Do you point to the words when you read with your child?

This is Episode 6 in our Reading Readiness Series, and it focuses on a foundational skill: print awareness.
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Print awareness means understanding that printed words carry meaning. It’s the knowledge that we read from left to right, top to bottom, and that words are made up of letters.
You can nurture this awareness every day by:

• Letting your child hold the book
• Pointing to words as you read
• Encouraging page-turning
• Noticing print on signs, menus—even cereal boxes

These simple habits build familiarity and confidence—key ingredients for reading success.
Let print become part of your everyday moments. It’s a small shift that leads to big growth.

Does your child have trouble following directions or sitting for a story?
This is Episode 7 in our Reading Readiness Series, and we’re focusing on a skill that often gets overlooked: listening.
Before children can become strong readers, they need to be able to listen, focus, and follow along. If a child struggles with listening, they may also find it difficult to process stories and understand what they read.
You can help build listening skills through simple, playful activities:

• Games like Simon Says
• Two-step directions like “Touch your nose, then hop once”
• Shared storytime with gentle reminders to listen

Start small, be consistent, and make it fun. Strengthening listening now lays the groundwork for reading success later.

Why are nursery rhymes and silly rhyming books so important for reading?
This is the fifth video in our Reading Readiness Series, and it shines a light on a fun—and powerful—early literacy skill: rhyming.
Rhyming helps children hear patterns in words, which is a building block for recognizing word families like cat, hat, and bat. These patterns make it easier for kids to decode new words when they start reading. But that’s not all—rhyming also boosts memory, listening, and prediction skills, all of which support reading comprehension.
So pull out a rhyming book, read it aloud, and enjoy the rhythm and repetition.
You're not just having fun—you’re building a reader.

Can your child clap out the beats in a word or hear the first sound in “banana”?
This is the third video in our Reading Readiness Series, and it highlights a key early literacy skill: phonological awareness.
Before children can read words, they need to hear and play with the sounds in them. Activities like rhyming, clapping out syllables, and noticing beginning or ending sounds might seem simple—but they’re powerful. These fun, sound-based games help build the brain pathways needed for decoding words later on.
Play a sound game today—it’s building reading skills in disguise.

Does your child know the alphabet—but still seem unsure about reading?

This is the first video in our Reading Readiness Series, where we explore what it really means to be ready to read.

Reading readiness is more than just knowing letters. It includes listening skills, vocabulary, sound awareness, and a love for stories. If your child enjoys being read to, plays with sounds, and shows curiosity about books, they’re already on the right path—even if they haven’t started reading yet.
Reading is a journey that begins long before the first word is read. Pay attention to their curiosity and the conversations they start—that’s where reading truly begins.