Kids who read succeed
From the very first day of life, babies learn by looking and listening. Childhood, particularly the first few years of a child's life, is a very important period for the development of language skills. Parents and carers can play a unique role in this development by talking and singing to their children and sharing books, songs and rhymes in a happy, loving environment.
As children grow, reading remains a crucial factor in their success in education and life. It's important that parents continue to demonstrate the value and enjoyment of reading by encouraging regular reading times, and allowing children to see them reading too. A love of reading can also be encouraged through regular visits to the library where children can browse a huge range of books and choose their own to borrow.
You're never too young to join the library
Children can join the library at any age. We have newborn babies who are registered as library members, and whose parents start bringing them to the library straight away.
The library provides a range of resources suitable for very young children and their parents including:
- Board books - durable books, often with thick cardboard pages, intended for handling by very young children
- Picture books
- Music
- Resources for parents - the parenting collection, in particular, has a variety of books and DVDs to help parents understand subjects like child development and parenting issues
Library resources to entertain and support children as they grow and move through the various stages of reading development include:
- Picture books
- Early readers
- Chapter books
- Audio books
- eBooks
Early Literacy
The library is the perfect place to support the development of early literacy skills, including:
- Narrative skills (developing comprehension)
- Phonological awareness (sounds in words)
- Letter knowledge
- Print awareness
- Vocabulary
- Print motivation
More information about literacy:
- Raising Children Network - funded by the Australian Government, this website provides simple information for parents about developing literacy, and includes "graphic rich information resources for those who prefer not to - or are unable to - read English"
- ACT Directorate of Education Training
- Early Childhood Australia - peak national body working for the interests of young children from birth to eight years
- National Capital Centre for Literacy Research - the Centre, based at the University of Canberra, conducts research and offers parent education programs
Share this page:
Stumbleupon
Digg-
Twitter
MySpace
Delicious
Facebook
Email this page
Tweet