Early Literacy Skills: Do You See What I See?

High atop a hotel overlooking Atlanta’s cityscape, my toddler and I peered out the picture window in our room. We were staying overnight, so we could pick up my nephew/her cousin, Ryan, from the airport early the next morning.

“Wow. We’re up high, aren’t we?” I said.

“Yes, way up!” little Darby replied. 

“Do you see what I see?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said, tapping the glass with her chubby little finger.

I watched as yet another impressive jet took off into the skies over the busy international airport.

“What do you see?” I prompted again.

“I see an ‘M.” ‘M’ is for McDonald’s,” she crowed with delight.

While that was not the answer I was looking for, I soon located that all-too-familiar yellow beacon of enlightenment. Airplanes were not on the radar for my little redheaded 2½-year-old, but those golden arches certainly were. They signified French fries and catsup, friends and indoor playgrounds – where the slides were never too hot and fire ants were banned. (Outdoor playgrounds harbor some cruel foes in the South in the heat of summer.)

While Darby had not been impressed by the modern marvel of aeronautics, I was happy to realize she associated the letter “M” to something beyond the shape on her wooden puzzle at home. It was a sign that her reading readiness skills were moving along. Soon she recognized the letter “D.”  “D is for Darby,” “W is for window” and “B is for ball.”

We had labeled items in our house with big brightly lettered words on card stock for our 4-year-old, who was fascinated with words and reading. While our household décor was not the traditional picture of loveliness portrayed in “Southern Living” magazine, witnessing the blossoming of intellect, curiosity and love for language in my two daughters was truly beautiful.

Developing Early Literacy Skills

Name that Object. Developing a child’s vocabulary will assist him when he starts to learn to read. Talk to your children from the time they are newborns. “Look at the balloon.” “Here is your bottle.” “The dog is barking.” “See my buttons?” “Where is Mommy’s nose?”  Later, introduce the concepts of big and little, happy and sad and other vocabulary and concept-builders.

Ask and Do Tell. Talk to your children. Ask them questions. Ask them to describe what they have seen. Model conversation, using animated narrative words. And, please, please embrace the question “Why?” Kids may get fixated on this word, but it’s a natural tool to explore their exciting world. So, while it may wear on your last nerve when you are exhausted, see it for what it is. An opportunity! A teaching moment handed to you on a golden platter!

Joyful Reading. Reading time should be a highlight of the day. Make sure your child’s mood is right, the topic is appealing and the time spent with reading material is tailored to your child’s attention span. If Johnny is full of the dickens, it’s yard time, not book time. If Sally is interested in the computer, use online children’s picture books or games to pique her interest.

Make bedtime stories a positive culmination of a structured bedtime routine. We made books a happy part of the morning routine, too. In our house, a cloth or board book would “appear” in the middle of the night at the end of their crib or bed. Soon happy babbling could be heard from the baby monitor each morning when they found their prizes. I remember hearing my 3-year-old reading to “Mother Teddy,” her prized comfort item, with my husband’s voice inflections. Priceless!

A is for Apple. Play alphabet games in the car. Use magnetic letters on the refrigerator. Put together an alphabet puzzle. Let them feel cloth letters and Velcro them to a felt board. Sing songs emphasizing the sounds letters make. (Silly rhymes are usually a big hit.) Use finger paint or chalk to form giant letters. Read ABC books; there are a million out there. This will help with letter knowledge, an important pre-reading skill.

Monkey See, Monkey Do. Model literacy in your home. Reading parents beget reading offspring. Go to the library. Incorporate adult and kid reading time in your day. Keep kid-friendly books accessible in a basket or on a child-level shelf. Switch them out often to keep things fresh. Use other media including educational videos, board games and educational computer software. Show your little ones how to hold books, turn the pages and follow along with their fingers.

Print Awareness. Read the stop sign on your street’s corner every time you drive by. Read the “Beware of Dog” sign when you walk past the barking dog in the neighbor’s yard. Point out a sport team’s name and logo. Read the “Exit” sign over the door at church. Tap familiar high-frequency words when reading favorite books together. And, yes, point out the “M” when you are at McDonald’s.