Laura Goldstein Cooper | Early childhood literacy specialist
What is one piece of advice you’d share with expecting parents of their first child?
It’s all a phase – it’s easy to get bogged down in the current challenge that you are facing, but when I take a step back and remind myself that this is just a moment in time, it helps keep perspective.
What are three pre-reading strategies to set your child up for success?
- Read different types of books to your child so they develop a love of reading for both fiction and nonfiction books.
- As you read to your child, pause frequently to ensure they understand the story or information being presented.
- Play rhyming games and sing funny rhyming songs – this will help children understand the sounds within words.
Recommend a podcast and article in the child development space for families to read or listen to.
- An amazing podcast about learning how to read is, Sold A Story.
- I love Emily Oster’s substack. Her advice is grounded in data and isn’t fear-mongering!
What is your go-to parenting hack?
Find a way to give your child something to say yes to. Think about how you can reframe the option positively. For example, rather than saying what you don’t have or can’t do, present what you do have and can do in an enthusiastic way.
Bio
Laura is an early childhood literacy expert. She taught Kindergarten through 2nd grade for 9 years, was an assistant principal for 5 years, and is correctly the Director of Early Childhood Literacy for 20 schools. Laura is passionate about teaching all children how to read and fall in love with books! Laura is also a mom of two young children, one of whom just started her reading journey!
Find Laura
LinkedIn: Laura Goldstein Cooper