(photo via playful librarian)
Literacy...It's such a stiff "educational" word. However, when it comes to young children, literacy and it's partner, language, are important to a child's success later in life. I'm not a huge fan of Wikipedia...I find a majority of the information found there (mostly pop-culture related) to be completely subjective. However, I do find the article I found there on literacy to be very well written and informative on the teaching of literacy. Check it out, if you have a moment.
I'll be the first one to raise my hand and say "Yes, I want my children to read and write and communicate well." Don't we all want that as parents? And, depending on how my children progress in this area naturally, I want to do everything within my power as a parent to encourage (not pressure) them as they learn these key skills. I am not looking to necessarily teach them how to read and write. It is just kind of evolving into that. My daughter already shows signs of readiness when it comes to reading and I want to meet her where she's at in the best possible way I can.
So, the questions I keep (almost every day) asking myself are "What can I do? How can I encourage her and promote not only literacy and language, but a love of learning as well?"
Here's what I have come up with. Don't feel pressured to do any of this. It's just some tips and ideas I want to share.
10 Ways to Promote Literacy and Language:
1. Exposure. If the number one rule in real estate is location, then the number one rule in promoting literacy and language is exposure. Expose your child to the printed and written word often and in great quantity. Talk to them often. Start as early as you can. Read to them every day. Have books around. Take them to the library. Talk to them, even when they are babies. When I was pregnant with my first child, I remember hearing my good friend talk to her newborn about what he was going to wear, when it was time to take a bath. Now, did the baby understand what she was saying? No. She was establishing good habits and modeling language and exposing him to words and speech at a very early age. And if you already do all that, then great! But, if you are like me, then there's always room for improvement.
2. Surround them with a "print rich" environment. This goes hand in hand with exposure, but is a little more specific in it's intent. Find ways to bring words into everyday life. Make it fun! Try and have a good amount of books in the house and read them. And if you can't afford many books, your local library is an excellent resource-use it! Some public libraries offer toddler story times for ages as young as one year and many libraries have toy/play areas to create an enticing environment for young children. Talk about the words you see out and about at the drive-thru, at the gas station, at the grocery store. Don't leave out words on things just because you think they can't read them. How will they know what words are (and their meaning) unless you teach them?
3. Write With Your Child. Model how to write correctly. Write notes to your child and read them together. Make up stories together where they dictate and you write it down. Have them draw a picture to go along with each story. Even if they just scribble nonsense on a piece of paper, you are still exposing them to the concept which encourages readiness to write.
4. Talk. Talk. Talk. Talk to them as often as you can about a variety of subjects. Use descriptive words. (For instance, it's not just a truck, but a sanitation truck). Talk to them about the things you do at home, school, and familiar places. Talk out idioms or familiar sayings with them. Talk to them over dinner. The family dinner is the best place for talking in my opinion. They are relaxed and in a familiar and comfortable environment and ready to share about their world!
5. Listen to Your Child. Listening is as important as speaking when it comes to literacy and language. Teaching our children to listen by modeling it through example helps them later on. Through listening they will learn patience and be ready for phonics and comprehension.
6. Teach Your Child How to Handle Books. Show your child that books are special. When reading, explain that we read left to right and top to bottom. Show him the spine of the book and describe it's function (It holds up the pages and tells us the title and author). If he understand how books work ( that they are for reading, not for throwing or ripping), he is more likely to be engaged when you are reading to him. If you introduce this early, say when they are infants and toddlers, be sure to revisit this later on when their comprehension level is higher.:)
7. Have Writing Materials Available and Accessible. Having writing materials "at the ready" encourages children to reach for them every day. A simple way to have materials always available is to create a "writing center" or "writing box". Fill it with pens, pencils, crayons, paper, envelopes, and even stamps with words on them! If you are worried about the possibility of little hands creating masterpieces on your walls, use Color Wonder markers and art supplies.
8. Sing To/With Your Child. Songs help children in a myriad of ways. Not the least of which, at an early age, is the introduction of language in a fun and entertaining way. And believe me, your children don't care if you are off tune, they just love that you sing to them! And if you don't want to sing to them, buy music with words and play it for them often. And when singing to your wee one, do it in a variety of places like the park, the bath, when playing or on a walk, etc. Singing is also a great way to help pass the time in line at the grocery store or at an amusement park.
9. Be Yourself. Do what works for you. Teaching literacy and language to children doesn't have to resemble school. It can be done virtually anywhere and at anytime (except when they're sleeping of course). If you love to cook with your kids, bring out the recipe card, read it and show your child how a recipe card works, explaining measurements, etc. If your child is in to art, incorporate the written word and the letters of the alphabet into some of your projects. If they like to play with cars and trucks, create road and traffic signs to go along with their beloved vehicles.
10. Play Games and Do Activities. I will be sharing with you some literacy and language activities in upcoming posts, but wanted to suggest a few things to get you started. For instance, read poems, mother goose stories, rhymes, and finger plays. Rhyming plays with words and phonetic sounds and encourages kids to listen to sounds and introduces them to the idea that sounds put together in a particular way make words. Science experiments are a great way to incorporate literacy and language into an activity. I use the three D's. Describe, Discuss, Document. Ask them to describe what they think will happen, and what is happening. Discuss the end result and document the finding in a journal or observation report.
...Coming up soon, Alphabet Match Up Game!