Practice looking up information. Let your child help you look up a word in the dictionary, a phone number in the telephone book, a reference in an index, or a listing in an encyclopedia. Notice how things are listed in alphabetical order. Take note of the helpful headings at the top of the page.

Make lists. Write out your grocery list and let her read it out to you in the store. Better yet, let her sit at the kitchen table beforehand and write out the grocery list too. Take the time to help her spell the words she doesn’t know, or give her recipe cards from which she can copy the correct spelling.

Write. Writing is closely linked to reading, and it should be practiced at home. One great way to encourage writing is to help your child keep a diary of daily events. Eventually he may want his diary to be private, but at first help him out by giving him ideas of what to write. Don’t discourage him by becoming critical of spelling or grammatical errors in his diary, however. It belongs to him and he should have the freedom to write or draw in it as he pleases. DO encourage him to ask you if he wants a word spelled out, and do encourage him to write in it every day. If he wants to let you read it, great! I have my own diary from when I was 5 years old. Every page says, “I had fun.” But the important thing is that I distinctly remember sitting down every day to keep my diary up-to-date, and I remember feeling proud of myself for being so diligent about it.

Set a good example by reading yourself. Read whatever interests you, but turn off the TV and spend quiet half hour on the couch reading to yourself. Your child will see you and emulate your behavior.