Children begin to develop an interest in literacy (reading and writing) from as early as three months of age. This interest may persist all the way though to adulthood and the goal of reading switches from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn’ around the time they begin at school. It is important to monitor this development as reading plays an important role in your child’s ability to learn in all subjects. Here are some of the key milestones to lookout for in your child’s early years of literacy development.
Three to twelve months
At this age children like to chew and pat books and are able to focus on large and bright pictures in age appropriate picture books. They enjoy sharing books with an adult as a routine part of life.
One to two years
Children at this stage begin to recognizes certain books by their covers and enjoy listening to simple stories, songs, and rhymes, they will insist on turning the pages and will attend to books for a few minutes at a time. If their language is intact they should be able to point to and labels pictures in books independently and may pick up and pretend to read a book.
Two to three years
At this age children enjoy listening to an adult reading a book aloud and are able to attend to stories for longer periods of time. They should hold a book the correct way and begin to recognise logos. They will also begin to write and produce scribble that looks more like writing rather than a picture drawing.
Three to four years
Children this stage will begin to pay attention to specific print, such as the first letter of their name and understands that written words carry a message. They start to identify some letters and begin to show letter to sound correspondence or matching. They also begin to detect rhyme and enjoy rhyming games. Children at this age also like to pretend to read to themselves and others and talk about characters in books. They might also protest if an adult changes the story. At this stage children often attempt to produces letter-like forms in scribbles that resemble letters.
Four to five years
Around this time children start to understand story sequence with a beginning, middle and end. They understand the function and purpose of printed writing and know most of the names of letters. Their writing also begins to resemble letters rather than scribbles.
Five to six years
At this age children often have completed their first year of schooling should have full letter to sound correspondence and begin to read simple words with some ease. Their print resembles the full adult form of letters and they are also able to spell out basic words read to them.
For more information on this topic or any speech related fields, contact the ENT Clinic on 1300 123 368 and make an appointment with our Speech Pathologist Ashleigh Fattah.
If you have questions about literacy milestones or children’s speech pathology contact your local doctor, who will arrange for you to see a speech pathologist. We‘ll provide you with a straightforward, efficient and very effective treatment plan targeted to your concerns. Contact Us Today!