Developing Literacy
Literacy is most commonly understood as reading and writing. But before children can read and write, they need to learn about sounds, words, language, books and stories. You have a vital role to play in helping your child with early literacy development.
Encouraging Literacy Development
The growth of literacy skills is a vital part of your child’s overall development. It’s the foundation for doing well at school, socialising with others, developing independence, managing money and working. But before your child learns to read and write, he needs to develop the building blocks for literacy – the ability to speak, listen, understand, watch and draw.
With time, and your support, your child will also come to understand the connection between letters on a page and spoken sounds. For this to happen, she’ll need plenty of experience with:
- pictures and objects – how you can use words to talk about them
- letters and words – their shapes, sounds and names
- sounds – how words can rhyme, begin and end with the same letters, be broken up into parts (for example, syllables), be formed by blending different sounds, and so on.
This will prepare your child for school, when he starts learning the more formal aspects of literacy. You can help your child’s literacy development by communicating with her, reading with her and teaching her about sounds in ways that are fun for both of you.
The language experiences that children have before they start school form multiple and powerful brain connections. These connections are used for language, thinking and understanding. Without activities like talking, singing and reading, the brain doesn’t develop this rich network of connections.
Communicating: Its importance In Literacy Development
Bonding and interacting with your baby or child helps create a sense of security in him, and a desire for him to interact with you in return.
You might notice your baby responds to your smiles and baby talk. She might try to imitate your sounds and facial expressions. When you repeat your toddler’s babble, it lets her know she’s communicating. Singing to her teaches her about the rise and fall of sounds. It also introduces her to the music and stories of her culture. All of these back-and-forth interactions are getting your child ready for talking and socialising.
What You Can Do
Copy the sounds your baby makes and don’t be afraid to use baby talk – it helps babies understand how language is put together.
• Sing with your child.
• Talk to your child about the everyday things you’re doing and seeing together. For example, ‘Let’s get the washing now’, ‘Look at the red bird’ or ‘Yum, what a nice lunch we’re having’.
• Name people, items at the supermarket and special features on different objects – for example, the velcro on shoes or buttons on a shirt.
• Talk about feelings and chat about whether your child is happy or sad. You can help out by giving him the words to describe his emotions. This can help him understand how others feel too.
• Listen to your child. Follow her lead and talk about things she brings up. If she asks a question, give her the chance to come up with answers before you step in. For example, you can respond by saying, ‘What do you think that is?’, ‘What do you think it’s used for?’
- Share stories with your child. You could share funny or interesting stories from your childhood or tell him about your family’s past. You could take turns creating a story together.
- As your child gets older, teach her that words can be broken down into segments. For example, ‘man’ is made up of m-a-n. Also show how parts of spoken words can be blended to produce whole words. For example, r-u-n or r-un or ru-n makes ‘run’.
You can also play a game that gets your child thinking about the different sounds in words. For example, ‘Say the word butter. Say it again but don’t say “but” ’. Your child might say ‘er’ or ‘ter’. This helps your child understand that words are made up of sounds.
Reading: Its importance in literacy development
It’s a good idea to read with your child often – you can start from birth onwards. Children who have had experiences with language and print from an early age are more likely to develop a solid literacy foundation.
Reading with your child:
- gives you enjoyable time with him as you share an activity, looking at pictures and playing with words
- helps him start to appreciate what books have to offer, and shows him that books can give both pleasure and information
- helps him learn the sounds of letters in spoken language
- helps him understand that stories aren’t coming from you, but from the words on the page – this teaches him about how the printed word works helps him develop a larger vocabulary, which increases his understanding, pleasure and interest in reading (this is because books offer more unusual words than are used in everyday language or on television)
- improves his thinking and problem-solving skills
- can start a conversation about a new concept, an event or something that interests your child.
What You Can Do
• Read with your child. You can start from birth, but it’s never too late to begin.
• When your child is old enough, encourage her to hold the book and turn the pages. This will help her start to understand that the book should be a certain way up, and that pages are always turned in the same direction.
• Slide your finger underneath the words as you read them, pointing out each word. This indicates to your child that we always start on the left and move to the right when reading English, helping him start to understand the rules of reading.
• Point out pictures and talk about the pictures your child points to.
• Make the sounds of animals or other objects in the book – have fun!
Rhyme: Its Importance In Literacy Development
Rhyming is a great way to teach children the connection between the sound of a word and how it’s written.
What You Can Do
- Play games that involve rhyming. Rhyming words helps children appreciate beginning and ending sounds – for example, ‘cat, pat and mat’. You can play them at any time – in the car, while shopping or at the dinner table.
- Play games that involve the sound and rhythm of words. You could try ‘I Spy’ and tongue twisters such as ‘She sells seashells by the seashore’.
- Read rhyming books, such as The Cat in the Hat or Doodledum Dancing.