READING WITH YOUR TODDLER (LINKED TO EARLY YEARS CURRICULUM)

·  Encourage your child to participate by asking questions about the book, encouraging them to complete predicted phrases etc. 

·  Ask your child to express their own preferences and interests, for example by asking ‘do you like...’ questions. 

·  Encourage conversation about how the characters in the books are feeling and/or what they might be thinking.

·  Use sounds, songs and rhythm e.g voice, clapping, actions, percussive instruments

·  Ask questions about the story. For younger children, they may find it easier to answer ‘what’ or ‘why’ questions, for older children, you could introduce who, when or how based questions. You could use toys or figures to roleplay what the answers might be.

·  In discussion, use a wider vocabulary than is in the story alone. 

·  Encourage your child to anticipate what will happen in the story and make predictions.

·  Where, possible, use mathematical language such as more, less or a lot, or language about time, such as before, later or soon. Use gesture and/or toys to make these concepts more concrete for your child. 

·  Get your child to describe items in the story using adjectives-e.g. big, round red, tall

·  Discuss how characters in the story might be similar or different to themselves, their family or friends

·  Encourage them to talk about related events in their own experience