What to do with this activity?
Oxford Owl is an excellent website resource run by Oxford University Press. It offers a range of around 250 free e-books for children up to the age of 11. The website asks you to register with your email address and a password. We think it's definitely worth it!
Click on the yellow link below to go to the website. Once you have signed in, choose the section 3-4 year olds under "All ages". The free books are marked with a big "e". You can read the book out loud yourself, or you can choose to hear the book being read if you wish.
Happy reading!
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Why am I doing this?
Reading aloud combines the benefits of talking, listening and storytelling within a single activity and helps to build the foundation for language development. From stories your child learns many things such as how to listen and concentrate, new words and understand why things happen. They also learn to put ideas in order, develop their memory skills, notice how spoken words relate to words on the page and learn how to predict. Reading gives your child a chance to develop their own opinions, build visual skills and learn how to handle books.
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How can I do more?
If you can spare 10 minutes a day to read with your child you can make a huge difference to their development. You don’t have to read a book, you could read a comic, magazine article or a story you have made up yourself. The most important thing is that you enjoy it, that way your child will too.
Remember a good storybook is one that you the reader and your child find interesting. It might be funny or entertaining. Ask yourself whether your child would enjoy it and be able to listen to it. Are the pictures well drawn? Is it well written? Do you like it? You may be the one reading it, over and over, and over!
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