“Early Literacy” is a term used to describe the stage of literacy development occurring before children are able to read and write. From infancy, children begin to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes that influence lifelong reading and writing behaviors.
Research indicates that the literacy skills children have when entering school is an important predictor of their school readiness, social adjustment and academic success.
The areas of early literacy areas include:
Oral language – children develop the ability to listen to and understand what is being said to them, as well as to communicate with others.
Print awareness – children develop knowledge of how the print system works; directionality (left to right, top to bottom); that print can take the form of letters, words and sentences; and that print has meaning.
Phonological awareness – children gain an awareness of the individual sounds that make up words. Children who play with beginning and ending sounds, break words into individual speech sounds, and make up nonsense words are developing their phonological awareness. Being able to identify sounds in words helps children when they start to read and must make connections between these sounds and the letters that represent them.
Alphabet knowledge and writing – children begin to realize that print is used to communicate and that drawings are different than print. They become interested in naming and writing the letters of the alphabet. Early writing efforts that look like scribbles may lead to scribbled print, the formation of letters, invented spelling and conventional writing.
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