A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Children from Birth to Thirty-Six Months

From birth to thirty-six months, most children listen, speak, use the muscles they will need for writing, and get ready for reading.

Your child...

As a newborn: Listens and reacts to your voice and other sounds and expresses feelings by cooing, gurgling, smiling, and crying. By eight months: Plays with sounds and babbles. Can play peek-a-boo. Waves arms and kicks feet to show excitement. By twelve months: Understands simple words. Understands and reacts to hand movements, faces, and changes in tone of voice. Understands simple words, such as "Da da." Puts books in the mouth. Turns pages of sturdy books.

By twenty-four months: Puts two or more words together to make short sentences. Asks and answers simple questions. Can copy adult sounds, words, and motions. Uses crayons and markers for scribbling By thirty-six months: Listens well to stories being read. Likes to play pretend games. Loves to ask "why" questions. Likes naming objects. Makes scribbles that look more like writing.

How you can help...

Talk with your child when you play and do daily activities together. Read with your child every day. Take your toddler to the library to choose books to read at home. Make a special place in your home where your todder can read and write. Keep books and other reading materials where your child can reach them. Keep washable, nontoxic crayons and markers and paper where your child can reach them. Take books and writing supplies whenever you leave home, so that your child can read and write wherever you go. Show your child how you read and write every day for fun and to get get things done. Let your child do things without your help, such as dressing and cleaning up, when your child is ready.

Books to read at this level:*

Birth to Eight Months: Big Fat Hen, by Keith Baker Ten, Nine, Eight, by Molly Bang Play Rhymes, by Marc Brown Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown Tomie DePaola's Mother Goose, by Tomie DePaola Eye Winker, Tom Tinker, Chin Chopper: 50 Musical Finger Plays, by Tom Glazer Rosie's Walk, by Pat Hutchins Read Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young, by Jack Prelutsky Have You Seen My Duckling? by Nancy Tafuri My First Mother Goose, by Rosemary Wells Eight Months to Eighteen Months: Moon Bear, by Frank Asch Will I Have a Friend? by Miriam Cohen Corduroy, by Don Freeman Where's Spot? by Eric Hill Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara Joose Peter's Chair, by Ezra Jack Keats Pat the Bunny, by Dorothy Kunhardt Clap Hands, by Helen Oxenbury Seven Blind Mice, by Ed Young "More, More, More" Said the Baby, by Vera Williams

Eighteen to Thirty-Six Months: The Little Red Hen, by Bryon Barton Clifford the Big Red Dog, by Norman Bridwell Wait Till the Moon is Full, by Margaret Wise Brown Stellaluna, by Jannell Cannon The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle Millions of Cats, by Wanda Gag Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin Jr. and Lois Ehlert Curious George, by H.A. Rey The Cat in the Hat, by Dr. Seuss The Bunny Planet, by Rosemary Wells

*Books recommended by the American Library Association.

Introduction

Children Three and Four Years of Age