Literacy Tips

LITERACY TIPS

The following are tips for working with your child at home. These are excerpts from the International Reading Association. For additional suggestions and ideas for practicing reading and writing at home, you may visit their website at www.reading.org.

Literacy Begins at Home

Children who are exposed to literacy early and often are likely to become better readers and writers than those who lack this exposure, so look for opportunities to fill your child’s world with print—books, magazines, charts, letters, drawings, and words of any kind. Encourage your child’s emergent literacy by talking about words, pictures, and ideas. Read together and write messages and stories for each other.

Writing

Support your children’s literacy development by making writing a part of everyday life: Have them print their names on cards and letters, write or draw thank-you notes to a family member, and help write the grocery list. Look especially for opportunities to link writing activities to reading. Proficiency in both improves each time your child grips a pencil and strives to print his or her name.

Spelling

As children begin to sound out words, they often invent spelling. For example, your child might write kat instead of cat. Don’t panic and go overboard correcting the spelling. Research shows that children who use invented spelling become better spellers later on than children who are pressured to be “correct” from the start.
-International Reading Association