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Reading with kids makes them more likely to succeed in school

Reading Aloud & Early Literacy

Reading helps children learn:

  • Letters and their sounds

  • Phonological awareness (rhyming; breaking down words into sounds)

  • Narrative skills and comprehension

  • Background knowledge (learning about the world around them)

  • Vocabulary

  • Print awareness (the way a book is organized; learning that print has meaning; loving books)

In other words, reading aloud can teach children all the oral language components they need to know in order to become successful readers. But perhaps the most important thing reading out loud can teach children is a love of reading. If the reading aloud experience is fun and pleasurable, a child will want to learn to read and will work hard to learn, even if it is sometimes a struggle. So...

HOW we read with young children is every bit as important - or more important! - as how often we read with them.Reading with your child makes reading fun for them!

For example:

  • If children are actively involved in the reading aloud experience, they learn more early literacy skills - and it's more fun!

  • Talk, talk, talk - about the story and the pictures. Encourage your child to participate with repeated phrases, animal sounds, and so on. Ask your child what is happening in the pictures or to predict what will happen next. If something in the story or the pictures prompts a memory in your child's life, talk about it! Have a conversation around the book and always keep it fun!

Here are three great ways to read aloud with a child:

Dialogic Reading

Shared Reading

Picture Book Walk

This Month's Featured Reads!

LCPL staff have selected these books because kids love them and they help build important pre-reading skills. Check them out today!

Want more hand-picked kids' books? You can request a surprise bag of kids' books for curbside pickup! 

 book cover Title:
Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett

Skills:
• Print Awareness
• Narrative Skills
• Vocabulary 
• Letter Knowledge
• Print Motivation

Practices:
• Talking
• Reading
• Playing
• Writing

Extend the book with a counting activity!
Book Cover Title:
Whose Egg is That? by Darrin P. Lunde

Skills:
• Print Motivation
• Narrative Skills
• Vocabulary
• Letter Knowledge

Practices:
• Reading
• Playing
• Talking

Extend the Book with a themed sensory bin!

TumbleBook of the Day (by Indiana State Library and Tumblebooks)

Preschool Events
No events at this branch
Family Events
Tue, Apr 04, 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Merrillville - Children's Programming Room

Sat, Apr 22, 10:00am - 12:00pm
Merrillville - Meeting Room A

Mon, Apr 24, 10:00am - 5:00pm
Dyer-Schererville - Circulation

Mon, Apr 24, 5:30pm - 6:15pm
Cedar Lake - Cedar Lake Zoom Room

Tue, Apr 25, 1:00pm - 1:45pm
Merrillville - Lake County Public Library Zoom Room

Wed, Apr 26, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Munster - Large Meeting Room

Thu, Apr 27, 6:30pm - 6:50pm
Merrillville - Children's Programming Room