Reading with your toddler

From the ages 1 to 4 your toddler will get more interested in books. Read with them as often as you can and praise them when they try to join in.

Your child’s QTVI will help you to decide on the best way for your child to learn to read. Your child may use large print, braille or a combination of the two.

When you read together, try to make the book come alive. You can do this if you:

• talk about the pictures and what they can see
• ask questions about the story
• match pictures in the book to real objects
• talk about how their life relates to the story
• make a box of objects to feel when reading
• act out activities in the book
• From the ages 1 to 4 your toddler will get more interested in books
• Read with them as often as you can and praise them when they try to join in

Games to help reading

You can also play games together that help your toddler learn to read. These include:

• play with magnetic letters on your fridge
• make letters from clay, stickle bricks or biscuit dough
• spot letters and words around you
• say letter sounds and talk about words that start with the same sound
• make labels for objects around your home
• put their name on their bedroom door
• scribble and pretend to write
• sing rhyming and alphabet songs
• play games that include pretending to read or write
• make your own books together
• make tactile books – find out more from FamilyConnect

Choosing books for your toddler

Vision impaired toddlers may enjoy books that:

• have large black type on a clear plain background
• use rhyme and repetition, like We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, so that they can start to fill in the next word
• make noises
• they can listen to, such as CDs and audiobooks
• they can interact with, for example on a tablet or laptop
• relate to them in some way, for example, a story about a cat if you have a cat
• have braille in them too, so that they can start to follow the Braille as you read aloud

Booktrust has a series of guides that can help you:

• books for blind and partially sighted babies and toddlers
• books with characters that are blind or partially sighted
• a guide to reading with your blind or partially sighted child 

RSBC’s Families First Service can help you with:

• practical advice about your child’s development
• support when you feel overwhelmed
• understanding your child’s vision impairment better
• living as a family and being supportive of each other

Call 0203 1980225 or email connections@rsbc.org.uk