Did you know that a child’s vocabulary at age 3 predicts their reading development achievement in 3rd grade?
Similarly, when children struggle to read in 4th grade, they are four times more likely to drop out of high school. Does this mean that children who are disadvantaged in early childhood can never catch up? No, because the brain remains malleable throughout the lifetime, but the fact is that children who are read to, sung to, talked to, and listened to from a young age develop bigger vocabularies, become better readers and are more likely to succeed in school. It’s far easier to reach children starting from birth with quality early literacy learning experiences than to try and catch them up later.
In this handout, you will find:
- Book recommendations for preschool age children and how to incorporate singalongs, wordless card decks, diverse books and more into storytime.
- The 5 daily activities to help support literacy.
- The 6 basic skills that help determine whether a child will be ready to learn to read and write.
- A Literary Experiences Planner template to help integrate the daily activities and basic skills needed to teach literacy in the classroom.
