Read early, read often to children

(L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina reads to children at the East Los Angeles Library to launch a reading campaign.)

First 5 LA, a child advocacy organization, recently launched “Read Early, Read Aloud,” a month-long public awareness campaign to promote early literacy among Los Angeles County children ages 5 and younger.

“Even before children can read themselves they need to be exposed to books, and when they listen to stories, they gain crucial language skills,” said Evelyn V. Martinez, executive director of First 5 LA.

She also offered some tips:

--Read to your child every day for at least 30 minutes. Try reading for a few minutes at a time if the children can only sit for a short time for a story.

--Make stories come alive by, for example, singing about the pictures.

--Ask questions about the story and let your child ask and answer questions.

--For infants, choose simple and colorful cloth and vinyl books.

--For preschoolers, choose books with repetition and rhyme.

Martinez also encouraged parents to take advantage of the year-round children's activities at the libraries.  For more information on the “Read Early, Read Aloud” schedule of activities in November, call the First 5 LA Parent Helpline at (888) FIRST5-LA.

First 5 LA was created by California voters to invest Proposition 10 tobacco tax money in programs for L.A. County children.

-- Mary MacVean

Photo credit: Ben Gibbs

Comments

[Stan Devonchik]

First 5 LA has a great parent site for resources here:
http://readysetgrowla.org/