LETTER KNOWLEDGE: knowing that letters are different from each other, that they have different names and sounds. To read written words, children must understand that they are made up of individual letters and that each letter has its own name and sound.

What can parents do to help children learn about letters?

Learning to tell one letter from another involves being able to see differences in letter shapes. Helping your child learn about different shapes and understand how things are alike and different will help prepare them to learn the alphabet.

• For babies and toddlers, hang mobiles with different shapes in your baby’s crib. Read books that feature geometric shapes like White on White and Black on Black by Tana Hoban. Babies also like to look at human faces. Point out the shapes of toys: This ball is round. (Help your baby or toddler feel the rounded shape.) This block has corners. Use simple puzzles to help children see different shapes. Read alphabet books and sing alphabet songs to introduce children to letters.
• As your child gets older, continue to point out the shapes of toys and other objects. Talk about how things are alike and different. Use simple puzzles to help children see different shapes. Read alphabet books and sing alphabet songs to introduce children to letters. Play with magnetic letters or make letters from play dough. Talk about the letters that are most interesting to your child – like the first letter of his or her name. If your child’s name begins with “T,” help your child find the letter T on signs, food boxes, mail and on other objects. When you find a word that begins with the letter T, say the word and have your child repeat. Ask what else begins with T. Repeat this activity using the beginning letters of other things your child likes. Let your child see his name written; let him write letters using thick crayons or pencils.

You will find a wide variety of great books to help you help your child learn about letters at your public library.

 Phonological Awareness: the ability to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words. Young children are much better at hearing different sounds (also called phonemes) than adults. This is why children are wired for learning multiple languages in the early years. Being able to hear the beginning and ending sounds that make up words will help children sound out words when they begin to read and break the code between written language (letters) and spoken language (sounds).

What can parents do to help babies and toddlers hear and play with the smaller sounds in words?

• One of the best – and most enjoyable – ways is to say nursery rhymes and sing songs. Hearing words that rhyme helps your child learn that words are made up of smaller parts.  
• Songs have a different note for each syllable, which helps children break down words. Sing throughout the day, as you do routines such as bathing, dressing, putting toys away, etc. Make up your own songs too. If you are using tapes or CDs with songs or rhymes, look for versions that repeat and that are a little slower in pacing for babies and toddlers. Library staff can suggest books, tapes and CDs that your baby or toddler will enjoy.
• Most children who have difficulty reading have trouble with phonological awareness. It’s important to help develop this skill in four- and five-year olds so they are ready to learn to read when they begin school. Phonological awareness includes:
  • The ability to say whether or not two words rhyme (cat and bat; dog and cat)
  • The ability to say words with sound or word chunks left out (ti-ger without the ti = ger)
  • The ability to put two word chunks together to make a word (tie + ger = tiger)
  • The ability to say one-syllable words without the first sound (bat – buh = at)
• Read books with alliteration like Aster Aardvark’s Alphabet Adventures by Steven Kellogg, and tongue twisters like Busy Buzzing Bumble Bees and Other Tongue Twisters by Alvin Schwartz.
• Play games like “I Spy”. “I spy something black that rhymes with (or sounds like) sat. What is it? CAT.”

Visit your public library often with your child. You’ll find lots of great books and other materials to help make learning phonological awareness fun!

Print Awareness is noticing print everywhere; knowing how to handle a book; knowing how we follow the words on a page.Why is print awareness important?

• Children must become aware of words before they can read them.
• They also must be familiar with how books work: books have a cover, you begin reading at the top of the page and from left to right (in English), books have words and pictures to tell the story. We read the text/print on the page, not the pictures.
• When children feel comfortable with books, they can concentrate on reading.

How can parents help children notice print and understand how books work?

• Let your child turn the pages as you read a book
• As you read, point to words from time to time so your child learns you are reading text, not the pictures
• Hold book up-side-down and see if the child knows it has to be turned around.
• If a book has a word or phrase that repeats, point to it on the page and let the child say it, and you point to the words
• Have your child make a book; talk about the different parts: cover, words, pictures, beginning, middle, end
• Print is everywhere-help your preschooler recognize it: names of restaurants and stores, food, movies, stop signs and street signs and other types of print that you see as you walk and drive.

Narrative skills: the ability to describe things and events and tell stories. Being able to talk about and explain what happens in a story helps a child understand the meaning of what he or she is reading. Good narrative skills lead to good reading comprehension!What can parents do to help children develop narrative skills?

Vocabulary is knowing the names of things 

Why is it important for children to hear a wide range of vocabulary and to expose them to many words?

• Children need to know the meaning of words to understand what they are reading.
• The more words children hear, the more ready they will be to make connections when they read. You know if you are reading a word correctly if you have heard it before. 

What can parents do to help your child learn vocabulary?

