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Literacy can be defined as the ability, confidence, and willingness someone has to engage with others using a language in daily life. With that said, as Singaporeans, we take pride in bringing bilingual - English Language and Mother Tongue languages. With literacy abilities being developed from birth, it is important to support their journey as much as possible at home and not depend on schools to push this agenda. In schools, they will focus on the development of reading and writing skills. As parents, this article will discuss how you can nurture your child’s literacy abilities.
Read this article to learn how you can enable your child to be multilingual.
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Reading, Reading, And More Reading
Encourage all forms of reading for your children. Do not avoid certain books based on what you perceive to be their ability. Children surprise us every day. Reading comics and picture books can be very useful when they are first starting. Audiobooks can be an option as well to be used as fillers when they wish to take a break from reading. Reading is one of the best ways to improve literacy skills. Read to them at bedtime, during playtime or anytime for that matter. Have them read to you or their little sibling, whichever floats their boat, whichever they find more enjoyable.
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Children Rhymes And Songs
Join in and sing with your child rhymes and songs of your choice. Start easy and move on to songs with words that are more challenging to read out when you deem it is right to move up the difficulty level. It may be a fun activity to have a karaoke night with the whole family and choose these songs for your child to follow through and sing. Perhaps even creating your very own unique song will be a good idea as well, include your child in the creation process - lyric writing. Some ideas include a song for hand-washing, a song for dinner time, and maybe even a song for playtime. Here are 10 educational YouTube channels for kids!
Shows That Teach While You Watch
Choose shows with educational content which will keep them entertained. Find shows which will educate them on numbers, alphabets or even others skills like decision making - Dora does that often. Finding shows with human casts like Hi-5 is likely to expose them to various scenarios on how to communicate with others regardless of age. Picking shows which are bilingual or even putting on the subtitles will benefit them in terms of improving their literacy skills.
Have A Little Chit-Chat
Sit down and communicate with your children on their day, hobbies or any other topic of choice. Have it over dinner time with the entire family if you are alright with them talking while having a meal. Otherwise set aside some time even if you are busy to wind down with them and allow them to share with you. Maybe even set up a debate night at home and allow them to pick topics to debate about with another family member. Communicating effectively and being able to put forward their opinions clearly will help in improving their literacy skills.
Storytelling Time
Read stories to your child regularly. It could be before bedtime or during playtime. Spice up your regular storytelling time with some handmade props or even revolving your stories around a new word you wish to teach your child. Have them contribute to the story by asking them to make choices throughout the story. Make it interactive if possible. You can even make it such that your child will create a story for you instead of you doing so. Give them a topic, a character, the setting or any other hint of some sort for them to build their story. This will not only allow them to expand their literacy by building confidence in speaking, but it will also improve their creativity and thinking skills. Storytelling is a versatile activity that can be tweaked to address your child’s interests.
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Practice, Practice, And More Practice
Having consistent exposure to the ideas put forward earlier will allow your child to make it a habit rather than a task or chore. Try your best to make it as fun as possible for your child to participate in. If it is fun for your child, you will also find it much easier to support them on their literacy journey. Do always remember to never force your child into it and allow them to take their own pace. I hope these ideas shared will help you and your child out in building literacy. Keep challenging your child and keep in mind that you can create your games to improve literacy. These are just some suggestions for you to gain inspiration from. You can even try out games to improve literacy - a very popular game would be the word game called Scrabble or make your own version of the recently popular Wordle for your entire family to enjoy.
Lay A Strong Foundation For Their Future Learning — Genesis Childcare 1989
As one of the best childcare in Tampines, Genesis Childcare 1989 provides a comfortable, clean, well-ventilated and conducive learning environment for your child to learn, explore, discover and be creative.
Our playgroup Tampines have over 30 years of experience in caring for your beloved child. At our Tampines childcare centre, we advocate that every child is unique and precious who needs to be loved and cherished.
In our Tampines childcare, we design our learning environment where children will build upon their prior knowledge and extend their learning as they interact with it.
Furthermore, our learning environment at our kindergarten Tampines or preschool Tampines stimulates their senses and encourages them to explore, discover and be creative.
If you're looking for an infant care centre for infants aged 2 to 18 months old, do check out Nurture Infant House!
Staffed by well-qualified and competent teachers, infant care at our Tampines infant care centre offers parents a high-quality infant care programme that supports the development needs of their little ones.
Give your babies and toddlers a stimulating and conducive place to learn, explore and grow!
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Genesis Childcare 1989 (Playgroup to Kindergarten 2)
Blk 433 Tampines Street 43 #01-63/65 S(520433)
Nurture Infant House (2 to 18 months infants)
Blk 433 Tampines Street 43 #01-61 S(520433)
Opening hours: Monday to Friday (7am to 7pm) & Saturday (7am to 2pm)
Public Bus services: 8 / 21 / 28 / 29 / 293