According to experts, the earlier a child learns to master literacy skills, the better prepared for school – and life – he or she will be.
“There are pre-literacy skills that occur long before they enter school,” said Linda Moffet, youth collections coordinator for the Dauphin County Library System. “Children who can get these skills will be in a much better situation when they get to a reading age, to be able to decode that text, to understand the vocabulary, to put the sounds with the letters. With all of those things, the earlier you start, the better.”
Resources to help parents with budding readers:
- Dauphin County Library System’s “Tumble Books” (e-books for kids that families can read, or have read to you): www.dcls.org/tumblebooks/
- American Library Association’s “Great Websites for Kids” (The sites are separated into categories, such as Animals, The Arts, etc.): www.gws.ala.org/
- Scholastic: www.scholastic.com
- Center for Early Literacy Learning (sections included for parents, teachers, etc.): www.earlyliteracylearning.org
- Storyline Online (children’s literature read by members of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation): www.storylineonline.net
- Check your local library’s website: Most have specific resources related to early literacy.
- Other tips for building pre-literacy skills from “Every Child Ready to Read’’
Helping your child with writing:
Writing and reading go together – both are ways to communicate information or tell stories. Writing also helps your child understand that written words represent ideas, places and events.
Take time to write:
- Provide unlined paper and plenty of opportunities to draw and write.
- Talk about what he/she draws. Have your child make up a story to go with the drawing, and write it down for them.
- Read aloud labels, road signs, lists and notes, so your child will see how written letters represent spoken words.
The value of talking:
Talking with your child helps her/him learn how words sound, what words mean, and how they can be put together to communicate ideas and information. When your child talks to you and others he/she is stimulating brain development, something that will affect all learning.
Take time to talk:
- Listen to your child.
- Answer questions.
- Add information.
- Listen some more!
Learn about language by singing:
Singing is a natural way to learn about language. It helps your child hear the individual sounds and syllables in words. Singing also helps your child learn new words and adds to their general knowledge.
Take time to sing:
- Play a CD, and sing, clap and dance along.
- Sing a song to ease those difficult transition times, such as cleaning up, in a checkout line, or getting ready for bed.
- Sing a song while washing hands or doing other chores.
Reading together remains the single best way to help your child become a good reader. Children who enjoy being read to are more likely to want to learn to read themselves so read together every day and talk about the books you read.
Take time to read:
- No matter what age, your child will enjoy being read to, even if just for short times throughout the day.
- Have some sturdy books where they can reach them, to explore on their own.
- Show that reading is important by letting her/him see you read.
Reinforce skills through play
Playing comes naturally to young children and is the primary way that children learn about their world.
Take time to play:
- Dramatic play, such as staging a puppet show, helps your child understand that stories happen in an order: first, next, last.
- Make-believe play, such as preparing a “pretend” dinner, helps your child act out real-life situations, and put thoughts into words.
- Playing with blocks and manipulative toys helps your child solve problems and build a sense of accomplishment.
Sources: Linda Moffet, youth collections coordinator for the Dauphin County Library System; Amy Zoellner, early childhood professional development instructor, Penn State University’s Capital Area Early Childhood Training Institute; Sara Bosley, infant and toddler specialist with the South Central Regional Key of the PA Keys program; “Every Child Ready to Read,’’ 2nd Edition.