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Importance Of Early Literacy In Early Childhood – Literacy is an essential skill, a building block that children use to build language and improve their communication with and understanding of their world. Many parents understand the importance of literacy to their child’s growth and development, but may not always know why it is such a key focus. During the first week of March, Gardner School joined schools across the country to celebrate Read Across America. It’s a week-long celebration of all things books, reading and storytelling. Even children who don’t read yet can take time to celebrate their favorite stories, authors and illustrators. In honor of one of our favorite weeks, here are some lesser-known literacy activities that will get kids excited about reading and writing.
From the beginning of spoken language, preschoolers are very interested in telling stories to the adults in their lives. Their stories can feature themselves, family members, favorite characters or even pets. An easy way to encourage early narrative creation is to put together a book with your child.
Importance Of Early Literacy In Early Childhood
First, have your preschooler tell you a story. As they describe the action, write down key words or phrases they say out loud on pieces of paper. (This activity can help them connect spoken language with written symbols.) Then have them illustrate the story. No fancy pictures needed here – even doodles are great! Once they’re done, use yarn, string, or staples to assemble the book. Give it an important place in your child’s library and read it along with other published books.
Tips To Promote Early Literacy
By allowing your child to choose books to take with them during their daily routine, you’re sending the message that stories can be just as comforting, fun, or exciting as toys. Reading together can make a bedtime or morning ritual special, and extra stories and cuddles can reinforce reading as a joyful shared activity. Show excitement and interest in your own reading. Eventually, they will want to imitate you reading both newspapers and chapter books.
Researchers have found that imaginative play involving writing is a strong predictor of later literacy skills. Caregivers can introduce writing into imaginative play by introducing preschoolers to play that involves writing. Parents can act as restaurant servers, writing down the child’s order and then switching roles. Or they can pretend they are patients in a doctor’s office, asking the preschool doctor to write down the symptoms they are experiencing. Even the act of pretending to write can help with later literacy.
Rhyming similar sounds together is one of the first stages of phonological awareness – understanding that words are made up of combinations of sounds. The reason many children’s books contain rhyme is to encourage the pattern recognition that occurs when children match sounds with letter shapes. Parents and caregivers can incorporate rhyming into their daily activities by choosing a household object and rhyming words with that object. (Just be careful not to choose the word orange!) Encourage your child to add additional rhymes, even if they are meaningless at first. Listening to children’s music is another way to start exploring letter sounds. Songs like “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star” feature simple one-word rhymes that introduce the concept.
This celebration of literacy that begins in March encourages children of all ages to enjoy and connect with what they read by connecting books and reading to other experiences in their lives and the school year calendar. To reinforce what they may be hearing at school, mark the occasion by giving them new books and reading them aloud at mealtime or bedtime. This musical adventure with THE LITTLE PIANO is a great place to start!
Early Childhood Education
TGS knows how essential literacy skills are to your child’s development. Our daily schedule provides ample time for one-on-one and group reading to help foster a deep love of books. Through our Learning Without Tears curriculum, even our youngest students love the act of forming letters and writing words. To learn more about why parents choose us to help build Pre-K skills, contact us to learn more or to schedule a virtual tour. As a child grows, he is constantly learning; learning to eat, learning to walk, learning to play and learning to speak. During the first few years of life, as their brains are rapidly developing and absorbing information, reading can be extremely beneficial. “Experience and engagement in language-rich interactions helps children develop communication, patience, empathy, and literacy skills—all of which are critical to success in school and beyond” (Readoutandabout.org).
Reading books to young children introduces them to new words that are not used in everyday language, and not only benefits their communication skills, but also helps develop their imagination and creativity. Developing a good relationship with early reading will also help the child in the long run. “Additional positive effects of reading together include: better recognition of sounds and letters, wider vocabulary, increased listening skills, deeper understanding of how stories work” (Readoutandabout.org).
“Academically, kids who aren’t reading on grade level by the end of third grade struggle in every grade, year after year, because over 85 percent of the curriculum is taught through reading.” Reading is a skill that helps students get information from books, computers, worksheets, and whiteboards to learn math, science, literature, social studies, and more” (Reading Foundation.org).
Santa Fe ISD’s Kubacak Elementary School held an event with a “Super Reader” and “Reader Girl” to help encourage kindergartners in their reading units. Students were given a reading stick as a fun method to track their reading and point to key words.
The Importance Of Literacy In Early Childhood
Student success is directly related to reading level and relationship with reading itself. In fact, early reading and literacy are so important that school districts are encouraged to adopt literacy goals to improve their students’ success rates; “The Children’s Reading Foundation encourages school districts and communities to adopt a 90 percent reading goal.” This goal means that 90 percent of third graders will be reading at or above grade level by the end of the school year. By adopting this goal, illiteracy can be eliminated” (Reading Foundation.org).
Throughout school, a healthy relationship with reading will make learning more interesting and help them understand new concepts within their courses.
Because Texas is a state with a large percentage of Spanish speakers, many public school districts throughout the surrounding San Antonio/Houston/Gulf Coast areas have integrated ESL programs as well as other reading programs to help young students stay on track throughout their education. The Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas has a literacy program created to help families who need extra help. The federally funded Even Start Family Literacy Program is a school-community partnership that helps break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by integrating early childhood education, adult education, parent education, interactive literacy activities, and home visits into a unique family literacy program. program (Nisd.net). By building a strong foundation in reading, students will be set up for success throughout their schooling and sustain their success after school.
Alamo Heights ISD’s Woodridge Elementary used a cafeteria-style approach to teach students about different literary genres. Students munched on popcorn while trying out different books in class!
Early Childhood Essentials
Access to resources such as public school libraries can help a student build a solid reading relationship. Libraries contain a wide variety of books including different reading levels, genres, lengths and more. And with public school libraries based on an honor code system, students can access any book they want, take it home and enjoy it for an extended period of time at no cost.
Research consistently shows that when children have access to good libraries with an abundance of good books and adequate staff, children read more and therefore do better on reading tests. For children of poverty, libraries are typically the only available source of reading materials (ALA.org). The same source concludes that schools with librarians tend to have 35 percent more fourth graders “achieving at or above than schools without librarians.” Overall, public school libraries are a great resource for elementary school children to explore their love of reading, and for high school children to gain experience using their libraries as a research tool.
Early childhood reading plays a key role in your children’s education. It teaches them vocabulary, problem solving skills, empathy, patience, communication skills and more. Building a strong connection to reading early on also helps with understanding complex subjects throughout their schooling. Public school districts are incorporating reading programs for children of all ages and reading levels and are finding new ways to involve parents in their child’s education. Utilizing the resources offered by public schools, whether it’s their reading programs, libraries, or librarians, can positively impact your child’s success in school and prepare them for the career and field of their choice. Reading is one thing that you will use throughout your life. You read every day—signs, text messages, emails, books, newspapers, recipes, and more. Although some people may not enjoy reading books, reading is still an important skill to have and learn to read
