Taken from Growing Concerns -- A childrearing question-and-answer column with Dr. Martha Erickson

Question: My child will start school next fall. He already knows all of his letters and can say the alphabet, but what else can I teach him now so that he will become a good reader?

Answer: The most important thing you can do for your child is help him develop a love of reading. It's less important that you teach him particular skills than that you let him experience the beauty and adventure of books. Here are some specific things that will help your son get off to a great start:

· Read to him as much as possible, making it a special time for the two of you together. Use your finger to "underline" the words as you are reading them so he gets used to the left to right motion and can follow where you are. If he has certain books he wants to hear over and over, you might read a line and let him fill in the last word.

· Be sure that there are a variety of books available for your son to handle and look at on his own. It's great for children to have books that belong to them, but the public library also is a wonderful, free resource that exposes children (and adults) to more books than we could ever afford or fit on our shelves.

· Many books for children come with cassette tapes, so the child can listen to the tape and follow along in the book. This is a fun way for children to begin to read independently. (For a personal touch, you might even want to tape yourself reading one of your son's favorite stories.)

· Use books as a starting point for acting out stories with your son. This is a great way to get into imaginative play with your child and to show him the excitement of bringing words to life.

· Let your son make his own book about a real or imagined experience. You can write down the story as he tells it to you and then let him illustrate it with drawings or cut-out pictures.

· Finally, one of the best things you can do is to let your son see you reading. If he sees your love of books, he's almost sure to follow in your footsteps.

Editor's Note: Dr. Martha Farrell Erickson, director of the University of Minnesota's Children, Youth and Family Consortium, invites your questions on child rearing for possible inclusion in this column. E-mail to mferick@tc.umn.edu or write to Growing Concerns, University of Minnesota News Service, 6 Morrill Hall, 100 Church St. S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455.