Helping a young child get ready to learn how to read

Free early learning virtual workshops
February 16, 2022
How can you help a young child get ready to learn how to read? Parents and caregivers with young children are invited to participate in free early learning virtual workshops that provide information and tips on how to develop a child’s pre-reading and early math skills. These workshops will also provide information on how to support Dual Language Learners, the nearly 60% of children ages 0-5 in California who are learning multiple languages at the same time. Sacramento Public Library’s Early Learning Department will offer the four-workshop series twice in English in March and once in Spanish in April. These workshops are sponsored by the Sacramento County Office of Education’s Early Learning Department and First 5 California.  

Each workshop is about an hour long and includes fun activities so an adult can watch the workshop with a young child. The workshops will address pre-reading skills such as letter identification, vocabulary, and shape recognition which are all essential in preparing a child to learn to read and write. The workshops will also help adults identify how they are already helping their child to learn these skills and will introduce participants to new ways that help to develop these skills through songs, rhymes, movements, and games.

What if your child knows or is learning more than one language? Studies have shown that this is beneficial to their intellectual and social emotional development. Supporting a child’s Dual Language development helps a child increase their vocabulary, improves concept learning, and builds executive function. Both workshops in English and Spanish will present ways to use the language you know best as you help your child develop their language skills.

You can find more information about these workshops and how to register by visiting www.saclibrary.org/FirstTeacher for the English workshops and www.saclibrary.org/primermaestro for the Spanish workshops. Families who attend a workshop will receive a set of new picture books and early learning activities.