Storie Tips

Preschool Reading Tips To help a preschooler prepare for reading, Patricia Mainella, District 81 reading coordinator, offers the following tips:

Read daily. Your children will learn about story form: plot, character and setting. They’ll pick up that books are read right to left, top to bottom, front to back. They’ll learn about syntax, grammar and vocabulary.

Look for picture books with rhyme, repetition and great illustrations.

When a child asks for the same story over and over, comply with his request. If you’re truly sick of it, make a tape of yourself reading it aloud.

Buy lots of children’s books. Encourage your child to “write” his own, with scribbles and drawings.

Put a note in your child’s lunch box. Ask his day-care provider to read it to him.

Ask your child to help you make out the grocery list. Scribbles are fine.

Help your child create holiday cards, letters and thank-you notes. At first he’ll only manage to sign his name, and draw a picture.

Buy a set of magnetic letters and let your child play with them on the refrigerator.

Start a family message center where children can leave notes and reminders for the rest of the family.

For wriggly children, read at bedtime, when they’re a calmer, captive audience.

Get your child a library card. Schedule regular visits to preschool storytimes.

Make up stories to tell your children aloud. If you’re not feeling terribly imaginative, sweet stories of the child’s birth or babyhood are always big hits.

Visit the Children’s Corner Bookshop for Saturday morning stories at 10 a.m. -Jamie Tobias Neely