Literacy is being able to read, write, listen, speak and create texts in
ways that allow us to communicate well with others.
Literacy is the foundation for doing well at school, socializing with
others, problem-solving, making decisions, developing independence,
managing money and working.
LITERACY DEVELOPMENT IN
CHILDHOOD
Before children can learn to read and write, they
need to develop the building blocks for literacy –
the ability to speak, listen, understand, watch
and draw.
And as children get older, they need to learn
about the connection between letters on a page
and spoken sounds.
For this to happen, children need plenty of
experience with:
PICTURES AND OBJECTS – how you can
use words to talk about them
LETTERS AND WORDS – how they look
and sound, and what they’re called
SOUNDS – how words can rhyme, begin
and end with the same letters, be broken
up into parts like syllables, be formed by
blending different sounds and so on.
You can help with all these areas of your
child’s early literacy development by:
Talking and communicating with your
child.
Reading books together.
Playing with rhyme and other sounds
with your child.
And the great news is that you can do this in
ways that are fun for both of you.
The literacy experiences that children have
before they start school form powerful brain
connections.
These connections are used for language,
thinking and understanding.
Without activities like talking, singing,
reading, rhyming, scribbling and drawing,
the brain doesn’t develop these important
connections.
Why it’s important for literacy
development and how to do it?
Talking and communicating with your child helps
them learn to talk, listen and understand words as
they get older.
What can you do?
Talk with your child – the more talk, the better. You can talk
about the everyday things you’re doing and seeing together.
For example, ‘Let’s get the washing now’, ‘Look at the red bird’ or
‘Yum, what a nice lunch we’re having’.
What can you do?
Talk about feelings and chat about whether your child is
happy or sad. Use words to describe your child’s emotions.
This can help your child understand how others feel too.
What can you do?
Emphasize sounds, words and facial expressions when you
talk, especially when your child is very young. You might find
that your child will respond by trying to imitate you.
Talking and responding like this encourages conversation.
What can you do?
Emphasize the different parts of words or different letters to
help your child understand that words can be broken down into
segments.
For example, you could say ‘ball’ and emphasize the ‘b’ sound or
‘ba-na-na’ and emphasize each syllable.
What can you do?
Listen to your child. Follow your child’s lead and talk about
things they want to talk about. If your child asks a question, give
them the chance to come up with answers before you step in.
For example, if your child says, ‘What’s that box there?’, you could
say, ‘What do you think it is?’
What can you do?
Repeat mispronounced words with the correct pronunciation.
For example, if your child says ‘pasghetti’, you can say, ‘Yes, we’re
having spaghetti for dinner’.
What can you do?
Share stories with your child. You could share funny or
interesting stories from your childhood or tell your child about
your family’s past.
You could take turns creating a story together.
What can you do?
Sing with your child.
Get song ideas from the internet , or share the songs and music of
your family’s culture.
Speaking more than one language has many
benefits for children.
Why it’s important for literacy
development and how to do it?
It’s good to read with your child as often as you can. It’s best to
start reading from birth, but it’s never too late to start.
Reading with children from an early age builds a solid foundation
for literacy. It also promotes bonding and is good for your
relationship with your child.
Reading with children:
Shows them that books can give both pleasure and
information.
Helps them learn the sounds of letters in spoken language.
Helps them understand that stories come from words printed
on the page.
Reading with children:
Helps them learn new words and develop a larger vocabulary.
Improves their thinking and problem-solving skills.
Can get children thinking and talking about new concepts,
events or interests.
Helps them learn about their community, society and world.
What can you do?
o Choose lift-the flap books, touch-and-feel books or
books with rhyming or repeating words for younger
children.
o Encourage your child to hold the book the right way up
and turn the pages in the right direction.
What can you do?
o Slide your finger underneath words as you read, pointing
out each word. This shows your child that we start on the
left and move to the right when reading English.
You could ask, ‘Where should I start reading on this page?’
or ‘Do you know this letter?’
What can you do?
o Point out pictures and talk about the pictures your child
points to.
o Ask your child open-ended questions about the story, like
‘What do you think is going to happen next?’ or ‘What
would you do if this was you?’
What can you do?
o Make connections between the book and your child’s
life.
For example, you might point to a picture and say,
‘There’s a koala. That’s like the koala we saw at the
wildlife park’.
What can you do?
o Explain the meaning of new words.
For example, if there’s a picture of a lighthouse, you could
say, ‘That’s called a lighthouse. A lighthouse shines a light so
boats don’t come too close to the rocks’.
What can you do?
o Visit your local library– it’s free to join and borrow
books. Libraries have many different types of books.
Many libraries also offer free story time sessions for children
and their parents or careers.
Why it’s important for literacy
development and how to do it?
Rhyming is a great way to help your child hear and
identify different sounds in words. This helps your child
learn that words are made up of smaller speech sounds.
And when children start learning to read, rhyming helps
them learn the connection between the sound of a word
and how it’s written.
What can you do?
o Play games that involve rhyming.
Rhyming games help children appreciate beginning,
middle and ending sounds – for example, ‘cat, pat
and mat’.
You can play them at any time – in the car, while
shopping or at the dinner table.
What can you do?
o Play games that involve the sound and rhythm of
words.
You could try tongue twisters like ‘She sells seashells by
the seashore’.
o Read rhyming books like Ten little fingers and ten
little toes by Mem Fox or the Pig the pug series by
Aaron Blabey.
Reference:
https://raisingchildren.net.au/preschoolers/play-
learning/literacy-reading-stories/developing-literacy
