Teach the parents that early literacy does not necessarily mean early reading. Instead, it means creating an environment in which children can familiarize themselves with words and the skills necessary for reading. Parents should read to their children and play word games such as "Pat-a-Cake" and "This Little Piggy."
Give parents printed name tags with their children's names on them. Instruct the parents to use the name tags to teach their children the first letter of their name. After learning their own names, the children can learn their parents' names, too. Name tags also can be used to identify objects in a child's room.
Provide the parent with a thesaurus and a children's dictionary. Instruct the parent to use the thesaurus to teach synonyms and opposites. Encourage the parent to choose easy to learn synonyms, such as "big" for "large." After the children learn the alphabet, they can use the dictionary to learn words by associating them with pictures.
Teach the parents about the progression of book handling behavior. According to the Zero to Three website, book handling behaviors progress from early mouthing of a book (infant) to book handling (2 years) to page turning (5 years). By knowing the book handling behaviors of children, the parents can help guide their progression.
Encourage parents to reward any steps toward reading, even if these steps do not encompass learning how to read words. For example, if a child plays with a book or draws in its pages, rewards at this point might lead the child to enjoy the presence of books. By pushing too hard and punishing children for not reading well, parents scare children away from the reading process and can actually harm the literacy process, according to Zero to Three.