Print Awareness
Print awareness simply means that the child notices print and understands how a book works. Your child will learn that books have a cover, an author, that they are read from top to bottom and left to right, that pages are read in order, that they use words and pictures to tell the story and more!
There are several easy ways to help your child develop their print awareness skills.
- Point out signs while you are driving, walking or at the grocery store.
- Explain that signs help us know where things are and how to get to places.
- While sharing books, point to words as you read them so that your child learns that you are reading the words and not the pictures.
- Let your child turn the pages as you read.
- If a book has a word or phrase that repeats, point to it and let the child say it. Check out this list of books with repetition.
- Hold a book upside down and see if your child knows it needs to be turned around.
- Read books that include words or print as part of the pictures.
Check out this list of suggested books for developing print awareness skills.