 

3. Read rhyming or poem books to your child, exaggerating the rhyming words and rhyme pattern. 

4. Play a rhyming game in the car with your child! Say “I see a stop sign! What word can you think of that rhymes with stop?” Support your child as they provide real and nonsense word rhymes. 

5. Sing rhyming songs with your child, including nursery rhymes and fun songs about cleanup and meal time. 

6. Use motions to practice rhyming words with your child. For example, “I am going to say two words. If they rhyme, raise your hand! If they don’t, shake your head.” 

7. Play a drawing game with your child. You say a word and encourage your child to draw its rhyme. 

8. Play a simple body parts rhyming game with your child. Point to a body part (i.e. head or eye) and support your child as they generate a rhyming word.

9. Play “I Say” with your child. Chant “I Say ____, You Say ___!” and fill in rhyming words. For example, I Say Night! You Say Right!” 

10. Show your child three pictures (i.e. a cat, a hat, and a dog) and ask them which ones rhyme.

1. Make up a rhyming chant with your child! Practice your chant together, putting emphasis on the rhyming words. 

2. Encourage your child to keep a rhyme journal where they draw pictures to represent rhyming words they come across during the day. 

3. Use beanbags or small pillows to play a rhyming game with your child. Hold the beanbag and say a word. Then, pass the beanbag to your child and encourage them to produce a rhyme. Once they do, have them pass the beanbag back to you. Repeat until you are out of rhymes! 

4. Allow your child to finish your rhyming sentence! For example, “Can you finish this rhyming sentence for me? The cat sat on the _____”. 

5. Tell your child a rhyming story! For example, “One day, Jan lived in a house that was tan. Her father’s name was Dan. Her mother’s name was Nan. She used a cooking pan.” Encourage your child to pick out the rhymes and even generate their own! Repeat the activity with other sets of rhyming words. 

6. Model for your child how to generate rhymes during snack time! Say, “Would you like some cheese, please?” and ask your child to make up their own. 

7. Set up a rhyming treasure hunt for your child with common objects. For example, hide a toy cat and a hat and allow your child to find the items and match up their rhymes. 

8. When celebrating a special occasion or holiday, challenge your child to come up with themed rhyming pairs (i.e. at a birthday party, you may ask your child to generate rhyming words with “cake”). 

9. Integrate physical activity or dance moves into your rhyming activities! Choose a special dance move or exercise activity to do when your child recognizes or produces a rhyme! 

10. Find and listen to songs that include rhymes. Allow your child to listen to a popular, kid-friendly song with rhymes and explain how musicians often put rhymes in songs to help with the rhythm.

CLL 

36-48 Months

48 – 60 Months

Kindergarten HCTLS

Standard: 

CLL6: The child will develop early phonological awareness (awareness of units of sound).

No corresponding standard.

CLL6. 4f  Manipulates and blends sounds (phonemes) with adult guidance.

ELAGSEKRF2e Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one syllable words to make new words.

1. Engage in phoneme segmentation with your child. This means breaking apart a word into its sounds. For example, for the word cat, you may say, “/k/ /a/ /t/” and ask your child to repeat each sound. 

2. Play a rhyming game with your child at different points in the day. Car rides are great for this activity. Use simple words, and model for your child how changing the first sound will give them a brand new rhyming word (i.e. “bat” to “sat” or “flat”) 

3. Go on a scavenger hunt around the house to find objects that begin with a certain sound. For example, “find something that begins with the /b/ sound”. 

4. Create cheers or chants when listening to the sounds in a word, and when blending them together. For example, “/H/ /A/ /T/, /H/ /A/ /T/, what word do I have? HAT!” 

5. When on a nature walk or at the playground, encourage your child to blend sounds together for animals or plants they see. For example, “I see a bug! /b/ /u/ /g/, bug!”. 

6. Create picture flashcards for your child to practice beginning sounds. When they see a picture, like apple, they should give the appropriate beginning sound (/a/). 

7. When reading a story with your child, pause and have your child blend sounds in a repeated word. For example, “This character is a fox! Let’s blend the sounds in his name! /f/ /o/ /x/….fox!”

8. Encourage your child to hold up fingers to represent the sounds they hear in a word. For example, “The word is sun! How many sounds do we hear? Let’s hold up a finger for each sound! /s/ /u/ /n/….3 sounds! Great job!” 

