Preparing Young Children for Reading
What is preliteracy and why should we care?
Preliteracy skills are what children know about reading and writing before they learn how to read and write (Noyes Library Foundation). We know that children with hearing loss are at a greater risk for deficits in early literacy skills which is why building a strong foundation in the early years is so important to developing successful readers. Helping babies and young children with hearing loss develop preliteracy skills will promote reading readiness and help prevent future reading difficulties (Advanced Bionics, 2017).
Tips for building preliteracy skills
Here are 6 preliteracy skills and simple ideas that can help prepare your child to read and write themselves!
Print motivation: Early exposure to books builds curiosity. This helps increase a child’s desire to want to learn how to read themselves. 
- Have books within reach. Keep books accessible and low on shelves so your baby can play with them anytime.
- Follow your child’s interests.
- Let your child “read” pages that interest them, even if out of order.
- Talk about what you see in the pictures and don’t feel pressured to read every word.
- Consider multicultural children’s books to provide a diverse book collection
Print awareness: Children need awareness of print in their environment before they can read words. Print is everywhere! Print awareness gets children ready to develop letter/sound connection and become successful readers.
- Show your child print in their environment such as street signs, clothing, license plates, recipes, mail, magazines, and newspapers.
- Read books together.
- Teach your child how to hold a book and identify the cover.
- Let the child help turn pages.
- Point to words as you read.
- Point out the author’s and illustrator’s names.
- Check out Silly Ways to Teach Print Awareness
Letter knowledge: This is the ability to learn the names of letters and the sounds they make. To read, children need to understand that individual letters and sounds make up words. Learning the names of shapes is also considered to be a part of letter/character knowledge. This helps their ability to sequence letters and remember the forms of written words.
- Look at and talk about different shapes.
- Explore the alphabet with refrigerator magnets or bath letters.
- Talk about and draw the letters of your child's name.
- Write letters with chalk on the sidewalk, draw in the sand, or make letters from playdough.
Vocabulary: Reading books exposes children to a variety of words not always used in everyday conversations. A strong vocabulary is helps children understand print and builds reading comprehension.
- Talk to your child about everything they are doing and seeing.
- Take walks and talk about what you see.
- Sing songs.
- Explain the meaning of new words.
- Use open ended questions rather than asking yes/no questions.
- Point to and name pictures to help your child learn words.
- Talk about how pictures of objects can be grouped (e.g. animals, fruit, vehicles, etc.).
Phonological awareness: Children who can hear individual sounds in words will be more successful at learning how to sound out words when they start to read. This is the foundation for learning to read.
- Sing songs.
- Recite nursery rhymes.
- Play with tongue twisters.
- Pick a sound for the day and find things that start with that sound.
- Notice sound at the beginning and end of words.
- Practice clapping syllables.
- Use alphabet refrigerator magnets or bath toys to manipulate sounds.
Narrative Skills: Children who can retell stories and describe events demonstrate their understanding of what is read. These skills help children learn story structure, predict what will happen in a story, understand what they read, and build critical thinking skills.
- Ask your child open-ended questions that encourage conversations rather than yes/no questions.
- Talk about your day and its series of events.
- Mix up the events in a story; make it silly!
- Read stories without words.
- Name objects, feelings, and events.
- Encourage your child to tell or draw their own stories.
- Keep a picture journal of the things you and your family have done to encourage story telling after the event is over. Your child will be excited to have a book that is all about their own experiences!
References:
Advanced Bionics (2017). Using Books to Develop Preliteracy Skills in Babies and Toddlers. Tools for Toddlers.
The Noyes Children’s Library Foundation. ABC’s of Early Literacy. Retrieved on June 30th from noyeslibraryfoundation.org.
Runnion, E., Gray, S. (2019). What clinicians need to know about early literacy development in children with hearing loss. Language Speech and Hearing Sciences in Schools, 50, 16-33.
CC Chan, MA, CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert AVT
Ashley Ryals, MA, CCC-SLP
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