Early Literacy

We all want to do what's best for our kids. We buy them the best clothes, the newest toys (or as new as we can afford!;-)) When our kids go to school, we want to prepare them the best that we can. Unforturnately, when our children come into our lives, we discover that there isn't guide book or the perfect right or wrong way to raise our children. So I am going to talk about things I have learned and share them with you. So my first topic is Reading for the very young or early literacy. Keep in mind, I am not an expert.

Early literacy is made of six parts. (Early Literacy Storytime, Saroj Ghoting, PLA conferance, May 2005) They are:

1. Print Motivation: the willingness and motivation to read
2. Phonological Awareness: Hearing sounds, breaking words apart, rhyming
3. Print Awareness: the ability to "see" words in books and in the environment
4. Vocabulary: learning new words and what they mean.
5. Narrative skills: knowing how to tell a story, retell events or adding descriptions
6. Letter Knowledge: knowing your abc's.

Over the next few weeks, I will talk about each of these different skills and how to impliment them with your child. At first it seems like a lot, but as we work our way through we will learn that getting your child ready to read isn't that difficult.