Dear StrongStart friends,
I hope you had fun learning about print in the community from our previous post. I would like to invite you to look for symbols and signs in yiour neighbourhood.

Every transit (bus) stop has a sign, a nice opportunity to look at the numbers there. What bus is stopping there? The one we take to go to…

Some symbols or traffic signs are made up of only pictures. Ask your child: What do you think this sign means? They are not studying for a driver’s license so accept the answer they give you if it is “a man crossing the street” or “daddy walking”. They are learning to make meaning from print.

Once they understand that lines across a picture in a sign means “no”, they will have fun finding ‘Parking’ and ‘No Parking’ signs, ‘Stop’ or ‘No Stopping’ signs, ‘Bicycles Allowed’ and the sign ‘No Bicycles Allowed’.

Children usually learn ‘Stop’ signs first and from then on they will always remind you to stop when you see one together!

Remember, learning to read is a developmental process that takes time, but children can learn many things that will help them on this journey before they enter school.

Ms. Lillian