A Pre-Reading Habit

When you are reading aloud to toddlers, you can make it a habit to regularly pause before words that you think your child will be able to guess.  Place your finger on the word and wait for them to chime in.  It might feel like you are teaching them to guess instead of to read, but developing the kind of logic needed to figure out a word from context  is a big part of learning to read later on.  It's also a painless way to start practicing sight words (long before you think they're ready)

This works especially well with rhyming books.  For example, "Oh! They would put me in the zoo, if they could see what I can____"

"Do!" exclaims your child.

If they aren't able to guess, just supply the word and move on.  It's good to include some difficult pauses as well as easy ones to keep it challenging.

I employed this habit a lot when M was little, and I'm convinced it was really helpful for her.  Now I do it when I'm reading to little G, and she enjoys making a game out of it.

Do you have any other simple tips for developing reading readiness when your children are at the toddler stage?