Building A Foundation For Literacy

Children become good readers when they have a strong foundation of early literacy.  It includes many opportunities such as playing with words, being exposed to stories, being aware of environment print (noticing signs and boxes with words in his environment), having conversations, talking about stories he has read, writing and reading lists and much much more.  Regardless of the language you speak, having a rich vocabulary is a key ingredient for raising a smart and capable child.

You can begin by exposing your child to elements of literacy daily. Make him read books on different topics, from children stories to astronomy or even Philippine history.  Even if your child is just flipping through the books, chances are, he is still taking in information and processing it.

Singing songs, reading poems and nursery rhymes also helps build vocabulary and increase pronunciation and grammar skills.  You and your child can also act out scenes from a favorite book can bring the story to life, making it more exciting for your child to read more books in the future. The more enthusiastic your child gets enthusiastic about reading, the more he or she will be fluent with the language.

Parents can also increase their child’s literacy by supporting his or her phonological awareness. You can read stories out load, sing songs or have regular conversations so that they may be more familiar with words and how they are pronounced. Start with rhyming words as they are more fun to say and hear for children.

Be sure to also give opportunities for your child to write down letters and some familiar words. This way, he or she can be more familiar with how each letter looks and how they can be written. You can provide a notebook where your kid can scribble new letters or words he is learning each day.

Always remember to praise your child whenever he or she makes small triumphs in language. When he recognizes the letter E on entrance signs in the grocery store, tell him he did a great job. You can even make it more fun by playing a game and asking you child to name the other letters in the words.