Category: Reading & Literacy

Literacy development is an area of focus that continues to evolve through research. So, we need to use the study’s findings and create practical ways of developing literacy in young children, namely toddlers and preschoolers. 

To do this, here are a few suggestions that you can put to use to promote the development of literacy and thus strengthening that connection in the early and formative years of your child. 

Create A Rich Environment That Promotes Literacy 

The environment that you provide to your toddler or preschooler impacts their literacy development. This is why you need to cultivate an environment that is rich in the promotion of literacy. 

To do this, you can take simple steps, such as purchasing children’s books. Take it a step further by taking your child to your local library to help your child generate an interest in reading. 

Apart from that, you can also purchase subscriptions to magazines as well as newspapers. You can even provide reading material that we find and handle daily, such as menus, checks, and even greeting cards. 

Make Use Of Nursery Rhymes 

A great way to promote literacy development within your toddler and preschooler is to use things that they would be interested in naturally, such as nursery rhymes. 

To do this, you can simply add in a basic plot, a central character, and even a simple storyline to your child’s favorite nursery rhyme. 

The same technique applies to your child’s favorite book. This will strengthen their language abilities and even help your child understand and grow their capacity to listen. 

Create An Accepting Atmosphere 

You need to create an atmosphere that is both accepting and warm by taking simple steps, such as answering your child’s request when reading their favorite books. 

You should also enthusiastically respond to their comments and questions regarding text they see inside the house and the outside, such as road signs, menus, packages, and more. You should also make items, such as papers, pencils, crayons, markers, and more available for your child to use.  

Capitalize On Their Interests

Go on short trips with your child, all of which will be related to developing their interest in reading, such as going to a book fair or even your local library. 

Concluding Thoughts

In the past, preparations for the ability to read were known as reading readiness. However, this has changed as a new term has emerged, that is, emergent literacy. This term defines reading development as a continuous exercise to promote literacy development in your toddler and preschooler.

Teaching your child how to read and write should start at an early age. Luckily, there are many entertaining practices, so acquiring these skills doesn’t have to burden them. When they start school, your child will most likely be subjected to some research-based reading programs. 

This should help young children relate written language to spoken language. Research-based instruction consists of a few components that should be adapted to students with different needs. 

Expanding Written and Oral Language

This approach’s main advantage is that children will get an opportunity to hear about themselves and what surrounds them through oral language. Being confident with the sound of particular letters and the pronunciation of words goes a long way for enhanced reading comprehension. 

Some entertaining and compelling practices are singing songs/chants and opening debates on hot topics that children can understand. This is a fantastic method to expand their vocabulary while raising their interest in active speaking and listening. The same goes for enhancing the use of written language. 

When working with young students, it is vital to educate them on how written language is everywhere and how it is interconnected with spoken language. Once again, there are several excellent activities to practice this, such as educating your students on how to properly read a book, discussing the meanings of specific phrases, and focusing on writing patterns that they can memorize.

Understand Stories and Manipulate the Building Components

Why is reading stories out loud so important? It presents children with an opportunity to find out about new experiences and concepts and to improve their vocabulary in the process. Furthermore, as a parent, you should use specific words’ building blocks and guide your children to identify and create their patterns/rhymes. 

This is a fantastic method of teaching them that phrases consist of several words. The same goes for writing practices, as quizzing your students on letter names and allowing them to write their sentences early on is an excellent way of promoting fluency and basic writing skills.

Reflecting and Decoding Stories

The main reason why reading is so essential for improving both oral and written language is that it allows children to understand that it isn’t just words on a paper. On the contrary, most stories have a deeper meaning and incorporate messages to better understand life. 

With this in mind, it is essential to allow your students self-selected reading time. During this period, they can choose stories or books that interest them and have fun decoding the word patterns and analytically thinking about what they read.

Concluding Thoughts

In the end, we can’t deny the advantages of research-based reading for the development of oral and written language. Although it is something that educators primarily integrate into first to third-grade classrooms, our opinion is that it can be beneficial for older students.

Phonics blending or consonant blending can be used to improve the overall speed at which students learn to read. This is a proven strategy that can be used for all ages of learners.

Next, we will show you how this can improve overall reading speed and be used as a method to help students learn to read quicker.

What Is Phonics Blending?

Phonics blending is when two consonants that are next to each other in a word have distinct sounds when you say the word. A good example is the word blend, which has the “b” and the “l” next to each other, but their individual sounds can be distinguished.

In this instance, you will say the “bl” sound, meaning you are blending them together to help form the word “blend“. This is also the case for the last two letters in the word – the “n” and the “d” blend together to help form the word.

The “bl” and “nd” are both consonant blends that help form the complete word.

How To Teach This Method

When the teacher wants to use this method to teach children consonant blending, they can do the following:

• Write the example word on the board, such as “and“.
• Now, the students can see the word, which is helpful.
• Then, say every letter separately by pointing at them individually and sounding them out – “a“, “n“, “d.”
• After this, blend the sounds together while pointing at each sound and slowly saying the word.
• The next step is to point your finger at the word and say it out loud.
• Finally, you can let the students repeat what you did both in a group and individually to see if they understand the method.

You can also use flashcards by writing the word on them and letting the students identify each letter sound. This method can be easily used with remote learning, and you can also record the lesson for future reference and reminders.

Why Phonics Blending Works

Through research, it has been found that this method provides the student with an excellent strategy to approach new words that they will encounter in the future. It is also found that students using this strategy are more prone to read words correctly when they first encounter them.

This consonant blending method will be a good motivational method for students who are struggling to read.

Concluding Thoughts

As you can see, phonics blending is a proven strategy that will help students avoid common reading errors, and it will improve their reading. The great thing about this method is that it is adaptable and can be used for online learning and the classroom.

You keep learning about new words every other day. Whether you read it somewhere or someone says it to you. As a child, you’re susceptible to more of these situations as teachers and everyone around you are trying to help you learn about more words. While it might seem like a difficult thing to do, it doesn’t have to be. 

There are a couple of strategies for vocabulary to implement to expand the word knowledge. It is more important for parents and instructors to help children grasp new strategies to learn more words and concepts to build their vocabulary. Proper curriculum mapping can help implement the strategies better. 

Vocabulary Paint Chips

The first one is the vocabulary paint chips strategy. Here, there is a focus on mixing learning through color play. You need to get a hold of paint chips or strips that you can get from any hardware store. 

Now, this strategy requires two basic things from you. One part is to find one colored paint strips and spell words on this. 

Then, on the other colors, you can write the different variations of the same word. For instance, the versions of illuminate, such as illumination and illuminating. Now, on other colors of the paint strips, you can add the synonyms of the words. 

So, for illuminate, the synonym would be brighten or enlighten. Add the element of positive reinforcement with this, and you will see children using this method for their learning. 

Semantic Gradients

The other method to incorporate for your child’s learning is the semantic gradients. This is a method through which your child not only learns more words but they are also able to understand their meanings better. Using sight words is one way to do this as well. 

The way that semantic gradients work is by giving students one word to relate to another word. These words come in different degrees and shades of meaning to help children understand them better. 

They are given a range of words to decipher, which works well with the word you have given them. Typically, children work in groups to enhance this learning better than ever. 

Concluding Thoughts

It isn’t easy to get children to learn more about words. However, using the right strategies can help ensure that your child can expand their word knowledge correctly. Using education apps and more can help in this process better. 

You will find vocabulary paint chips and semantic gradients strategies to help your children get a better grip on more expansive words than ever before. Plan it all out so that you can incorporate these in their learning for the better.