Does your baby like to chew on board books? Is your toddler always asking to read the same book over and over? Does your preschooler love to play dress up? Did you know that these activities are all preparing them to learn to read? They are all examples of early literacy!
Early literacy is what children know about reading and writing before they can read and write. Developing early literacy skills makes it easier for children to read once they start school.
To support early literacy skills, Chicago Public Library’s programs for young children are based on the national Every Child Ready to Read initiative. This research-based program is designed to help parents and caregivers grow their child’s early literacy skills through five easy and fun daily activities: talking, singing, reading, writing and playing.
You are your child’s first and best teacher, and you can help your child develop their early literacy skills by incorporating these practices into daily life. They’re easy to do anywhere you and your child spend time together—and they’re fun!
Learn a little more about the five practices and ways you can explore them with your child:
Talking
As children hear spoken language, they learn new words and what they mean, and they learn about the world around them. Eventually, this helps children understand the meaning of what they read. It might feel a little strange to talk to a baby who can’t talk back, but it gets less awkward the more you do it!
- For babies: narrate what you’re doing all day. As you change their diaper, name their body parts. When you’re at the grocery store, tell them about the food you are buying. As you fold laundry, talk about each clothing item. Your baby loves the sound of your voice, and they will love listening to you.
- For toddlers: Repeat what your child says and use new words to stretch their vocabulary. “Yes, we did see a truck like that last week. It’s called a bulldozer.” As you read together, point out different colors or shapes in a book and ask your child to point to objects you name.
- For preschoolers: Ask your child to retell a story you read together or to describe a picture they drew. Or, take turns listing different types of things in a category, like animals.
If English isn’t your first language, speak to your child in the language you know best. This allows you to explain things more fluently so your child will learn more.
Singing
Singing songs helps develop listening skills and slow down language so children can hear the different sounds in words. This is called phonological awareness. Don’t worry if you’re nervous you’re not the world’s greatest singer. From birth, your child loves to hear your specific voice. Have fun singing together and don't worry about how you sound! While singing together, you can:
- Bounce, tap, clap or shake a toy to the rhythm of the song to help your child hear the syllables in words.
- Put your child’s name into songs and rhymes. For example, replace Mary with your child’s name in “Mary Had a Little Lamb” or add your child’s name to “Wheels on the Bus” (“the Ethan on the bus goes up and down”).
- Sing your own favorite songs—don’t feel limited to songs written for children.
- Hum or say nonsense sounds long to a tune if you don’t know the words.
- When in doubt, sing along with a book! Lots of picture books are designed to be sung out loud.
Reading
When you read words to your child, they learn that the printed letters they see all around them actually represent words they are hearing out loud. Plus, enjoying books together is the first step toward developing a love of reading. Even if you don't have a book with you, you can still read to your child because words are all around us! Read anywhere, anytime and anything! If you can, try and read with your children a little every day.
- Make it easy to read together by keeping books everywhere: in the car, the kitchen and even the bathroom.
- Show your child that words are all around us by reading to them everywhere you go. Read street signs, the email or text on your phone, a menu, labels, even the back of a cereal box!
- Don’t be afraid to read the same book over and over again. Young children learn from repetition!
- When you visit the library, ask for books about your child’s special interests. Are they obsessed with trains? Animals? Fairies? Dinosaurs? Trucks? We have books for it all!
- Reading can be part of play time too! Keep books by toys and have your child pretend to read to a favorite stuffed animal.
- Don’t forget the babies! Board books are perfect for babies who chew on books or rip pages.
- Interactive books are a great way to make reading together even more fun.
Writing
Reading and writing go hand in hand. Writing—scribbling at first—helps children make the connection between the spoken and printed word. You can help your child develop their writing skills even before they can hold a crayon! For very young children, supporting their fine and gross motor skills helps them eventually have the skills to hold a pencil. After that, activities like exploring making marks, scribbling and drawing pictures help get them ready to write letters and words. There are lots of ways to support early writing skills!
- As soon as your baby is able, encourage them to grasp and hold objects to build fine motor skills.
- Songs with small or big movements help develop fine and gross motor skills. Try Itsy Bitsy Spider, Hokey Pokey or The Wheels on the Bus.
- Play with letters—make letter shapes out of drinking straws, use letter magnets, trace them in the air with your finger! Point out letters and words around the house. Try starting with the first letter of their name!
- Try activities that use their hands a lot, like rolling play dough into balls or shapes or finger painting in shaving cream or flour.
- Add writing into pretend play. If your child is pretending to be a doctor, have them write a prescription. If they’re pretending to cook, ask them to write a menu.
- Let your child scribble on paper and ask them to tell you about what they draw.
- Practice making lines, curves, and circles with a crayon—these shapes are the basis of writing letters!
Playing
Play isn’t just for fun – it's how young children learn. Play helps your child explore and understand how the world works. Play also helps children think symbolically, which helps them to understand that spoken and written words can stand for real objects and experiences. Play is how children express themselves! Here are some simple ways you and your child can play with language and reading.
- Involve all their senses: Go on a scavenger hunt for items of different colors, different textures, etc. This kind of sensory play will expand your child's knowledge of their world as you talk about what they're exploring.
- Play with blocks to build motor, math, and science skills by sorting, building, and knocking them down.
- Use toys or household objects for pretend play. Make-believe, like pretending to cook dinner, allows children to act out real situations, work through worries and fears, and solve problems using their imagination
- Retell a favorite story with toys and props. This helps children build vocabulary and understand things like beginning, middle, and end.
- Play matching and sorting games! As children notice what is alike or different, they will be prepared to understand the distinctions between letters.
Visiting the library is another great way to support early literacy skills. Librarians at Chicago Public Library use the five early literacy practices to plan their story times, fun and free programs for you and your child! Find a story time near you here.
When you do simple things like talk, sing, read, write, and play you’re helping them on their way to becoming a reader!