10 Fun Holiday Reading Activities for Kids

Make reading fun over the holidays! 

Check out these fun and easy holiday reading activities that you can do with your kids... maybe you'll find the perfect addition to your family's holidays for years to come! 

10 Fun Holiday Reading Activities for Kids

More Than ABCs: Building the Critical Thinking Skills Your Child Needs for Literacy Success

Reading is about more than just ABCs.  When sharing a story with your child, remember that their story understanding is just as important for later abilities to read and write their own stories. Critical thinking skills allow children to use what is beyond the pages to understand the stories they enjoy.  Learn more about how to help your child get the most out of reading. 

 

The Hanen Centre - More Than ABCs: Building the Critical Thinking Skills Your Child Needs for Literacy Success

Reading is the answer!

It's coming!  Back-to-school signs, deals and reminders of all kinds are everywhere you turn.  Wondering what you can do to help your kids get ready to go back?  Read, of course!  Check out these great books about other kids going back to school - you can even find some reading suggestions to help ease separation anxiety too! 

Imagination Soup: More Back-to-School Books

Bedtime Stories for Young Brains

Reading a bedtime story can be a signal in routine that the time to sleep is nearing.  It can be a chance to escape to a make-believe world, or just a calming wrap-up to a busy day.  But according to studies, reading bedtime stories - really, any stories at any time of day, can be so much more.  Children who are frequently read to, and with, from a young age have more experience attaching images to words and stories they hear.  It can help them understand, and later support the transition to books without pictures.  This simple act of reading together is not just an enjoyable time together - it can truly impact your child's learning, language development, and even future school success.

The New York Times: Bedtime Stories for Young Brains

Literacy-Building Ideas!

Early literacy skills are the tools children use when learning to read and write.  Building these skills can be one of the most important ways to prepare your child for school.  At a loss for where or how to start?  Check out these fun tips for building the critical 5 early literacy skills - oral language, vocabulary, story comprehension, print knowledge, and sound awareness - with just 5 books! 

The Hanen Centre - Five Books, Five Literacy-Building Ideas!

Responding To Baby Babbles During Book Reading May Be Key To Language Development

New research published by Language Learning and Development studied the interactions of mothers and their infants during various types of play.  By considering and coding the babies' vocalizations and the mothers' responses, they concluded that responding to your baby's coos and babbles during book reading may be the key to language development.  To find out more, check out the full story

Medical Daily - Responding to Baby Babbles During Book Reading May be Key to Language Development

Let's talk reading issues

Reading is a complex task, requiring a number of different skills to cooperatively work together for a successful outcome.  With so many components comes so many places to cause trouble.  Processing, memory, and attention are three major areas connected to the success of readers where even minor issues can begin to cause a ripple effect. 

Reading Rockets is a great resource for parents and teachers with information about a wide variety of struggles many readers have.  Find out what to watch for, what it could mean, and how you can help.

Find out how to help your struggling reader.

Reading Rockets - Helping Struggling Readers: Other Issues

Let's talk comprehension

Comprehension is the understanding and interpretation of what is read.  This can include knowing the meaning of words and making inferences, while incorporating elements of thinking and reasoning. 

Reading Rockets is a great resource for parents and teachers with information about a wide variety of struggles many readers have.  Find out what to watch for, what it could mean, and how you can help.

Find out how to help your struggling reader and more about reading comprehension.

Reading Rockets - Helping Struggling Readers: Comprehension

Let's Talk Fluency

Fluency refers to the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and appropriate expression.  Fluent reading - whether silent or aloud - is important for comprehension.  When your child reads, is it slow and choppy?  Can they read single words, but have difficulty when trying to read sentences together? 
Reading Rockets is a great resource for parents and teachers with information about a wide variety of struggles many readers have.  Find out what to watch for, what it could mean, and how you can help.

Find out how to help your struggling reader and more about reading fluency.

Reading Rockets - Helping Struggling Readers: Fluency

Let's Talk Vocabulary

A child's grasp of vocabulary can not only affect their ability to express themselves, but it can also affect their reading skills and comprehension.

Reading Rockets is a great resource for parents and teachers with information about a wide variety of struggles many readers have.  Find out what to watch for, what it could mean, and how you can help.

Find out how to help your struggling reader with vocabulary.

Reading Rockets - Helping Struggling Readers: Vocabulary

Words and pictures - Can they tell the difference?

Words and pictures are some of the most important ingredients to a great story book.  Did you know that your child's understanding of the difference between text and drawings can provide insight to their future reading abilities?  

Checking in on these emergent literacy skills can reveal some indication about a child's readiness and or possible future challenges when it comes to learning how to read. 

Check out the full story from Global News.  

Predicting reading issues - and intervening - early!

"New research suggests it may be possible to predict which preschoolers will struggle to read – and it has to do with how the brain deciphers speech when it’s noisy.Scientists are looking for ways to tell, as young as possible, when children are at risk for later learning difficulties so they can get early interventions." (Neergaard, 2015)

Find out about this new study, and how it hope to change the way infants and toddlers are screened and identified as being at risk for reading difficulties. 

Kids who struggle with reading: Predicting issues - and intervening - early

More reasons to read!

There are so many reasons to read.  To learn, to calm, to explore, to escape.  Public Radio International reminds us of one of the many important reasons in one of its Science Friday featured articles.
It's not just about learning how to read the words on a page.  Reading contributes in an even greater way to the development of a child.  When reading books, children are exposed to a greater number of unique words than in everyday conversations.  More rare and complex sentences are features of literature that also tend to present themselves in books more than in day-to-day life.  It is in these ways - among many - that books and other texts can provide what everyday is not.

Public International Radio - A new study gives parents another reason to read to their kids

Why Some Kids Struggle

Helping Struggling Readers

Find top articles, including those especially for parents, that take a closer look at some of the underlying causes and contributing factors related to difficulty learning to read.  Learn more about risk factors, early identification, and what to do when you suspect a problem. 

 Check out the entire page dedicated to Helping Struggling Readers. 

Is childhood art key to developing language literacy?

image - The Vancouver Sun

Bob Steele, retired professor of art education at UBC, has spent his career raising awareness about the importance of fostering drawing in young children.  He describes spontaneous drawing as a medium for language and a developmental stepping stone towards written expression.   Raise-a-Reader: Is childhood art key to developing language literacy?