Supporting Literacy Development from Birth to Age 5
Children typically begin to read around age 5 or 6 years old. However, literacy skills do not begin then. Language and literacy skills begin at birth as a child learns to communicate in their new environment. Early communication skills, or language skills, create the foundation for later literacy skills. A child cannot learn to read… Read more »
Attention: Critical Foundation to Build Communication Skills
One of the foundational skills needed for communication development is attention. Attention can be broken down into different categories. The three broad categories that Patten and Watson (2011) categorized attention into are the following: Orienting attention: physically adjusting to a stimulus. Ex: gaze shift or head turn. Sustaining attention: maintaining attention to a stimulus. Shifting… Read more »
Connection Between Spoken Language and Literacy
The experiences with talking and listening gained during the preschool years prepare children to learn to read and write during the early elementary school years. This means that children who enter school with weaker verbal abilities are much more likely to experience difficulties learning literacy skills than those who do not (Roth, Paul, & Pierotti, … Read more »
The Development of Print Knowledge
Children start to learn language from the day they are born. As they grow and develop so do their speech and language skills. They learn to understand and use language to express their thoughts, ideas, and feelings to communicate with others. During this stage of early speech and language development, children also learn skills that… Read more »