Pre – Reading Skills Techniques For Toddlers
Reading need not necessarily mean just reading letters or the alphabet
or blending words. It begins with infancy when babies learn gestures
and sounds. They start responding post this to stories and pictures.
By the time they reach toddlerhood, they begin to point towards
objects and pictures, understand that words have significant meaning,
that the words represent something and are merely not just a print.
They will be able to pick up books, pretend read and turn pages. Early
pre-schoolers will be able to retell a story, develop awareness of
sounds and phonemes. These pre-reading skills help a child to lay a
robust foundation to fine tune their fluency and comprehension.
Techniques to improve their pre-reading skills –
1. Talk and let your child talk – Talk about anything and everything
around you. Ask your child’s opinion wherever possible.
2. Read books – Introduce different types of books, a wide variety of
topics and vocabulary. Read aloud as much as you can.
3. Print Rich Homes – Creating an environment with age-appropriate
print. These could be lables, affirmations, unit study, posters, time
tables, notes, calendar, directions, sight words etc.
4. Movable Letters – Usually here the consonants are pink and the
vowels are blue. These letters are kept in a compartment, usually
wooden and used to teach commonly used words and differentiate between
consonants and vowels.
5. Magnetic Letters – Magnetic letters can help kids to practice their
spelling skills and build their word skills. It is safe for your
child’s eyes and helps your child to increase their confidence and
inspires their creativity.
6. Sequencing cards or objects – Keep random objects in a sequence and
link them with a story. Ask a child to narrate the same story or story
of their own. You could also do this by keeping words on a table. Give
random words and a child to explore and create their own.
7. Word Games – Here is where the coveted Scrabble and Crossword find
their rightful place and honour.
8. Phonics Cards and Flash Cards – These are available by hundreds of
brands but the best are where the letters are block and black. The
font size should be atleast 28 and go upto 36. Bigger the better. Also
make sure that the flashcards come in 200gsm or 300gsm paper. That is
the quality you should be seeking to keep for the long term.
Pre Reading skills help your child prepare for the bigger and more
complex set of words. Additionally they also are a prerequisite for
understanding a text or paragraph in context without understanding the
meaning of all words. Competitive examinations like TOEFL, IELTS and
GRE certainly test these skills in their unseen passages. On a
personal front it teaches the child to read between the lines in all
situations. Skimming techniques appear strong for children who have
been given exposure to pre-reading. In our next article we will talk
about pre-writing.
Rucha S Khot
She is the owner and founder of Flora Language Solutions, an educational language start up that provides services like training, translations and content writing.
She is proficient in 5 languages which include English, German and Spanish.
She has worked with leading MNCs like Bosch and Steinbach & Partner Executive Consultants for four years before plunging into the start up world.
A brief stint of 2 years in Germany along with some business trips has given her exposure to European market. In 2019 she was the youngest entrepreneur to be awarded the Me Padvidhar Award. Her hobbies are traveling, reading, dancing, meeting new people and listening to folk music.
Writing means expressing purest feelings to her.
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