Page 11 - teachYourChildToRead

One year to two years 11

• anticipate what is coming next
• extend their concentration span and
• learn rhyming skills.

Being able to predict the next part of the song or rhyme helps build the
necessary skills for understanding and predicting sequences in the text
found in story books.

Learning about rhythm
Rhythm is an important part of both movement and language. Stamping,
marching, dancing, clapping or tapping out the rhythm in music or songs
are activities that help children to internalise the beat. While clapping or
stamping along with simple songs, children increase their understanding
of both rhythm and language.

Songs, rhymes and poems are particularly good for developing
language skills as they repeat sentence patterns and introduce
tone, beat and rhythm.

Reading together

Reading together on a daily basis continues to be important for one to
two year old children. Between 12-18 months children become a lot
more physically active. They are gaining strength in their body and will
normally go from crawling to walking and then to climbing and running
within this time frame. Sitting and reading together for long periods of
time may not be high on their agenda so make the most of shorter and
more regular reading sessions. After waking up from a nap or after bath
time may be the best time to sit and enjoy a story together. Books with
colourful pictures and limited text are best for children of this age.

Children growing up in homes with many books get 3 years more schooling
than children from bookless homes ”.
17
If you regularly read books with simple text, at some stage during their
first eighteen months, your child will begin to imitate you and will repeat