Literacy News

(My background is in developmental psychology, education, and experience as a foster parent, parent, and nursery school teacher.)

Early literacy begins even before the child begins to speak. The first step is listening to speech including “conversations” with parents who talk to the child about what they are doing.

Listening to songs and stories gives the child a further appreciation for language.

Exposure to books should begin as early as possible. At home and in the nursery school classroom books should be chosen for a variety of activities.

Wordless books with intriguing pictures can be shared and looked at alone – they encourage the child to search for meaning in the pages and demonstrate that stories have an order from beginning to end.

Books with predictable content like a repeated phrase which the child can anticipate are an excellent way to encourage participation and confidence.

Repeatedly reading a favorite book can be comforting, but it also builds reading skills. Allowing the child to “read” the book to you (even if you think it is mostly memorization), is an excellent activity. Simply learning how to handle the book and turn the pages on their own is important.

Encouraging children to look at the cover and hypothesize (guess based on their experience) what will happen helps to engage them as active listeners and teaches a skill they will use throughout their career as readers.

Exposure to adults and older children who read is vital. Even if parents read magazine articles or a page of the paper daily for themselves, the child sees this and has the adult as a model to follow. Teaching or modeling a regular habit of reading instructions on toys, tools, chemicals around the house can teach a skill that could save a life!

Speaking of saving lives, as soon as they are interested, children should be taught to make a phone call, identifying and pressing the numbers themselves. My daughter used a sign on the wall by the phone with grandparents name & ph# and Daddy’s work ph# and was allowed to call by herself, as soon as she mastered the skills. This type of activity teaches very practical reading.

The teacher and lover of books and language in me demands I pitch a few more ideas. Don’t forget songs and poetry and books that rhyme. Have books available for children to “grow into.” Choose some books with “big words” children can feel very satisfied knowing what a special or fancy word means – look it up if you’re not 100% sure how to define it. Have books with different languages too if you can read other languages – this does not confuse children it amazes and encourages them. Reading should be a joy!

Exsposure to all forms of language based communications from an early age is, in my opinion, extremely important. Music, reading, talking to the child as you would any other person. Books should be available from the beginning…soft books for the bath, board books for the toddlers, picture books to share, chapter books to read aloud or on thier own, magazines that introduce new ideas and vocabulary. And the more a family shares all of this together, even more so as a child gets older, the stronger the skills become.

Enjoyment! This is the part many parents have forgotten as they push their child into some “genius” mode. The child who enjoys reading activities in a loving, caring relationship with parents will ultimately go on to pick up the rest.