Read!
Reading is key for language and social-emotional development.
Think about it
The MOST important thing we can do to prepare our children for reading and learning is to read aloud to them.1 Reading is a great way to bond with your child too!
Get comfy and read with your child
It’s NEVER too early or too late to read to your child.2 3 Exposure to storybooks is the biggest factor in enriching a preschooler’s vocabulary, and reading books exposes young children to twice as many new words.4
Here is what you can do
Have high expectations - children who are deaf or hard of hearing can become successful readers.
Read/Sign to your child at least 20 minutes each and every day! It doesn’t have to be all at once. Feel free to break up reading throughout the day such as snack time, before nap, or bedtime.
Follow your child’s lead. Use their interests to choose the books you read together.
Try using exaggerated facial expressions, tapping your child, and pointing to the book, and moving where your child can see you to gain and keep your child’s attention.
Telling stories is just as important as reading books! Share stories over the dinner table. You can link family experiences to events that happen in books. Families who share stories have children with higher levels of well-being!5
If you are using more than one language with your child, make sure both languages are visible (for example: point to the picture of the cow, sign COW, point to the word cow, fingerspell C-O-W).
Expose your child to fiction books, non-fiction books, picture books, ABC books, books that rhyme, books that have flaps, board books, water-proof books, poetry, fairy tales, signed story books or videos, ANYTHING with printed words.
