Literacy begins at home- learn about Early Emergent Literacy

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This post will focus on Early Emergent Literacy if you don’t know what that means, please visit our blog post Introduction to Assessment-Based Literacy Classroom to read an introduction to the Stages of Literacy Development.

Early Emergent Literacy is the time before students reach kindergarten whether they are in a preschool daycare program or at home with parents. 

This is a super exciting time during literacy development and also one of the most critical. At this stage, children are learning and absorbing everything in their environment. Hence, we hear “we need a literacy-rich environment”. 
Before we go much further let me tell you this: from the moment the child is born they are emerging into literacy. What happens during the 5 years of life influences all aspects of the child’s future literacy development (Snow, Burns & Griffin, 1998).

At this stage, children are developing oral language, reading and book knowledge, and writing and uses of writing knowledge. 

When it comes to oral language children are developing listening and speaking skills. They enjoy listening to stories, they start to use language skills, they enjoy wordplay, and they also develop grammar knowledge and conventions. 

When it comes to reading and book knowledge children are developing concepts about print and they start to construct meaning from literature. They start to enjoy literature and language and they gain knowledge about print.

When it comes to writing and uses of writing children are starting to connect reading and writing, they start to understand the purpose of writing and they try to communicate in writing. 

Based on what we just read, we know literacy is happening from birth and that the first few years of life are crucial for a lifetime of learning, so how do we help children learn? There is a big push for good preschool programs (and my children have attended them because I worked) but the truth is not every parent can afford a preschool program, some parents rather keep their kids at home during this time.

Regardless of where you stand and your beliefs and your financial capabilities, I do believe that all of us can provide a literacy-rich environment at home. Ensuring a strong literacy foundational for all our children.

Just an FYI here I grew up poor but my parents provided us with a literacy-rich environment using public resources, I hope that his post encourages you whether you are poor, middle class or rich to provide a literacy-rich environment for your child. 

First, let’s look at tools of literacy:

These tools are very important and they need to be within reach and readily available to children.

  1. Books (can’t afford books? visit your local library, I visit mine every week),
  2. paper (find cheap paper, recycled paper, anything that kids can write and draw on it),
  3. pencils, crayons, markers (prices are very cheap when things on sale for the beginning of the school year),
  4. a computer (well it depends if you allow them to use it, I have an old computer that my kids can use to type),
  5. an old typewriter (I bought one at a yard sale for $1.00 and I allow my kids to practice their typing skills and letter recognition skills),
  6. magnetic letters (I have them on the fridge for when I am cooking and the kids are playing nearby),
  7. word cards (I created a set of cards and I keep them in the car for when we go on long trips),
  8. movable cardboard letters (so they can trace it, build words),
  9. alphabet blocks (I created my own using used blocks I got at a yard sale).

 For a while, I used to label things in my house and placed a card with the name on doors, items, toys; labels allow children to connect an object to the picture and to the printed name.

Want to see you child succeed? Stop dreaming get to work 🙂

 

Tips for creating a literacy-rich environment:

  • Tip number one: Read to your kids. I know you probably read this tip everywhere. Believe me, this is the most important thing you can do to your child.
    • When you read to your child you are modeling fluency. You are exposing them to new vocabulary words. You are showing them that a story has a beginning, a middle and an end. When you read to your kids and you engage them during the reading you are allowing them to make predictions and to check if their predictions were accurate or not. You are encouraging your child to focus on the task at hand. You are teaching your child to visualize what they hear in their minds.
    • There are so many skills that you are working on while you are just reading to your child. You are also getting to know your child and their interests. For example, my son loves when I read non-fiction to him, my daughter on the other hand really enjoys fiction books. Also, just because your child can read to themselves it is not an excuse for you to stop reading to them. Read to them for as long as you can! 
  • Tip number 2: Allow your child to retell the story. Become a listener. Children love attention, if you are a parent you can relate to this: “Mommy, mommy, mommy, look at me” or “daddy, daddy, daddy look at this”. Children love the attention then let’s give our children attention in a positive way, read to them and say, “now you are going to read to me, and tell me about the story”. Allow children to retell the story, listen for story sequence, listen for accuracy in information, listen for main ideas. 
  • Tip number 3: Allow your child to make up stories. Again, this fall in creating a positive environment that encourages children to use literacy tools (listed above) to create their own stories and to present it to you (a real audience). 

I know this is a lot of information to process in just one read. Take heart, my friends, this is only a few things to do to help your children during the early emergent literacy stage. We will continue to this series and walk you through all of the Stages of Literacy Development. 

For now, try to use these tips to help your children learn. 

I would love to hear from you, do you use any of these tips?
Do you feel it is hard to help your child learn?
Do you have any concerns about the Early Emergent Literacy Stage?
How can I help you?
Are you an educator struggling with creative ways to reach students in this age group?
Are you a parent that would like to know more information on how you can help your child at home? 

Dear reader, I am serious: I am working on a doctorate degree in Reading and Literacy and I want to help you- no strings attached. I am a great resource of knowledge and I want to help! Use my knowledge, my skills.
I want to ensure every child learn. 

Much love to you all.

Raquel 

 

 

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