Better Beginnings encourages all families to Read, Talk, Sing, Write and Play with their child every day.
As library practitioners, we recognise that a child's first and most important teacher is their parent.
We know that literacy begins at birth and that seventy five percent of brain development happens in a child's first three years of life. As such, a library’s role is to:
Better Beginnings provides every baby in Western Australia with a free reading pack. Parents with newborn babies in Western Australia can collect a free Better Beginnings reading pack from their local library or from their Community Child Health Nurse. The Baby pack includes:
Better Beginnings is developed and managed by The State Library of Western Australia and delivered through public libraries. The program is funded via a tri-partite alliance between the Government of Western Australia (including Royalties for Regions), Western Australian local governments and Rio Tinto.
Better Beginnings was inspired by the UK’s Book Start program, the world’s first national book gifting program which aimed to provide free books to every child in England and Wales and inspire families to build their child’s love of books and reading from birth.
The Western Australian Government is committed to quality service to its customers and makes every attempt to ensure accuracy, currency and reliability of the data contained in these documents. However, changes in circumstances after time of publication may impact the quality of this information. Confirmation of the information may be sought from originating bodies or departments providing the information.
Your four-year-old has learned many words and phrases over the past four years. Well done guiding them on this journey. For some handy tips and activities download the following flyer for 4 - 5 year old children.
Take them to their local library and encourage them to choose books to take home. You can borrow 12 books at a time from most libraries.
Your local library has plenty of books, activities, rhymes and movies to keep your four-year-old stimulated and learning. A library membership also gives you free access to audio books, which are perfect for long car trips. Not only can you borrow materials for free, but visiting the library is an easy way to have a simple excursion with your child.
Better Beginnings provides every two-year-old child in Western Australia a free reading pack.
Your reading pack includes:
For handy early literacy tips and activities to do with your toddler print the following flyers and put them on your fridge; 18 - 24 months, 2 - 3 years, 3 - 4 years.
The brain is developing very quickly at this age, which could explain why your toddler seems to be running a hundred miles a minute. Did you know by the age of three, your toddler’s brain is 75 percent the size of an adult brain? No wonder they’re so excited by the world and have developed such strong opinions! Their personalities really start to come out at this age.
