Domain: NC Foundations for Early Learning: Language Development and Communication (LDC)

Subdomain: Foundations for Reading

Goal: Children develop interest in books and motivation to read.

Skill Progression: Develop interest in books and motivation to read

Age: 12-15 Months

Click here to go to all skills for ages 12-15 Months.

Observe the child and adult reading books together.

The adult hands a familiar book to the child in an upside down position. Allow the child to look through the book independently before reading and talking about the pictures. After reading the book, let the child “read” to the adult. Ask the child to find a picture that she liked (patted or labeled) in the book.

The child turns the book so that it is oriented correctly.

The child at this level now understands the spatial orientation of pictures. She is learning where her favorite pictures are in familiar books. Early childhood educators and parents can encourage problem solving, spatial understanding and sequencing by asking the child to find different characters or objects in familiar books. Help parents understand that reading books involves a different language intonation pattern. When adults read a page then ask the child to “read” a page, the child has an opportunity to imitate this pattern, even with jargon rather than words. This helps build the foundation for reading skills.