0 - 24 Months | Readers Are Built

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Ensure that children's screen time is a learning opportunity. Educational videos can make learning engaging and fun. Look for videos that offer shared parent-child interaction activities. Screen time must be monitored. Here are some recommendations. Note: Research suggests that there is no benefit for children younger than 6 months.

Toddler Learning with Ms Rachel

Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs

Baby Learning With Ms Rachel

First Words, Songs and Nursery Rhymes

Baby and Toddler Learning

ABC’s, First Words, Vowel Sounds, Speech

Toddler & Baby learning!

ABC's, First Words, Sign, Numbers, Shapes

ABC Phonics Song

Learn the ABCs

Elmo Sings the ABC's!

Elmo needs help remembering some of the letters.

Phonics Song 2

Phonics Song 2 demonstrates pure letter sounds for kids.

PBS Kids Video App

Watch educational shows to encourage learning for toddlers and early grade school children.

Daniel Tiger for Parents App

Empowers parents and caregivers with songs and videos from the hit PBS KIDS series Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood

Babies and toddlers stop and pay attention when you talk with them. Talking teaches them language, which helps them understand the world around them. Ask questions, point out the world around them, describe what you are doing as you make food, and mix in new words to expand their vocabulary. The more words your child hears, the further ahead they will be when learning to read.

Respond to your baby's babbles. If your baby says “babble, babble, babble,” you can say, “Oh, how wonderful. Tell me more.”

Talk with your child as you go about your day, while making food, riding the bus, getting ready for bed, or any time.

Describe the weather using three different words. For example, say "It's cold today. Brrr, it's freezing today. It feels wintry today."

Do sensory walks around the neighborhood: Describe three things you see, two things you hear, and one thing you smell.

Talk about everyone's day at dinner.

Talk in the language most comfortable for you. Babies’ growing brains can easily learn more than one language.

Describe what you're doing as you go through daily routines, such as “Now I'm slicing the apples. They're red and juicy!”

Name all the places that you go, such as "Here we are at the grocery store."

Remember to name everyday objects like "refrigerator," "sidewalk," and "elbow."

Playing and making up stories help babies and toddlers connect ideas and feelings with words. This is the same kind of thinking that is used to learn reading, when they learn that letters and words represent real things.

Hold your baby in front of a mirror and say, "Where is [Baby's Name]?" When they look in the mirror, say, "There you are!"

Keep books with toys, where toddlers can easily reach them.

Let your child play with books. Try making a tower and knocking it down.

If you read books about animals, make the animal sounds.

Act out a favorite story using stuffed animals.

Start by giving babies and toddlers soft books and board books. As they grow, allow them to choose the book and turn the pages. It doesn't have to be books; take advantage of opportunities to read many different things to your child.

Try board books. They have hard pages that babies can throw, bite, and hit.

Let the child control the book. Even if they are holding it upside down

To make picture books more engaging, pause to stop, point to, and name pictures as you read the book again and again.

When reading, be comfortable with a toddler's short attention span.

Respond to the child’s prompting to read.

Read the same book repeatedly — repetition builds recognition and confidence.

You don't even have to read. You can just talk about the pictures.

Singing slows down our speech and helps children hear the smaller sounds in words. There is also a different note for each syllable, so they hear words broken down into parts. This helps children later sound out words. As you sing with children, you are building their pre-reading skills.

Sing "Old MacDonald" and let them pick the animal.

Sing about what you're doing to the tune of a familiar song. For example, singing "This is the way we brush our teeth."

Your baby loves to hear your singing voice, even if you think you can't sing!

Clap to the rhythm while you sing the words in the book.

Try the "Ants Go Marching" nursery rhyme to help language and counting development.

Sing songs while doing everyday activities like making dinner and taking a bath. Just make up a song about what you are doing.

Try the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" nursery rhyme to help language development.

It's good to sing the same song again and again. It can make your baby feel comforted.

Sing the letters in your child's name. Sing, "there's a happy little boy named Paul, P-A-U-L, Paul is his name."

Sing the A-B-C song, nursery rhymes, funny songs, or any songs you like.

Try the Wheels On The Bus nursery rhyme to help language development.

Parent Reading Book

Age 0 - 24 Months

Build pre-reading skills through this rich collection of activities and educational videos.

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