Preschool reading and writing is a time for experimenting...
Preschool reading and writing is an exciting time. Preschoolers love to try out new ideas over and over again and discover how they work.
Three-year-old Christopher is well into the experimental reading and writing stage. Here are some characteristics of his learning:
He
loves books. He wants someone to read books to him every
chance he gets. He will choose the same book over and over again or
books about the same topic. For instance, he has checked out every book
the library has on construction vehicles and he has practically
memorized them all. (Did you know that excavators have crawler tracks
and outriggers? I didn't until Christopher told me.)- Christopher is excited about learning letters. He knows quite a bit about the alphabet. He can sing the ABC song (with el-em-en-o-pe in the middle, of course). He can name the upper case letters and most of the lower case ones. He knows some sounds.
- Christopher can recognize his written name and the names of his family members. He can write the C for his name, though it sometimes sits sideways more like a U.
- He can "read" books. He turns the pages the correct way, points to the words, and makes up a story that follows the pictures.
- He can also "write". He often writes short little lines or squiggles in a row for his words. Sometimes he puts spaces in his writing to show the word boundaries.
- Christopher can rhyme words and he can break words apart into syllables. He can sometimes break off the first sound of the word.
Like Christopher, children at the preschool reading and writing stage are continually making discoveries about printed language. They notice that the letters are repeated over and over again. For example. there is a letter C in the beginning of Carmen, the middle of Ricky, and the end of Marc. Then they learn that every word that starts with the letter F also starts with the /f/ sound. This is an amazing discovery! There is a pattern here--this is a code that can be figured out!
They also continue to expand their oral language. Children learn to retell stories, ask questions, and use specialized literacy language such as "Dear Grandma" or "he said". Language play also is crucial at this stage. Children learn to recognize, break apart, and put together words and sentences, rhymes, and syllables. Then they learn to hear and use even smaller pieces of language--individual sounds or phonemes.
Preschool reading is full of pretending to do everything grownups do. Children make lists and pay bills. They type emails and write letters. They read books and menus and advertisements. They know that print language is all about communication, so they are sure that they can communicate too. They keep trying until they find something that works!
In this stage, since children are really aware of the big aspects of print language, they can begin to pay attention to smaller details. Because of this, their skills can grow quite rapidly if they are given opportunities and support to learn.
Skills
What is important to help children learn at the preschool reading stage? First, a supportive atmosphere full of engaging activities where they can discover. However, just being in the right environment is not enough.
There are a few early skills that help children prepare for more formal reading and writing. To be very clear, we are not advocating sitting young children down to have a formal lesson or practice skills. Preschool reading and writing must be full of fun! This is the basis for discovering. But by themselves, children will likely not discover all of the things that they need to become readers and writers.
Children benefit from some guidance and help in the preschool reading process. And there are many appropriate (and fun) ways to help young children learn. If we understand what the important skills are and how to help children develop them, there are many opportunities throughout each day that we can support and guide children along the path of learning.
There are six skill areas that are important for early literacy development in the preschool reading process.
Note: A child may be at one stage of development for one skill and a different stage for another skill. It is natural for children to learn different things at different paces. Pay attention to what the child can do and what the child seems ready to learn. This gives the best indication of which level the child is on.
Sight Words
Vocabulary and Oral Language
Concepts About Print
For all of the stages of emergent literacy, click on the links below:
Awareness and Exploration
Early Reading and Writing
Transitional Reading and Writing
Competent Reading and Writing
