As a parent, you are the first and best teacher your child will ever have. One of the most important ways to build a foundation for lifelong learning is to read to your child, beginning at birth. Make Way For Books provides resources to help families read aloud effectively to children and foster critical early literacy skills. In this section, families will find information on what early literacy is, why reading aloud is important, what young children like in books, and ways to share books with infants, toddlers and preschoolers.
Early literacy is all of the skills children develop that help prepare them to one day be able to speak, read, and write. It is not teaching children how to read; it is getting them ready for kindergarten, where they will begin to learn to read. Talking and reading to children are the best ways to encourage this development from a very young age.
