Starting from infancy, picture books have been used to stimulate young brains by introducing concepts like shapes, colors, letters. Through illustrations, a child's imagination is activated, providing tremendous benefits to their cognitive development and reading skills. Use this guide to better understand how preschool reading methods can help your little one build their literacy skills.

What Are the Benefits of Picture Books for Preschoolers?

1. Build Language 

Preschool reading starts with phonological awareness, which is the ability to recognize sounds and patterns in the spoken language. Beginners reading books with pictures help support this by associating sounds with letters and images. 

Practicing letter sounds reinforces phonological awareness and meaning. Even a picture book with no words can benefit vocabulary development by providing context clues and names of new objects your child hasn't identified before.  

2. Comprehension Through Sequencing 

Pictures and images tell a story without words that helps develop a child's mental prowess. Picture books allow a child to understand the sequence of a story using their own interpretation. 

Commonly, children are prompted to speculate about what might be happening in the story using visual clues, facial expressions and outcomes. When your child begins reading books, pictures can help them remember the key events of the story, even if they struggle with a word or two. 

3. Enhances School-Readiness 

One of the most important ways to prepare your little one for school is to help bolster a child's reading comprehension. While every child learns at their own pace, stimulating their mind is a critical tool for academic development and growth. By starting with wordless picture books and gradually introducing books with shapes, numbers and letters, to help build awareness and better understanding.

The building blocks of learning are heavily based on a child's ability to process information they see and hear. Reading in Preschool in New York, NY, is an online and in-person tutoring program that supports literacy for children ages 3 through 6 years old. The owner, Elizabeth Alexander, has dedicated the last 15 years to creating the most successful children's reading curriculum. These lessons stimulate the imagination, nourish emotional growth, build verbal skills and influence analyzing and critical thinking skills, all while getting kids interested and excited to read. For more detailed information, and to see videos and testimonials from NYC parents who've used our business, visit the website.