Being a parent with a degree in Child Development or Psychology is not a requirement in having your children develop adequate and necessary reading skills in life. The key is in knowing that the sooner you begin working on those skills with your child, the more their abilities will grow.
The easiest thing you can do is taking your child to the story time at your local library. Every library should be providing a special time at a few or each of their branches dedicated to story time - there are story times for babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers, school age children, and even one for families with children of all ages (Peck, p. 5-6). There, the librarians are experts in letting your child experience a real dose of early literacy through all of the activities done through story time.
Not only will you be reading books, you can be dancing, repeating and learning rhymes, inventing stories, hearing classic tales, puppet shows, maybe even a small craft in that 20-30 minute time frame - all oriented toward the age group of the child. But also learning to sit quietly, pay attention, and listen to the story teller (Peck, p. 2), all of which will be crucial things to have a handle of once they begin school. If you do not feel confident yet in beginning a road for early literacy on your own, through story time you can learn easy steps that can be implemented at home. This is the best way to touch all the Early Literacy Skills, so it is important to consistently attend story time!
Another great book that you can get is 1001 Rhymes and Finger plays by the Totline staff provides a wonderful array of different easy and short finger plays as well as different rhymes that can be done very quickly and easily with no materials needed, except your hands and imagination. They can easily be adapted for the needs, dexterity, and age of your child. Rhyming allows your child’s vocabulary to grow, but also touches on Phonological Awareness in breaking down and repeating sounds of words that rhyme. (The six early literacy skills can be found and explained thoroughly through www.earlyliteracy.net)
Great resources caregivers may not realize are available to use are big books. These are very huge copies of usually popular picture books that can be easily seen by many but also conveniently print the text in very large letters. The large text helps children understand and know the letters, this helps with Letter Knowledge. These books also teach how to words are associated with the pictures, and that they have meaning through Print Awareness.
Luckily there are experts who are more than glad to share the wealth of information they have gathered over the years of working with children, libraries, and schools - while collecting and studying, the newest and best methods to show those who teach young children. The website of Early Childhood Literacy Consultant Saroj Ghoting is a vast collection of tips and techniques for parents, caregivers, teachers, and librarians who would like to begin the road of early literacy with children. There are pages that break down what can be done for each age group, free printouts, a breakdown of all the terminology, and many links to what has worked for others.
With the help of another specialist, Saroj has published The Early Literacy Kit: A Handbook and Tip Cards – a book for parents and a set of cards that have many ideas for fulfilling the six early literacy skills, ideas on how to implement them, and ideas of how to tailor them for the specific needs of different children.
We have only covered the tip of the iceberg- resources for parents are endless, but there are also conflicting messages. Visit your local library and do research online to see what works best for your environment and the children in your life. Rest assured though that the best possible thing you can do for them is to begin them on the path literacy as early as possible – learning to read begins before you can actually read at all.
Peck, P. (2009). Crash course in story time fundamentals. Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited.
Saroj Ghoting, Early Childhood Literacy Consulting. (n.d.). Saroj Ghoting, Early Childhood Literacy Consulting. Retrieved March 3, 2011, from http://www.earlylit.net
PAGE AUTHOR: ELIZABETH PEREZ
