Reading and Early Literacy

Below is some information on reading and literacy and its importance in a developing child’s life.

Born to Read: How to Raise a Reader

The joy of sharing books is a gift you can give children from the time they are born. Chanting nursery rhymes, singing songs, and reading stories can comfort and entertain even the youngest child. Listening to language lays the ground work for reading.
-American Library Association

In their beginning…

Children who read from an early age are more successful at learning.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, reading aloud to children is as important as fastening their seat belts and providing good nutrition:

“When a child is read to, in a matter of seconds, thousands of cells in their growing brain respond. Some brain cells are turned on, triggered by this particular experience… new brain cells are formed, adding a bit more definition and complexity to the intricate circuitry that will remain largely in place for the rest of these children’s lives.”

The National Adult Literacy Survey reports that children who have not developed some basic literacy skills by the time they enter school are  three-to-four times more likely to drop out in later years.

Reading aloud to children is the single most important intervention for developing their literacy skills.--National Commission on Reading.

The development of early literacy skills through early experiences with books and stories is critically linked to a child’s success in learning to read. – C.E. Snow, author

Their future:

Since 1983, more than 10 million Americans reached the 12th grade without having learned to read at a basic level. In the same period, more than 6 million Americans dropped out of high school altogether. – A Nation Still At Risk – U.S. Department of Education.

Growing up without books is growing up deprived and with a deprivation that puts one at risk for failure. – Dr. Perri Klass, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine.

According to the U.S. Department of Education 44 million adults in the U.S. can’t read well enough to read a simple story to a child.

So strong is the link between literacy and being a useful member of society that some states use grade-level statistics as a factor in projecting future prison construction – Bob Chase, President of National Education Association.

Early literacy is what children know about reading before they can actually read. Researchers agree that children are more likely to become good readers if they start school with three sets of accomplishments:

• Oral language skills and phonological awareness: Children are able to comprehend and to express themselves with a wide range of words. They are able to distinguish the sounds as well as the meaning of words.
• Print awareness and letter knowledge: Children have learned that the black and white marks on a page represent spoken words. They are able to name the letters of the alphabet.
• Motivation to learn and appreciation for literary forms: Children have been exposed to a wide variety of literary experiences and have learned to love books and stories.

Raising a reader:

• Begin when your child is born and spend time reading every day.
• Sing to your baby.
• Repeat nursery rhymes.
• Visit the library. Ask about storytimes. Borrow books to share with your baby at home.
• Choose books with colorful pictures and simple words--or no words at all.
• Read with expression--or just tell the story in your own words.
• Hold the book so your child can see the pictures clearly.
• Let your baby play with the book.
• Encourage your toddler to point out objects, repeat words, and talk about the story.
• Reread your child's favorite books over and over again.
• Use the technique of dialogic reading to help a child stay actively involved with a story and develop reading comprehension. Instead of reading the story straight through, ask the child open-ended questions about the story: "Why do you think Goldilocks ate Baby Bear's porridge?" "What do you think will happen next?"
• Read or tell stories in the language you are most comfortable with. It doesn't have to be English!
• Help your child develop phonological awareness -- the understanding that words are made up of smaller sounds--by playing games with the sounds of words and repeating rhymes.
• Tell stories about your family and your culture.
• Encourage older children to read to their younger brothers and sisters.
• Be an example to your children; let them see you read books too. 

More tips for book sharing

• Set aside a special time each day, such as nap time, bedtime, or after meals.
• Share books when you and your child are both in a relaxed mood.
• Take advantage of "waiting" times to share books--on trips, at the doctor's office, in line at the grocery store.
• Reading even 5 or 10 minutes a day to young children helps them get ready to read on their own.

Did you know?

• The differences in children's reading skills and knowledge usually seen in later grades appear to be present as children begin school.
• The resources children possess when they start kindergarten, such as their early literacy skills and the richness of their home literacy environment, are related to their reading proficiency across their primary grades.
• Before they can read, write, or calculate, children must acquire rudimentary skills that serve as stepping stones toward mastery of the more advanced and complex skills. For reading, these rudimentary skills include becoming familiar with the conventions of print (such as the English-language convention of reading from left to right and from top to bottom); learning to recognize letters by name; associating sounds with letters or letter combinations; and understanding the meaning of many spoken words and phrases. Rudimentary skills that form the foundation for mastery of arithmetic include rote counting; making one-to-one correspondences between spoken numbers and series of counted objects; recognizing written numerals; and understanding greater, lesser, and equal relationship. -US Dept. of Education

See our LINKS page for websites we suggest on literacy and reading.