Your Preschooler: 3 Years Old
- Knows that it is the print that is read in stories
- Pays attention to separable and repeating sounds in language (e.g., Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater)
- Has favorite books and likes to listen to them read often
- Plays with language and makes silly sounds
- Likes to participate by turning pages and saying words
- Shows understanding through comments and questions
As you read to your child:
Just 20 minutes a day helps your child develop a lifelong love of reading!
Talk about the story. Continue to ask the who, what, when, where, why, and how questions. Emphasize the meaning of story. This is a good time to introduce your child to more numbers, colors, animals, machines and classifications. Your child will comprehend these concepts more easily when encountering them later. Rhyming is another critical activity. Nursery rhymes can teach your child how to hear the difference between the 42 sounds we use in our language. Some experts believe that children who come to school having already memorized 4-6 common nursery rhymes are better readers by third grade.
Other things you can do are:
- Talk frequently—explain the world and your vocabulary
- Put books where your child is…on the breakfast table, bathroom, bedside and car
- Have lots of books available—from the library, give as gifts, trade with friends
- Go to new places together and talk about your experiences
- Use books with predictable patterns and repeated phrasing that your child can "read" with you
- Read nursery rhymes, emphasizing pattern, rhythm and rhyme
- Enjoy counting books, alphabet books and books about animals
Books for children 3 - 4 years old
- Rain, Rain, Rain Forest by Brenda Z. Guiberson
- Jamberry by Bruce Degen
- The Dinosaur Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta
- The Three Bears by Paul Galdone
- Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
- The Random House Book Of Poetry For Children by Jack Prelutsky
- Ducks On A Bike by David Shannon
- It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw
- The Tale Of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
- Sylvester And The Magic Pebble by William Strig
- Lyle, Lyle Crocodile by Bernard Waber
- Mouse Paint by Ellen Soll Walsh
