No matter if you have a child starting preschool or kindergarten this year, next year or a few years from now, do you know what the most important activity is that you can do at home? Best of all, it’s not just for kindergarten readiness but other kinds of development, too. It’s reading and sharing stories and books. A handful of minutes a day will stimulate the brain to make all kinds of connections.
A favorite book about hands is the classic Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins. One of the key elements of this book is the rhyming text. Being able to figure out words that rhyme is a critical skill for learning to read. In order to rhyme, children need to divide words up into their sound parts and put them back together like mat, cat, rat, sat, etc. The “at” part stays the same and the mmm, ccc, rrr, and sss change. This skill is called phonological awareness. In order for kids to develop this ability they need lots and lots of exposure to words and language. Reading books to them is a great way for young brains to build the word-sound connections.
There are many other terrific children’s books about hands. Your local library will probably have several. Hand, hand, fingers, thumb; holding books and reading some! Can you share some stories and books with your child today?