Reading to toddlers

[winterfox78]

My DD is 3, turning 4 in September.

I have read to her every night since she was born.
Also try to read during the day.

If we buy new books she will always turn the pages and have a look herself..i then read them to her..

Is there anything more I can do to encourage her reading?
Is she still too young to go off and get a book and actively look at it herself? If you know what I mean?

We do lots of craft, days out play dates etc in the day.
I'm a SAHM.

Sounds about right to me.
Some children may start to pick up reading quite early, but others don't - it's almost like there's a switch which just isn't ready to be turned on till they're older, and which doesn't really have much to do with their intelligence. So encouraging a love of books, of understanding a story is more what it's about early on, not necessarily 'reading'. Quite a lot of it, of course, is looking at the pictures and seeing what they show.

She is not too young to look at books by herself especially if you have already read them to her. She should be able to enjoy looking at them again and perhaps telling the story to her teddies and pretending to read. While you read to her you can discuss what is happening in the pictures and talk about the story and get her to suggest what might happen next. A pre reading skill they need to learn is that the text has meaning and that you read from left to right. If you run your finger under the words as you read sometimes she will begin to realise how we read along the lines. If she is beginning to recognise her name and you have some books with fewer words you could show her words that begin with the same letter sound but just in an informal way. It is always best to follow their interest and not push it at this age. I don't know whether she is at nursery but if she is, they will be introducing her to the letter sounds, phonics and playing sound games, I spy with the sound etc all helps with pre reading.

Yes she has actually started trying to write her name.

We have the alphabet in posters, lovely coloured lettering in her playroom and bedroom...she knows the alphabet and can say the letters

I am thinking of using more flash cards , I have practice writing words paper which she loves to trace the letters and colour!

Just wondering what else I can do.

I myself might start reading more of my books ....and see if she follows my lead...

When you say she knows the alphabet and all the letters, I'm not sure if you mean the names of the letters or the sounds, phonics. It is the letter sounds that are important for learning to read. The alphabet is useful for alphabetical order later. Magnetic letters are fun to play with. You can see if she can find the letters for her name and family name initials. Make her aware of letters in the environment so she can see a purpose for reading, shop names etc, S for Sainsbury's. Always let her take the lead when she is interested and ready though.
Just an aside if you are not sure of all the sounds of the letters there are plenty on YouTube, Jolly Phonics or lots of phonic songs. When my daughter was little she suddenly noticed a sign in a shop Please Pay Here, and asked what it said. She wasn't happy with me reading it, and she pointed to every letter and asked me what each one said. I had never intended teaching her the sounds but it started from there. I bought the magnetic letters and she was off!

I am not sure that it helps to progress her actual reading skills, but my Dd loves listening to audiobooks while turning the pages - we use audible & a tonie box as she will entertain herself for a while with them so it has been worth it. Another thing we do is get into the world of her favourite books, for example if we were reading “room on the broom” we might download some colouring sheets or even go on the julia donaldson website & do some of the games, also gather props/ dress up and pretend to be the characters in the story (dd loves this, I am less keen, but it has made her very keen to read new books!). Also visit the library if you can and go to any storytime sessions? You could also ask her relatives and friends to share favourite books with her.

Try reading 25 stories for young children or 20 Stories for Bedtime Reading to Children. Collections of interesting fairy tales

Have you enrolled her in the library? Both of mine loved choosing their own books at this age.