9. While eating a meal, count and blend the sounds in common foods. You could say, “We are eating ham! /h/ /a/ /m/….ham!” 

10. Play a sound substitution game, but instead of substituting out the first sound to make rhyming words, try the final sound! For example, “If we change the /g/ in hog to /p/, what word do we get? Hop, that’s right!”

CLL 

36-48 Months

48 – 60 Months

Kindergarten HCTLS

Standard: 

CLL7:
The child will demonstrate increasing knowledge of the alphabet.

CLL7.3a With prompting and support, can identify some alphabet letter names.

CLL7.4a With prompting and support, recognizes and names some upper/lowercase letters of the alphabet.

ELAGSEKRF2e Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one syllable words to make new words.

1. Play an “I Spy” game with your child around the home. Encourage them to find print letters in their environment. 

2. Place magnetic letters on your refrigerator or other magnetic surface. Allow your child to interact with the letters and name the ones they recognize. 

3. Use play-doh, modeling clay, or other art supplies to build letters with your child and have them identify which letters you are creating. 

4. Make a “literacy box” for your child that has print-rich materials in it. Encourage them to engage with their literacy box and pick out any letters they recognize in the text. 

5. Point out familiar words like “McDonalds”. Encourage your child to identify the letters in the word. 

6. Make letter flashcards. Have your child look at pictures and match the correct letter to the picture. 

7. Sing the alphabet song with your child and provide an alphabet printout or strip. Have your child look at the letters as you sing the song together. 

8. Read an alphabet book with your child, making sure to point to the letters and say their names. 

9. Create a letter collage with your student using different letters from magazines or printouts. Let your child identify and name the letters they see. 

10.  Draw large letters on the ground in chalk and play hopscotch, having your child name the letters as they hop on them.

1. Play an “I Spy” game with your child around the home. Encourage them to find print letters in their environment. Also challenge your child to distinguish between the upper and lower case letters they see. 

2. Assist your child in writing their name. Encourage them to use an uppercase letter for the beginning of their name. Have them point to each letter in their name and identify it. 

3. Use play-doh, modeling clay, or other art supplies to build letters, both upper and lower case, and have your child identify them. 

4. Create a matching game by writing upper and lower case letters on pieces of paper or flashcards. Encourage your child to match the lowercase letter to its uppercase counterpart. 

5. Draw large letters (uppercase and lowercase) on the ground in chalk and play hopscotch, having your child name the letters as they hop on them. Challenge them to also call out if the letter is uppercase or lowercase.  

6. Read an alphabet book with your child. Before reading the page, have your child point to and identify the letters and tell if they are uppercase or lowercase. 

7. Display magnetic letters on a magnetic surface. Encourage your child to use the letters to create simple, three letter words. Encourage your child to use both uppercase and lowercase letters.

8. Sort a mix of lowercase and uppercase letters (magnetic, foam, or written on paper/flashcards) into groups and have your child identify them. Then, have your child match the lowercase and uppercase counterparts. 

9. Fill a bin with rice, beans, or sand and hide letter or foam magnets. Have your child find a letter, name it, and determine whether it is uppercase or lowercase. 

10.  Provide materials for your child to begin writing the uppercase and lowercase letters they can identify.

CLL 

36-48 Months

48 – 60 Months

Kindergarten HCTLS

Standard: 

CLL8:
The child will demonstrate awareness of print concepts.

CLL8. 3d Recognizes environmental print.

CLL6. 4d Recognizes and reads environmental print.

N/A

1. Label common household items like “door”, “window”, or “chair”. Encourage your child to recognize these words and what objects they relate to. 

2. Take your child to the grocery store and challenge them to find familiar logos and brand names on products like juice boxes, cereal, or snacks. Ask them to point out the products that they recognize. 

3. Go for a walk around the neighborhood, pointing out street signs and other environmental print. 

4. When ordering takeout or eating at a restaurant, involve your child in reading the menu, especially if it includes pictures. Point out familiar words and ask them to identify pictures and words they recognize. 

5. Create simple bingo cards to keep in the car with popular brand names. Have your child say “bingo!” and make a mark on their card every time they see a specific sign while driving, like McDonalds or Target. 

6. Guide and support your child to label their artwork and display for everyone to see. 

7. Choose read aloud books that incorporate environmental print elements such as signs, labels, or brand names. Read the books with your child and point out familiar words or logos as you go. 

