It is amazing what our littlest ones can do. Two-year-old Brady is able to recreate the story using the pictures and the words he has heard his mom and dad read to him.  He knows how to hold a book.  He knows how to turn the pages.  He knows how the story goes.  He knows to use the pictures to trigger his memory.  He knows some of the phrases the book uses (“Mean mongoose, mean mongoose, you flee?”   “It’s widdle bee chas’n me!”).  Brady is a beginning reader, and his mommy knows he is too!

How do our littles learn so much about reading?  Parents and caregivers are the best teachers.  Every time we read to our children, they learn.  They learn how books work.  They learn the pictures hold meaning for the story.  They learn new words and expressions.  When we see our littles imitating us we catch a glimpse of them “play” at reading, and they show us firsthand what they are learning.