As stated in the book Learning to Read the World: Language and Literacy in the First Three Years published by Zero to Three: “For infants and toddlers, the beginning of literacy may not look much like reading or writing. Instead, beginning literacy appears in activities such as pretend play, drawing and conversations about books with the closest personal relations, their family (McLane & McNamee, 1990).”
So, before your child can speak, read and write any language she must first hear it and begin to understand the use of symbols and sequencing. These early literacy skills are learned when your child plays, for example:
- When parents and caregivers talk to infants modeling sounds such as “Ma Ma” or Da Da” or read the same books over and over again to infants they begin to mimic the sounds they hear and begin to associate that sound with a person or a picture they see in a book.
- A toddler who picks up a block, puts it up to his ear and has a conversation as if he’s on the telephone is beginning to understand that one thing can represent another.
The use of symbols, an important early literacy skill, is the first step towards understanding that letters and words are symbols for sounds and objects.
Pretend play becomes a big part of your toddler’s day. They begin to tell stories through their actions and words:
- A child pretending to be Mommy will pick up a doll and say “crying,” find a bottle and begin to feed the baby and then say “all done.”
- While playing restaurant a child will take a piece of paper and crayon, stand at the table, say “what do you want” to the person and make marks on the paper.
Toddlers are creating an order of events. This early literacy skill is needed to begin to understand the concept of sequencing where there’s a beginning, middle and end of a conversation, sentence, story, etc.
All of these experiences, which happen naturally during play, have a profound connection to your child’s development so always remember the importance of play.
Dawn Daniello is the Infant Toddler Manager of the Child Care Council of Nassau, Inc.
Enhance Language and Future Literacy Skills:
- Talk to your child – describe what you’re doing, describe what they’re doing and ask your child to describe what they see.
- Read and explore books – open the book, turn the pages and read, read, read.
- Encourage and participate in their pretend play.Give as many opportunities to draw and scribble using fingers or sticks in sand and dirt; thick crayons and markers on paper or chalk on the sidewalk. This enhances their ability and understanding of how lines connect to make shapes and eventually words.
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