Denver Public Library

Literacy in the Library

TOOLS FOR INSPIRING YOUNG PEOPLE TO BECOME LIFELONG READERS AND LEARNERS

Early Literacy

6 Early Literacy Skills

February/March 2010

 

Sharing language with your child at every opportunity is the secret to success!

Early literacy is what children know about reading and writing before they can actually read or write. The 6 Early Literacy Skills help prepare your child for success in school and lead to prosperity and happiness later in life!

What are those 6 early literacy skills?

Vocabulary - knowing the names of things. Helpful activities:

  • Name everything you see on a walk
  • Name the items in the grocery store
  • Identify shapes

Print Motivation - a child's interest in and enjoyment of books. Helpful activities:

  • Cuddle up with your child and read a book together
  • Attend a library story time
  • Read a book about your child's favorite interest

Print Awareness - noticing print everywhere; knowing how to handle a book, knowing how we follow the words on a page. Helpful activities:

  • Point to the title of a book as you read it
  • Have your child hold the book as you read it
  • Let your child explore a book on their own

Narrative Skills - being able to understand and tell stories and being able to describe things. Helpful activities:

  • Tell your baby a story
  • Have your child tell a favorite story
  • Retell a story together after you read it

Letter Knowledge - learning that letters are different from each other, that each letter has a name, and that specific sounds go with specific letters. Helpful activities:

  • Sing the alphabet song
  • Tell your child how his or her name is spelled
  • Point out letters on signs

Phonological Awareness - the ability to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words. Helpful activities:

  • Sing a song together
  • Read a poem together
  • Talk to your child in words that rhyme

There are so many things you can do with young children to help them enjoy language, books and reading. Patience and kindness are key to interacting with your child around language. Here are a few tips to empower your child to communicate with you:

  • Sit at the child’s level and maintain eye contact
  • Ask questions in words they can understand in a calm, soft voice
  • Concentrate on what your child is saying
  • Notice how the child feels

See the Newsletter Archive and Babble, Scribble, READ! for ideas and activities that promote these language skills.

Sign up for the Literacy Newsletter!

 

 

Related Links

Babble, Scribble, READ!
Early Literacy Skills

BookBuzz
Children's Books, Reviews

Homework Help
Ask a Librarian, Encyclopedias and more

6 Early Literacy Skills (PDF)

Grown-ups' Resources

Newsletters and RSS

Sign up for our newsletters

Subscribe to DPL Newsletters in your RSS Reader.Subscribe to DPL Newsletters

What's This?Subscribe to DPL Newsletters

Newsletter Archive

March/April 2008

April/May 2008

May/June 2008

June/July 2008

July/August 2008

August/September 2008

September/October 2008

October/November 2008

November/December 2008

December 2008/January 2009

January/February 2009

February/March 2009

March/April 2009

April/May 2009

May/June 2009

June/July 2009

July/August 2009

August/September 2009

October/November 2009

November/December 2009

December 2009/January 2010