Evaluating the Story with The Most Magnificent Thing
January 17, 2025
An effective way to deepen your child’s understanding of a story is to encourage them to make judgments and form opinions about the events that take place. Here are some tips to help your child evaluate a story with the fun book, The most Magnificent Thing.
School Readiness Tip: Build Children's Everyday Vocabulary
January 15, 2025
Children’s vocabulary grows when they participate in conversations and hear new words. To help a child understand a new word, use strategies to highlight the word – e.g., say the word a bit slower and louder, pair it with a gesture and explain what it means. Here are some fun things to try in everyday situations.
Explaining why things happen with Lost and Found
December 19, 2024
One way to help your child understand what you read is to talk about why certain things happen in the book, or why characters do certain things. This often means talking about characters’ emotions or motivations, and talking about “cause and effect”, or how one event leads to another.
School Readiness Tip: Expand the Child's Message
December 18, 2024
Help build children’s language by adding words and ideas to what they say. When you respond to what a child says by making their sentence more complete, or by adding a new idea, you model more advanced language that they can learn from. Here are some fun things to try.
Are You Concerned That Your Child Is a Late Talker?
December 10, 2024
Did you know that 15% of toddlers may be considered Late Talkers? Find out what it means to be a Late Talker, and get some tips to support your child’s language if you’re concerned.
Building Print Knowledge with This Book is on FIRE
November 28, 2024
Learning about print doesn’t come naturally to children. They need our support to understand what print is for and how it works – a key early literacy skill called print knowledge. Read on for some tips to build your child’s print knowledge with the fun children’s book, This Book Is on Fire!
From First Steps to First Words: How Walking Sets the Stage for Talking
November 27, 2024
Around the same time babies start walking, they also start talking. Is it just a coincidence? Nope! Find out how walking affects children’s communication development, and get some tips for interacting with your child during this important time in their life.
Comments vs Questions: Are You Striking the Right Balance for Your Child?
November 26, 2024
To make conversations last longer, it’s a good idea to swap out some of your questions for comments. Making comments that are based on your child’s interest is one of the best ways to encourage them to communicate. Here’s how to do it!
School Readiness Tip: Keep the Conversation Going
November 05, 2024
When children participate in interactions that go back-and-forth many times, they have more opportunities to hear and practice language. Children learn the most from talking about their ideas, so let the child take the first turn to start an interesting conversation. Then, follow the child’s lead to keep the interaction going! Here are some fun ways to build back-and-forth conversations.