List of Reading Readiness Skills

Use of Conversational Language

• A child with a command of language sufficient to tell about the events of his day demonstrates one of the indicators of reading readiness. He develops this skill by engaging in conversation. By asking him questions and interacting with him in dialogue throughout the day, parents and guardians shape a child's understanding of language.

  Reinforcing this reading readiness skill can be done by singing with the child, telling him stories and asking him to repeat those songs and stories. Repetitive songs with predictable patterns, such as "Old McDonald Had a Farm" and "This Old Man Came Rolling Home," are ideal for children.

  There are many stories that can be told, such as "The Little Red Hen" and "The Gingerbread Man." These stories include predictable patterns and have the bonus of offering the story structure of a beginning, middle and end, traditional in English-language literature.

Knowledge of Print Media

• Another indicator of readiness is how the youngster interacts with books. She can sit with a book and turn the pages. She can answer questions about the story in a book, and point to pictures when asked about the characters or objects in the book.

  The child's ability to do this means that someone has read aloud to the child. Through this enjoyable activity, she has gained an understanding that the words on the page and the pictures on the page have a correlation.

Recognizes Name in Print

• Children who can recognize their own names in print show an important reading readiness skill. They have made the leap from hearing and speaking to recognizing symbols on paper that represent spoken words. While they do not yet comprehend the finer points of phonics, the understanding they have primes them to study the alphabet.

  Parents and guardians foster this skill by modeling reading in their day-to-day lives. Children who watch their parents read newspapers, books and magazines are eager to also read. Many children learn the skill of tracking text while sitting on the lap of a loved one who points to words on the page, as they read aloud.

  The role that parents and guardians play in forming the skills with which a child enters school is enormously important. In most communities, schools offer classes for adults to learn more about the activities that can be practiced at home to fortify the reading habits of their youngsters.

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