• Read together every day, even if it’s for a short time. Books have unfamiliar words that will increase your child’s vocabulary.
• Talk about the story & pictures as you read so your child hears more words.
• Talk about what is going on around you and your child. The grocery store, for example, is a great place to learn lots of vocabulary–first the names of various items, then colors, shapes, etc.
• For two to three year olds, talk about feelings–yours and your child’s. As they grow older, talk about how things work, feelings and ideas.
• Ask lots of questions. A baby or toddler can’t answer yet, but she learns that questions are invitations for her to respond. When your child begins to speak to you, listen to what she says and add more detail.
• Speak in the language that is most comfortable for you so that your child hears language spoken fluently. This allows you to explain many things that you might not be able to do in English.  By learning concepts and discussing thoughts and ideas, the child is exercising his mind. Then he will be able to translate what he knows when he gets to school, rather than having to learn both the concept and the English word at the same time.

Print Motivation is a child’s interest in and enjoyment of books.

Why is it important for children to find books interesting and enjoyable?Children who enjoy books and reading will be curious about how to read. They will read more.  Studies show that when the interaction around a book is negative (sit still; listen; harsh language) then the young child likes reading and books less.  He associates the negative interaction with the book and reading. When the experience of sharing a book is pleasurable for both the parent and the child, the child will be more attentive and responsive. The more pleasurable book sharing is, the more regular and frequent an activity it will become.[Source: Adriana Bus, Jay Belsky, Marinus H. van IJzendoorn, Keith Crnic. “Attachment and Bookreading  Patterns: A Study of Mothers, Fathers, and Their Toddlers,” Early Childhood Research Quarterly 12,81-98 (1997)] What can parents do to help children enjoy books and want to read more?

• Read often and make it enjoyable–even if it’s just for a few minutes at a time. 
• Make sure you and your child are in good moods, so the experience is a positive one.
• Stop reading when your child becomes tired or loses interest. A few enjoyable minutes at a time is fine–and much better than a longer unhappy time!
• Let your child see you reading.
• Visit your public library often!

Nursery rhymes can pack a lot of concepts into just a few words! This one includes counting, addition and colors, as well as the idea that baby chickens come from eggs.

TEN FLUFFY CHICKS

Five eggs and five eggs                                

hold up five fingers and five fingers

That makes ten.                                              

wiggle all ten fingers

Sitting on top is the mother hen                     

lock fingers together, knuckles up

Crackle, crackle, crackle, what do I see?       

clap hand

Ten fluffy chicks, as yellow as can be.          

hold up ten fingers and wiggle them! 

Lots of children’s songs use the same tune with different words. This time the tune for “Down by the Station” becomes a farm song. You and your child can have lots of fun making up new words for all kinds of songs. What animals besides baby chicks could you feed on a farm?

OVER IN THE BARNYARD

(To the tune of “Down by the Station”)

Over in the barnyard        

            do “over there” gesture with your thumb over your shoulder

Early in the morning        

            hold your hand over your mouth and pretend to yawn

See the little baby chicks

All in a row                      

            hold up five fingers of one hand and wiggle them a bit

See the busy farmer

Scattering their breakfast

            pretend to scatter chicken feed with your other hand

Peck, peck                        

            hold your fingers together and place your thumb below to form a “beak” and make pecking motions in the palm of your other hand

Cheep, cheep                                      

            open and close your “beak”

Off they go                                        

            hide the hand representing the five chicks behind your back

We use a mitt with this rhyme–a gardening glove with little teddies glued to the fingertips. It’s fine to do it without the mitt. Try taping pictures of bears to your fingertips, or to your child’s!

Five little bears

Five little bears went out to play,                               

All on a sunny summer’s day.                                      

One bear left ‘cause his paws got sore.                  

How many little bears are left? Just four.                  

Four little bears went out to play,                              

All on a sunny summer’s day. 

One bear went to climb a tree.                                   

How many little bears are left? Just three.               

Three little bears went out to play,

All on a sunny summer’s day.

One bear left to do something new.

How many little bears are left? Just two. 

Two little bears went out to play,

All on a sunny summer’s day.

One little bear took a nap in the sun,

How many little bears are left?  Just one. 

One little bear went out to play,

All on a sunny summer’s day.

He went home to have some fun.

How many little bears are left?  None!  

Some of the words in nursery rhymes may seem pretty crazy, but that’s part of the fun. Hearing and repeating nursery rhymes lays a foundation for language skills. The sing-song cadence and bouncing or clapping to the beat of the words helps to emphasize the syllables and the individual sounds that make up words. Your baby develops Phonological Awareness without even knowing it!

TO MARKET, TO MARKET

(a knee-trotting rhyme)

 To market, to market,

To buy a fat pig,

Home again, home again,

Jiggety-jigTo market, to market,

To buy a fat hog,

Home again, Home again,

Jiggety-jog.

To market, to market,

To buy a plum bun,

Home again, home again,

Marketing’s done.