Reading and writing are foundational skills for every student. Reading, in particular, is a vehicle for learning in any discipline, and a skill that leads to years of leisure as children become adults who enjoy the wealth of great literature available today. Every parent wants to equip his or her child to be a strong reader and a competent writer! 

Here at Dominion, we do not expect children to enter Kindergarten knowing how to read or write. Our teachers do a wonderful job of building a strong foundation! However, here are some low-to-no-prep ways to set up your child for reading and writing success in the early years.

1. Play with words! 

Read lots of nursery rhymes and poems, and play rhyming and sound awareness games. “What rhymes with cat? Can you spread out the sounds: c-a-t. Now put it together. Cat!” These sorts of games, and a familiarity with rhymes, build your child’s phonological awareness (the ability to hear and manipulate sounds), an important skill for reading. You can also point out fun words and delight in language together! For example, say, “Abracadabra! That’s fun to say! Does it roll around on your tongue? Can you say it in a silly voice?” 

Have plenty of books around for your younger children to flip through. Board books are great for little hands, and they can graduate to picture books when they aren’t tempted to rip the shiny pages. You don’t need to own a vast collection—the local library is a treasure trove! Check out a new stack each week. The tactile experience of flipping through a book builds gross motor skills, teaches children about stories having a beginning, middle, and end, and encourages vocabulary acquisition as they notice the pictures. Take the time to read these stories to your child as well. It’s great bonding time, it helps build their fluency, and it encourages their imagination. 

You can also ask your child to retell or create a story with you. Ask them to tell the story from the book you read the night before, for example, or start a story with them as the main character and have them finish it. 

While we do not expect students to enter Kindergarten ready to write the alphabet, familiarity with the letters does help. There are so many alphabet games to play. For example, write out the alphabet on a piece of cardboard, then write it out on Post-it notes. Have your child match the Post-it notes to the correct letter. For a fun twist, hide the Post-it notes around the house! You can also play the ABC game in the car: “First comes A! Can you think of something that starts with a?” Another easy way to build alphabet familiarity is to have magnet letters on the fridge, an alphabet puzzle, or alphabet blocks available.

Fine-motor skills and hand strength are crucial for developing proper handwriting grip. It is especially important to develop the pincer grip. You can search the Internet for all kinds of activities, but a simple pincer grip activity is to present a bowl of dry beans and rice and have your child pick out the beans. You can also have him peel painter’s tape off the wall, or pull pom-poms out of a whisk. 

We also encourage you to provide opportunities for your child to get messy with playdough or kinetic sand. These activities develop those hand muscles, and they also teach students to jump into a messy, tangible experience. If they aren’t afraid of getting a little messy, it will help them enjoy activities at Dominion like pumpkin math in Kindergarten or mummifying chickens in 2nd grade during their study of Ancient Egypt. 

At Dominion, we often discuss the idea that our habits shape our affections. If you read regularly and love it, your children are watching you! They will copy what you do, so take the time to sit down with your own book in front of your children. You might find that your toddler joins you on the couch with a book of his own. 

It’s also a wise idea to speak in complete sentences and model complete sentences for your child. For example, if she says, “Water!” remind her gently, “May I please have water?” and ask her to repeat the complete sentence. Practicing complete sentences when she speaks will help her develop complete sentences in writing by the end of Kindergarten! 

We hope these ideas inspire many fun moments with your preschool-aged child. Let us know if you try any of them in the comments below!