Literacy Development

Literacy is most commonly understood as reading and writing, but before children can read and write, they need to learn about sounds, words, language, books and stories.

Parents have a vital role to play in helping children with early literacy development.

Encouraging Literacy Development

The growth of literacy skills is a vital part of your child’s overall development.

It’s the foundation for doing well at school, socialising with others, developing independence, managing money and working.

But before your child learns to read and write, he needs to develop the building blocks for literacy – the ability to speak, listen, understand, watch and draw.

With time, and your support, your child will also come to understand the connection between letters on a page and spoken sounds.

For this to happen, she’ll need plenty of experience with:

pictures and objects – how you can use words to talk about them

letters and words – their shapes, sounds and names

sounds – how words can rhyme, begin and end with the same letters, be broken up into parts (for example, syllables), be formed by blending different sounds, and so on.

This will prepare your child for school, when he starts learning the more formal aspects of literacy.

You can help your child’s literacy development by communicating with her, reading with her and teaching her about sounds in ways that are fun for both of you.