4 Tips for Early Childhood Literacy
Learning to read and write doesn’t start in kindergarten or first grade. Helping kids develop key language and processing skills can begin with babies. Here are four tips that I found worked well in my house.
1. Talk-Read-Sing
The creators of Sesame Street figured out the key to capturing and keeping a young child’s attention: talk-read-sing. Characters would start with a conversation about topics like “happiness” and “family.” From there, they would read a book or sing a fun little ditty about the same topic. This kept the children engaged and involved, despite their underdeveloped attention spans.
It’s an easy-to-follow approach that parents can use at home to entertain their children, while helping them with their language development. In fact, the U.S. Department of Education recommends that parents talk, read and sing with their children every day.
When talking to your child, respond to their actions and make them feel involved. When reading, change the tones of your voice, create an experience and ingrain curiosity in your child. Fingerplays, such as when singing the song Itsy-Bitsy Spider or Wheels on the Bus are tools you can use to further expand your child’s development. Utilizing both singing and talking also helps to further develop both sides of a child’s brain simultaneously.
2. Be a Sports Broadcaster
The more you want your child to have a grasp of the English language, the more you’ll need to act like you were just offered a contract by ESPN and commentate on what you and your child do throughout the day.
That’s because when it comes to your child — who experiences 90% of their brain development before the age of 5 — every word counts. Studies have shown the number of words a child is exposed to before the age of five correlates with the child’s eventual IQ and academic outcomes.
According to Jessica Logan, assistant professor of educational studies at The Ohio State University and a member of the school’s Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy, "kids who hear more vocabulary words are going to be better prepared to see those words in print when they enter school. They are likely to pick up reading skills more quickly and easily."
3. Start Reading Early
I know what you’re thinking. It feels pretty silly reading to a baby. The last thing you want to do is be one of those people who is reading Moby Dick to their child in utero, but if science has anything to say about it, it has been shown engaging your child with words early and often is a recipe for success.
Even if you know that you need to read to your child, but understandably do not have the means to buy your children a new book after each one they finish, consider enrolling in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to get your child free books from birth to the age of 5.
4. Praise the Good
Children should hear a greater volume of encouragement in ratio to negative feedback. Children whose accomplishments are recognized and encouraged not only have higher levels of self-esteem and confidence, they are also able to process words at a faster rate. Hearing positive feedback and support to keep going despite mistakes teaches your child not only to learn on their own, but also to find the grit to recognize mistakes and build upon them.
