Everyday Reading Activities for Toddlers

Literacy—the ability to read, write, and utilize language—begins developing early in life. Infants naturally respond to oral expression and language around them. Babies learn to communicate verbally and eventually say their first words by repeating what they hear. Toddlers start using words, forming sentences, building a vocabulary, and recognizing the importance of print in their […]

A Crash Course for Parents: Concepts of Print and Environmental Print

The term concepts of print, also called print concepts, broadly refers to a child’s earliest understanding of written language and its purpose. It’s a term that’s helpful for you, as a parent or educator, to be familiar with when introducing kids to reading. In early literacy development, children gain several print concepts and begin to […]

The Importance of Vocabulary in Reading Instruction

What are Vocabulary Words? Vocabulary is the knowledge of words, and vocabulary words are a specific set of words to be learned. Vocabulary is an essential component of reading comprehension. Knowing the meaning of words helps with understanding a text. Without a strong vocabulary, kids struggle to make sense of what they are reading, and […]