Early Literacy

Early Literacy refers to the set of skills that children need to acquire before they go to school and learn how to read. These skills include learning about rhyming, the alphabet, increasing their vocabularies, and more. 

It is never too early to start working on early literacy and the Suffolk Public Library's storytimes cover all ages from birth to age 5. During storytime our friendly staff will sing songs, read stories, and lead activities all designed to help your child become ready to read.

Storytime Picnic
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1000 Books Before Kindergarten

1000 Books Before Kindergarten is an early literacy program where children ages birth through the start of kindergarten are challenged to read 1000 books with their parents and caretakers. Learn more and sign up here.

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Early Learning

Early Learning provides content designed to engage children of all ages at home, on the go, in the classroom and in the library.

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Kindergarten Readiness Videos

Is your child ready for kindergarten? Are you? Take a look at the videos below, created by the Suffolk Early Childhood Commission, for tips and helpful information about what you need to know about kindergarten before your child starts school. The videos are also available for check-out at the library and include a document disc with the forms needed for registration. For more information contact the Youth and Family Services Department.
 
 

Videos

 The Year Before Kindergarten
 A Day in Kindergarten
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ReadyRosie

ReadyRosie is an early education tool with the goal of increasing parent engagement with children through the use of video modeling. ReadyRosie has hundreds of brief videos in English and Spanish that model every day interaction in familiar environments with real parents and include topics such as early literacy, math skills, language development, and more. Register now to receive regularly scheduled tips and videos either through text or email. What you need: A Suffolk zip code
 
If you'd like to help us track the effectiveness of ReadyRosie, please fill out this survey. 

Other Early Literacy/Readiness Resources

Every Child Ready to Read from the American Library Association
Reading Horizons Early Literacy
Reading Rocket’s Early Literacy Development
Sight Words: Teach Your Child To Read