How to support your child’s early literacy skills
Written by Claudia Belliveau, Ph.D. Candidate McGill University
Literacy has quite a broad definition, but it encompasses capabilities related to reading, writing, speaking, and communicating through print or digitally (Kennedy et al. 2012). Early literacy is the term we use to describe setting up the foundation of literacy. This includes learning phonics, letters, and the concept of print. These basics are necessary for literacy but are not sufficient on their own. Understanding what a sentence means, being able to put together a sentence, and comprehending a complicated story are skills that come after early literacy and continue to improve throughout adolescence and adulthood.
Are early literacy skills really important?
According to the Canadian Paediatric Society, these building blocks are best learned through direct experiences, and face-to-face interactions with parents, caregivers, or early educators in a language-rich, caring, engaging environment. Essentially, these building blocks can be put together starting at home, by caregivers of any skill level or language.
Older research suggested that the number of words heard by a child was most influential in growing their vocabulary. More recent research supports the idea that it’s more important to have back-and-forth interactions with a child (Rowe 2022, Shaw 2021 and Hu et al. 2021).
For example, if a child points at a ball, the adult can say “that’s a ball” or“oh yes, that’s a ball, what color is the ball”, wait for any type of response and then say “the ball is blue, do you want me to bring you the ball?”, and so-on. Literacy is more strongly associated with lifelong health than occupation or income — in other words, being literate is VERY important (Shaw 2021).
The importance of storytelling:
Storytelling is one the oldest ways to learn children under the age of 4 who hear and tell stories (usually at home) are the most likely to find reading easy and enjoyable once they start school. Storytelling is great because usually, the speaker is using facial expressions, expressive language, and voice intonations which can improve social development as well (a big part of social skills is learning how to understand these cues) (Shaw 2021).
What can we do to make story-time most effective (Maureen et al. 2021):
teach and model key letter-sound relationships explicitly
systematically plan how you will develop early literacy skills (read more about the Home Literacy Model)
relatable stories help children make sense of what’s going on, which can help them stay motivated
keep the group small to promote interaction
can involve books or not
Research-based tips for reading aloud:
Reading books aloud stimulates cognitive development more than other studied family activities. This interaction also fosters attachment between caregiver and child and positively predicts language development (vocabulary and oral comprehension) (Shaw 2021 and Alatalo et al. 2021) as well as predicts reading skills and interest (Mol et al. 2011). Reading aloud is another time where back-and-forth interactions are possible and beneficial. For example, reading a book that describes farm animals - you can read about cats and say “I love cats, do you like cats?” Wait for any type of response and then say “we used to have a family cat, he was brown, black, and white”. Studies suggest that read-aloud typically used in classroom settings is not back-and-forth engaging and are therefore more useful for entertainment value (Alatalo et al., 2021).
What can we do to make reading aloud more effective (Shaw 2021):
Relate stories to the child’s experience
Repeat, summarize important points at different parts of the book, and ask the child(ren) to retell the story once the book is finished (also O’Fallon et al. 2020)
Use a printed book - e-readers or tablets are not optimized for sharing the view … There are also tactile benefits of using a book such as holding, manipulating the pages, and underlining the words with a finger.
Combine song, gesture, and movement, this will not only increase attention but is so much fun!
Singing can also play a huge role in early literacy, mostly phonics. Before 2 years old, nursery rhymes promote early language development; this is due to the rhyming and repetitiveness (Shaw 2021). Incorporating songs into storytelling and reading aloud prolongs the interaction and improves vocabulary.
Overall, early literacy is stimulated by YOU - whether you’re a parent, guardian, caregiver, teacher, pediatrician, cousin, family friend, or early educator - YOU can take part in setting things in motion for a healthy life and successful future by having high-quality read-aloud, storytelling and singing interactions with children.This is why my favorite idea for gifts is the gift of books! No matter the age, there are plenty of appropriate and affordable books to choose from. Research shows that the promotion of literacy by healthcare professionals (like pediatricians) is strongly supplemented by community programs such as public libraries (Canfield et al. 2020). So go out and get your library cards for the whole family!