10 Dec Emergent Literacy Skills
Isn’t it amazing how we send our kids off to kindergarten, and soon they’re returning home reciting sight words and reading the Starbucks sign down the street? And while at times it can seem that kiddos develop their literacy skills all of a sudden, the truth is that all the language they have been exposed to since birth helps them prepare to learn to read and write.
Here’s another interesting fact: While humans are hardwired to learn spoken language innately, reading and writing are acquired skills that must be taught. It’s not easy! Children typically learn to read around 5 or 6 years of age, and it takes several more years for them to master these skills.
Today, we’re going to discuss emergent literacy, the language skills that infants and toddlers build that prepare them to be ready to read and write. Emergent literacy skills include building vocabulary, rhyming, matching letters to sounds (decoding), learning to follow the general plot of a story (story comprehension), and making inferences, which help children fill in the blanks and connect the dots in a story (and in life!).
Curious to know what emergent literacy skills your child should have at approximately what age? Here are some developmental milestones for emergent literacy skills:
From birth to age 3, most babies and toddlers become able to:
- Make sounds that imitate adults talking, participate in nonsense rhyming and word play
- Pretend to read books and participate in shared book reading with adults
- Understand how books should be handled (opened from right to left, read from left to right and top to bottom)
- Begin to pay attention to print such as the first letters of their names
- Scribble with a purpose (i.e., trying to “write” or draw something specific, even if it doesn’t look like it)
From ages 3-4, most preschoolers become able to:
- Desire to listen to and talk about stories
- Attempt to read and write
- Begin to match letters to sounds and identify familiar signs
- Play rhyming games
- Attempt to use letters to write out short messages (e.g, “Hi” and “I love you”), even if the letters aren’t always recognizable
Parent Involvement
So, how can parents help with the development of emergent literacy skills? The best way to support emergent literacy is through interactive book reading. Interactive book reading means you don’t just pick up a book and quickly read through it from start to finish. Instead, you allow the book to serve as a guide for different sorts of activities, including focusing on specific vocabulary words, discussing the pictures in the book, allowing your child to turn the pages, and discussing what’s happening in the book using whatever means of communication your child currently has (sounds, pointing, gestures, words). It’s completely OK if you don’t finish a book in one sitting, that is not the goal. Instead, observe what interests your child about the book, whether it’s certain pictures or colors or a specific character, and build off of that interest. Children always learn best when they are actively engaged and truly interested in what they are discussing. When you notice your child is focused on something specific in the book (e.g., a colorful picture of a dragon), you can make a comment or ask a question (e.g., “That dragon is big! That dragon is so colorful! I wonder if that dragon is friendly?”) to help maintain engagement and use it as a language learning opportunity.
In addition, parents can:
- Narrate your daily activities, such as cooking and bath time, labeling objects and asking and answering questions
- Talk about holidays and special activities (e.g., beach day) repeating new, specific vocabulary words
- Sing simple songs and make silly rhymes
- Read and reread picture and story books, especially ones that have rhymes or highlight sounds (e.g., Animal Alphabet, Dr. Seuss books) and exciting tactile/sensory qualities (Indestructibles, Lamaze soft books)
- Encourage your child to scribble and draw, then ask them to tell a story about what they drew.
Who is at risk?
The biggest risk factors for not developing emergent literacy skills adequately (and thus potential difficulty with learning to read and write later) include:
- Not being exposed to enough language or books in daily life from an early age (we call this the home literacy environment)
- A preschool child with a speech and/or language disorder
- Physical and medical conditions such as chronic ear infections, fetal alcohol syndrome or cerebral palsy
- Developmental disorders such as Autism and Intellectual Disability
- Poverty
- A family history of language or literacy disabilities
Early Warning Signs
Warning signs that your child is not developing emergent literacy skills at the expected rate include:
- Persistent baby talk
- A child who is not interested in nursery rhymes or shared book reading
- Difficulty understanding and following simple directions
- Difficulty learning the names of letters
- Difficulty recognizing letters in the child’s own name.
If you have any concerns about your child’s emergent literacy skills, a speech-language pathologist can help! Reach out to your local SLP to ask questions, get an assessment, and to participate in early intervention activities if necessary.
Helpful Links:
- Reading 101: A Guide for Parents
- Tips for parents, whether your child is just starting to speak or using complete sentences
- Video: Using Songs to Encourage Language Development
- Video: How to Read to Toddlers
Written by: Naguine Duncan, M.A., CCC-SLP, bilingual certification
References:
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.). Emergent literacy. Emergent Literacy. Retrieved November 29, 2021, from https://www.asha.org/public/
DeBruin-Parecki, A. with Perkinson, K. & Ferderer, L. (January, 2000). Helping Your Child Become A Reader. U.S. Department of Education.
Literacy in the early years: What children need to learn and how you can help them learn it. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2021, from http://www.hanen.org/helpful-
Literacy milestones: Birth to age 3. Reading Rockets. (2017, August 23). Retrieved November 29, 2021, from https://www.readingrockets.
Literacy milestones: Ages 3-4. Reading Rockets. (2017, August 23). Retrieved November 30, 2021, from https://www.readingrockets.