Suggestions for Parents on How to Encourage Learning to Read and Write

• Keep a supply of paper and crayons, markers, pencils or watercolor paints at hand for easy access. Allow even very young children to experiment with drawing and writing implements.
• Create opportunities for your child to engage in meaningful drawing or writing experiences, including pretend writing. Writing lists, greetings to relatives or thank you notes, perhaps accompanied by drawings, are enjoyable activities for the child.
• Play with the sounds of language as you and your child build words together, perhaps using plastic magnetic letters on the refrigerator or wooden letters on a table.
• Encourage your child to dictate captions for a picture or even an entire story that you write down and then read aloud.
• Read to your child on a regular basis. Your delight in reading, whether a picture book, poetry or prose, conveys enjoyment about the possibilities of written language.
• Point out to your child the signs and symbols in the everyday environment—traffic signs such as "STOP" or "SLOW," signs or emblems that represent restaurants or gas stations. Encourage your child to make signs to place on the door of her room or elsewhere in the house.
• Try to be a guiding companion in these activities rather than an "instructor."