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Ready? Set. Read!

Ready? Set. Read! is an on–going initiative to promote literacy development in Minnesota Children’s Museum exhibits and programs. Children develop literacy skills by reading, writing, speaking, and listening. In addition, physical activities, singing, role–playing, and problem–solving build confidence which is fundamental to a child’s literacy development. Minnesota Children’s Museum is a valuable resource that provides fun opportunities for children to practice and refine these skills and become ready to read.

Tips for Educators

When creating literacy–enriched play spaces for the classroom, start with play areas that are familiar to children. In the “housekeeping” area, for instance, be sure to include paper and pencils for making grocery lists, phone books, children’s recipe books, and recipe cards. Any print items that would be found in a child’s home will work.

Tips for Parents

We typically think of young children learning to read and write when they enter the classroom. We now know that becoming a confident reader starts before formal education begins. It is more complex than just memorizing the letters and their sounds. Before children walk, they sit up, crawl, and pull themselves up to stand. Before children use mature speech, they coo, babble, and speak in short phrases. Similar to learning to walk and speak, reading and writing also have long histories of development that go back to early infancy. Confident readers are constantly solving problems, looking for clues and making sure what they are reading makes sense. At Minnesota Children’s Museum we know how important it is to give children opportunities to practice these skills so that they will use them to become confident readers and writers.