Just for Parents

I believe that literacy is a social practice that begins at birth and continues throughout life. From the moment a child is born, they are surrounded by noises, voices, and images. They begin to try to make sense of the noises around them and they begin to hear language being used, music playing, and viewing images on a daily basis. As a child continues to grow and change, they begin to learn more and more about literacy. Often when we think of literacy, we think of learning to read and write in school, but literacy begins even before traditional schooling.

Many parents have recently asked me how they can support literacy practices at home. The truth is, there is a variety of easy and simple things to do at home with your child. I have broken down some frequently asked questions and tried to offer helpful  literacy practices for home. 

What is the single best way for me to support literacy development at home?

    READ, READ, READ! Reading with your child is perhaps the best thing one can do at home to support literacy development. Children need multiple opportunities to share and enjoy different types of texts both at school and home.

Who should be doing the reading?

A combination of child and parent reading is best. In the beginning of the school year, many first graders are emergent readers and writers. They will need multiple opportunities to read simple texts but will also need exposure to complex stories with  sophisticated characters, plots, and vocabulary words.  Reading aloud to your child allows you to introduce new vocabulary and develop rich conversations about the texts.

            Show your child that you are also a reader. It is important to model different types of reading and purposes to children such as; reading the newspaper, internet sites, books, or magazines.

What types of books should I find for my beginning reader?

 Fountas and Pinnell (2007) characterize beginning texts by the following text features:

• Simple and predictable sentence structure
• Word meanings illustrated by pictures (picture clues)
• Punctuation such as; periods, commas, quotations marks, exclamation points, question marks, and ellipses.
• Familiar vocabulary and content (family, play, pets, school, etc.)
• Simple narratives with several episodes (usually similar or predictable)
• Words with predictable letter-sound relationships (easy to decode)
• Large print in plain font
• Books with only about 8 pages of print
• 1-5 lines of text on each page
• Books that have familiar sight words

Where can I find books that my child will like?

There are a variety of helpful websites that will introduce you to new books that your child will love based on their age, interests, and more!

http://www.justonemorebook.com/

http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/books/step/

http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/harperchildrens/

http://www.kidsreads.com/index.asp

How can I support my child’s writing development?

It is important to create a home environment in which your child has easy access to writing materials. Markers, pencils, crayons, chalk, pre-made “books”, paper with and without lines, colored pencils, dry erase boards and markers, stickers, stamps, and construction paper are all great supplies for your child to explore with. Let your child be creative and create writing pieces based on their own choices. Have your child re-read what he or she has written and congratulate their approximations even if they are not conventional spellings.

You may also wish to encourage your child to write for authentic purposes. Writing a letter to a friend or relative, making a grocery list, birthday or holiday wish list, writing a letter to an author of a book they love, or making a birthday card are all great ideas.

How can I help my child with spelling?

            There are a variety of ways to help your child with spelling. Simple resources such as magnetic letters, dry erase boards, or cut up flashcards are great for helping with spelling. Check out our spelling link for many more resources and ideas for spelling.

How can I help my child’s language and vocabulary development?

TALK, TALK, TALK with your child. Sharing daily events as a family is a great way to begin the conversation. Encourage your child to speak about what they did at school, the best part of the day, and the worst part of the day and also share things about your day. Don’t be afraid to use sophisticated language or new vocabulary words when speaking to your child, this is a great way to introduce them to new words and increase their oral vocabulary. Reading aloud books with rich language is also a great way to introduce your child to new vocabulary. Research shows that vocabulary plays an important part in a child’s progress at school and their success with reading (Wasik, 2006).

How can play help my child’s literacy skills?

Research has shown that social play is an important component to developing literacy skills. Play is important to children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development (Position Statement of the NAEYC, p.8). Children need opportunities to explore the world around them. During play, children are strengthening important social, speaking, listening, and other important beginning literacy skills. In first grade, play can also involve reading and writing practices. For example, when playing restaurant a child may write and create their own menu.

What resources can I use with my pre-school children at home?

There are many great resources for parents with pre-school children. Aside from immersing your child with books, language, writing materials, and other developmentally appropriate toys, be sure to check out these websites: www.getreadytoread.org and www.zerotothree.org.