Tips for Developing Early Literacy Skills

Helping your child become a reader can be encouraged by using the home environment to support literacy. Here are some simple ideas to try with your child:

1. Develop phonological awareness (the relationship between letters and groups of letters and the sounds they represent) through the following: rhyming activities (nursery rhymes, songs, and poems); games that point out words that rhyme and/or sound alike ("Jake's Cakes" and "blues clues"); showing how sounds blend together to make a word like your child's name ("B-ell-a makes Bella - your name!"); playing naming games that use beginning sounds ("Let's see what we can find that begins with the letter 'b' while we take a walk."); using clapping as a way to denote syllables or sound units ("C - A - T spells CAT" with three claps for three letters, "FAM-I-LY makes FAMILY" with three claps for three sound units (called phonemes).
2. Develop comprehension by reading stories and asking questions (how many kittens were there?; where did Suzie want to go?; what do you think will happen next?; etc.). Re-read the same story several times to develop mastery of the details and concepts introduced by the text.
3.  Develop print awareness: words are different from pictures; words are everywhere; books are read left to right and top to bottom; words can describe pictures; spaces between words allow the words to be separate; reading involves spoken language written down.

These ideas may seem simple yet they are the underpinnings of beginning literacy. So take a walk to the library and have some fun: what are you waiting for?