Literacy Skills

Tips for Preparing Your Child to Read

“Every child ready to read” is the goal of every parent and caregiver.

Here are the six skills determined by researchers to help your child get ready to learn to read, some wonderful ideas on how to incorporate these skills into your child’s day, and some book examples ^{_{(with links for easy requesting)}}.

The Six Literacy Skills:

Print Motivation   |   Vocabulary |   Letter Knowledge |   Print Awareness 

              |   Narrative Skills  |    Phonological Awareness 

PRINT MOTIVATION:

(Loving Books) Books are interesting and fun.

It is never too early to start reading to your child or children. Research shows that an early introduction to books and reading will improve a child’s chances of being a successful reader in school. Print Motivation is just that "A child’s interest and enjoyment of books."  Here are some tips to encourage this love of books:

• The more children see their parents read, the more they will want to read themselves.
• Keep children involved by asking questions as you read to them.
• Encourage your child to repeat phrases within the story.
• Consider attending a storytime in your local branch library.

 

Here are some suggested books that will show Print Motivation:

• Early Talkers - Birth to age 2: Bye-Bye Time by: Elizabeth Verdick 
• Talkers - 2+3 year olds: Simms Taback's City Animals by:          
• Pre-Readers - 4+5 year olds: Panda and Polar Bear by: Matthew J. Baek 

 

 

VOCABULARY:

(Words) Everything has a name.

Statistics show that children entering Kindergarten need to have a vocabulary of a minimum of 5,000 words in order to increase their success at reading.  Vocabulary “knowing the names of things” can be fun.  Here are some suggestions to try at home:

• Talk to your child about what is going on around him/her. 
• Name or label items they use every day.
• Explain unfamiliar words in a story (don’t replace the word). Have the child repeat the new word.
• After reading a story, go back to an interesting picture and talk about what the child sees, adding unfamiliar words.
• If possible show your child real items from a page in their favorite book. An example would be showing your child a picture of an apple and a real apple to help make the connection.
• Talk about a word’s other meanings even though the word may be used one way in the book.

 

Here are some suggested books that will build Vocabulary skills:

• Early Talkers - Birth to age 2: Elmo Says by: Sarah Albee
• Talkers - 2+3 year olds: All of Baby Nose to Toes by: Victoria Adler 
• Pre-Readers - 4+5 year olds: Clang! Clang! Beep! Beep! Listen to the City by: Robert Burleigh 

 

LETTER KNOWLEDGE:

(ABC's) Letters have sounds and shapes and can be found everywhere.

Being able to recognize shapes is the first step to understanding letters.  Letters are fancy shapes.  Letter Knowledge is “knowing that each letter has a name and makes certain sounds.”  Here are some creative ways to learn letters:

• Have your child pick out their nametag at storytime.
• Pretend to make letters with your body.
• Play and touch shapes of all kinds.
• Read alphabet books and talk about each letter as you go through the book. 
• Borrow an alphabet puzzle from the Toy Collection. 
• Make each letter sound as you point to a letter in a story.
• Teach your child how to write out the first letter in their name.
• Don’t worry if you don’t finish the book.
  
   

Here are some suggested books that will improve Letter Knowledge skills:

• Early Talkers - Birth to age 2: Flaptastic Shapes by: Victoria Harvey
• Talkers - 2+3 year olds: Sleepy Little Alphabet by: Judy Sierra
• Pre-Readers - 4+5 year olds: Alphabet Rescue by: Audrey Wood  

 

PRINT AWARENESS:

(Using Books) Notice words in books and everywhere.

Print is all around us, and it is easy to point this out to children, whether it is on the back of their favorite cereal box or on a stop sign.  In order to read, children also need to know how to open a book, turn the pages and handle it with care.  Print Awareness is knowing how we follow written words on a page from left to right and from top to the bottom. Here are some ideas to try at home:

Point out print in unusual places, such as traffic signs, delivery trucks or even store signs.

• When reading at home point out the title and author of the book.
• Point out interesting endpapers in books.
• Follow the print with your finger as you read to your child.
• Point at pictures in the books that have print on them or around them.

 

Here are some suggested books that will show Print Awareness:

• Early Talkers - Birth to age 2: How Do Dinosaurs Love Their Cats by: Jane Yolen and Mark Teague 
• Talkers - 2+3 year olds: Pet shop Lullaby by: Mary Ann Fraser
• Pre-Readers - 4+5 year olds: Princess Party by: Joy Allen

 

 

NARRATIVE SKILLS:

(Storytelling) Describe things and tell stories. Children love to tell their own stories.

Narrative skills are the ability to describe things, events and/or tell their own stories.  This is the beginning of comprehending what a book is about and remembering it well enough to talk about it.  Here are some suggestions to try at home:

• Read a short story twice, and then have the child draw a picture about the story.
• Ask questions about the pictures in the story.  The questions help with remembering what has happened. 
• Repetition with in the story will also help the child to remember what comes next.
• Retell stories with puppets, flannel boards, or props with the child.
• Allow time for the child to talk about the pictures.
• Have your child predict what might happen next in the story.

 

Here are some suggested books that will build Narrative Skills:

• Early Talkers - Birth to age 2: Oops-a-Daisy! by: David Algrim
• Talkers - 2+3 year olds: Peek-A-Bloom by: Marie Torres Cimarusti
• Pre-Readers - 4+5 year olds: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Shell! by: Lucille Colandro  

 

PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS:

(Sounds) Hear and play with the small sounds in words.

This is a very difficult concept to grasp for young children.  It is the idea of playing with the sounds in each word and changing those sounds to make new words.  Such as, taking the word CAT and changing the first letter to make a new word BAT. The best way is to play with words and rhymes.   Phonological Sensitivity is the ability to hear and play with the smaller sounds with in the words.  Here are some suggestions to try at home:

• Clap out the syllables in your child’s name or favorite rhyme.
• Sing songs and repeat them.
• Read Poetry, nursery rhymes or books that rhyme.
• Point out rhyming words with in a story and repeat those words.
• Play by making up silly (nonsense) words that rhyme.
• After reading a book, take a word from it and play with other words that rhyme with it, and what words start with the same sound as your word.

 

Here are some suggested books that will build Phonological Awareness:

• Early Talkers - Birth to age 2: Baby Nose to Baby Toes by: Vicki Ceelen
• Talkers - 2+3 year olds: Meeow and the Little Chairs by: Sebastien Braun 
• Pre-Readers - 4+5 year olds: Chuck's Truck by: Peggy Perry Anderson

 

 

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