Children who experience reading as a routine part of each day have a decided advantage over those who do not. Stock the child's environment with interesting books and magazines. Regularly read new books to your child, talk about the pictures, and ask him or her to predict what will happen on the next page. Read the same books over and over again, too, and encourage the child to "read" them to you on occasion.
Memory games in which children practice colors, shapes, animals and everyday objects develop the brain in ways that will be useful in learning to read. Play "I See," a game in which each participant repeats what has already been said by other players and then adds to it. For example, the first person says, "I see a blue dog." The next person says, "I see a blue dog wearing an orange collar," and so on. Urge preschoolers to use their memories by asking them about a recent experience and encouraging them to talk about it.
The ability to hear and manipulate sounds is essential to learning to read. This skill can be reinforced by the frequent reciting of nursery rhymes or the singing of songs. Show preschoolers how to play with language by replacing one rhyming word for another. A similar important readiness skill is the ability to identify the beginning sounds of words. Make oral lists with your preschooler of words that begin with "s," "b" or "m." Be silly and think of names for pets such as Dan the Dog or Fred the Fish.
Write mini-books about experiences, people or pets important to your preschooler. Put one short, simple sentence on each page, then color the illustrations with your preschooler. Read the books together, letting your child add or change the words as he or she "reads." Use pictures cut from magazines to make other books about interesting topics outside your child's world. Again, write a short sentence on each page and read and discuss the books often. Keep these experiences fun---they are language and vocabulary building experiences essential to learning to read.