Do you want to have some fun with your child and find out more about the benefits of singing, talking and reading together in the early years?
What is STaRT?
STaRT (sing, talk and read together) is a new campaign which aims to highlight the benefits of home learning for under 5s.
Learning to talk and communicate helps children make friends, feel good about themselves and do better when they reach school.
There's lots of things parents and carers can do at home to encourage learning in the early years from singing and talking to reading and helping children explore the world around them.
Sing
Share songs and nursery rhymes. Joining in with action songs and rhymes. Nursery rhymes introduce new words to children. They help them recognise sounds in words and hear rhyming words. Action songs help develop coordination and core strength. Singing together is a very social experience and builds bonds.
Talk
Introducing new words, modelling speaking in sentences and exploring and discussing the world around us. Talking to your child builds their self esteem and helps them feel valued. It teaches them what a conversation looks like. It expands their vocabulary and understanding of the world around them.
Read
Telling, sharing and reading stories. Having fun with imagination and creating your own stories. Reading to your child provides comfort and reassurance, confidence and security, relaxation, happiness and fun. It builds vocabulary, self-esteem, and feeds imagination.
Singing, talking and reading are only some of the activities you can do together, there are more activity ideas on our downloadable leaflet below.
Find out more about home learning on our Start for Life pages.
FREE Five to Thrive session for parents and carers
Brain development in babies and children relies on good relationships with others, especially parents, carers, or grandparents.
Five to Thrive explains what happens inside us when we connect with our babies and children.
A FREE interactive 'Five to Thrive' session is being held on Thursday 20 June from 9.30am to 2pm at the local hub in Stourbridge.
The session will focus on the five parts of five to thrive - Talk, Play, Relax, Engage and Respond. You can book a place online now.