8. Line up the cereal boxes or other colorful food boxes and ask your child to find the first letter of their name on the box. 

9. Choose a simple sign (stop sign, one way, etc.) to focus on during a car trip. Encourage your child to count how many signs they see along the way. Explain to your child that this sign conveys the same message each time they see it. 

10. Cut out familiar words from cereal boxes, soup cans, or other food items. Use these individual words to talk about upper and lower case letters and the sounds they make.

1. Engage in car ride reading with your child. Point out signs and billboards during your drive and encourage your child to read the words aloud. 

2. Label items in your child’s bedroom with simple words or pictures. Encourage your child to read the words while playing or tidying up. 

3. Play the alphabet game while out and about with your child. Guide them to use familiar logos and signs to find the letters of the alphabet, one-by-one. For example, “I see the letter B in Bath and Body Works!” 

4. Play grocery store with your child! Set out an area with food boxes or cans, and allow your child to “shop”, picking up items and reading their labels aloud. 

5. Create simple menus for meals at home using pictures and words (i.e. drawing a slice of pizza and salad with word labels). Allow your child to “order” their meal by pointing at the picture and reading the word. 

6. Play environmental print “I Spy” with your child. For example, “I spy with my little eye…a sign that says Burger King! Can you find it?”

7. When playing family board games, model for your child how to read the name of the game. For future game nights, allow your child to choose their game by reading the names of the games aloud. 

8. Set up an environmental print treasure hunt. Hide items with logos or labels around the house (i.e. goldfish carton or Nike shoes) and give your child clues to find the items

9.  Allow your child to help you in the kitchen, and ask them to find and identify items with labels. For example, “can you find the milk? Point to the word milk on the carton”. 

10. Create a shopping list with your child before going to the store. Encourage them to match the words on the products to the words on your list.

CLL 

36-48 Months

48 – 60 Months

Kindergarten HCTLS

Standard: 

CLL8:
The child will demonstrate awareness of print concepts.

CLL8.3c Independently holds a book right side up and turns pages from right to left.

CLL8.4c With prompting and support, tracks words from left to right, top to bottom, and page to page.

ELAGSEKRF1.a Follows words from left to right, top to bottom, and page-by-page.

1. Model for your child how to hold a storybook and how to properly turn pages. 

2. Maintain a bookshelf or book basket for your child where they can independently choose a text and turn the pages. 

3. Use colorful sticky notes or bookmarks to help your child note the pages they are particularly interested in. Encourage your child to flip back to those pages regularly.

4. Ask your child to “read” a familiar story by narrating it based on the illustrations while turning the pages properly. 

5. Choose a letter and challenge your child to find the letter on the pages as you read together, encouraging them to flip through the book. 

6. Hide books around the house for your child to discover independently, encouraging them to open the books and turn the pages. *

7. Create a cozy space where your child can “read”, using pillows and blankets or even a small chair. 

8. Integrate songs and rhymes into storytime, using lyrics and repetitive phrases to engage your child in turning the pages.

9. Involve the whole family in reading time, with one member turning and reading a page while your child follows along. 

10.  Before reading a new book, engage in a “picture walk” with your child, where you flip through the pages and discuss the illustrations.

1. Model for your child how to track words on a page as you read.

2. Ensure that your house is a print-rich environment, meaning your child can frequently interact with words. For example, labeling toy bins in a playroom. As your child encounters text, encourage them to track the word from left to right. 

3. While reading with your child, show them how to use their finger to point to each word as they read, modeling left- to right tracking. 

4. Use a large pointer or magic wand to encourage your child to follow along with the words as you read aloud. 

5. Use strips of paper to write sentences, and place a sticker under each word. Have your child “hop” their finger from sticker to sticker, noting that the words go from left to right. 

6. Using a dry erase board or large paper, write sentences as they would appear on a page. Encourage your child to note how the words fill the page from top to bottom. 

7. Allow your child to tell you a story, and write it down as they do. Point out that your words are being written left to right, top to bottom, and page to page. 

8. Sing simple songs with lyrics printed or written out. Point to the words as you sing them, and encourage your child to follow along. 

9. Listen to audio recordings or books on tape that go along with a printed book. Help your child follow along as the words are read aloud. 

10. Use puppets or stuffed animals to help “track” the words with your child as you read together.