Easy Early Literacy Activities for Preschool and Why should I Teach It?

Are you looking for early literacy activities for preschool? If so, you are in the right place!

 

I have a passion for promoting early literacy! That’s why I created Love, Ashley E. Through my work as an educator I strive to help children succeed with reading, writing, and spelling. As a mom of two young boys, I know that the benefits of early literacy will help them succeed in all of these skills. 

 

But enough about me! Let’s talk about why you are here and the easy ways you can start building early literacy activities at home on a daily basis. 

 

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Doing things you are already doing with your kids like going to the store, riding in the car, or even taking a walk outside. 

 

Did you think I was going to suggest you need to be reading with your kids every day to get the benefits of early literacy? Of course, it won’t hurt but don’t think of early literacy skills as just reading. There is a lot more to it than just reading with our kids (although that’s an excellent start)! 

 

What is Early Literacy? 

 

You may be thinking, well if early literacy isn’t just about reading to my child or teaching my child how to read, then “what is early literacy?”. Early literacy skills refer to the skills young children need to be successful readers and writers. 

 

Let’s first take a look at what reading requires children to do. It is so much more than identifying words on a page. 

 

To be a good reader, children need to be able to hear sounds within words, decode (read words on a page by using the sounds they know), identify the meaning of words, and critically think about what the story is telling about (comprehension).

 

A lot of the work that good readers do are things we start by doing in our verbal language like: 

 

• Asking Questions 
• Making connections (identifying that something you are discussing is similar to a previous experience)
• Vocabulary or learning about new words 
• Building background knowledge (using past experiences to better understand the present or future)
• Grammar (understanding how words are spoken will help children identify how to write them in an organized way)

 

The research shows that children exposed to language on a regular basis from a trusted adult will help support and build early literacy skills. 

 

If this is something you are more interested in, the book “Brain Rules for Babies” is a great option! I have it linked for you below. 

 

 

What are the preschool expectations/standards? 

 

At the elementary, middle, and high school levels the standards for much of the United States for teaching children are called the “common core standards”. You can find them by clicking anywhere on this text.

 

However, there isn’t a universal set of preschool or early learning standards. You can check your state to see if they have early childhood standards. The Birth through Kindergarten Entry- Learning and Development Standards for preschool in Ohio, are broken up by categories. They are:

 

• social-emotional development
• approaches toward learning
• cognitive development and general knowledge
• language and literacy
• physical well-being and motor development

 

When looking at the Ohio standard in language and literacy you’ll see information over a variety of different skills. Some of those skills include listening and speaking, reading, and writing.

 

How do I Build Literacy in Preschoolers? 

 

Now that you have a better understanding of what is early literacy, and some of the expected standards in early childhood education. Let’s start looking at some of the specific standards and some early literacy activities for preschool. 

 

For this discussion, we’ll break down the three domains discussed above in speaking and listening, reading, and writing. Please keep in mind as you read, that many of these skills are to be completed “with support and modeling”. 

 

Speaking and Listening

 

The skills for pre-kindergarten skills in Ohio under the domain speaking and listening are: 

 

• Receptive Language and Comprehension 

 

This is the child’s ability to understand spoken sentences and directions like, “Go to the closet, then put on your shoes and coat.” 

 

Teachers are also looking to see if your child can understand the meaning of words if they hear a new word can ask the meaning of it. 

 

• Expressive Language 

 

This is your child’s ability to ask questions, make statements, predictions, or identify the solution to a problem. Allowing your child to interact and take notice of the world around them will help continue to strengthen their expressive language skills. 

 

• Social Communication

 

Social communication is your child’s ability to socialize with other children and adults. It’s taking turns in conversation, listening to others, staying within the context of the conversation, finding ways to relate with others, and more! 

 

Reading

 

The skills for pre-kindergarten skills in Ohio under the domain of reading are: 

 

• Reading Comprehension 

 

While reading text it’s important that children are able to understand what they are reading. This starts with early literacy through understanding what they hear in spoken communication. Then moves to children understanding text. 

 

Children need to be able to retell stories, identify characters, describe or tell about the pictures, and sequence stories. This helps to show their understanding of a written text. 

 

• Fluency 

 

Reading fluency is a person’s ability to read the text in phrases and use different voice tunes to help relay the meaning of texts. In early childhood education, this looks like their ability to retell stories and nursery rhymes. 

 

• Print Concepts

 

Print concepts are the abilities for children to be able to identify the correct way to hold and open a book. It’s their knowledge to scan a page or text from left to right. 

 

• Phonological Awareness 

 

Phonemic awareness is so important for children to become good readers and writers. It’s their ability to hear sounds in words. 

 

Phonemic awareness helps children hear beginning sounds, ending sounds, rhyming words, syllables, and more when hearing words. This includes their being able to manipulate the sounds to create new or different words. 

 

Are you looking for more information on phonemic awareness? If so check out the blog post below: 

 

 

• Letter and Word Recognition 

 

Letter and word recognition is the child’s identification of familiar words that are often seen such as the name of their favorite restaurant. They will also begin to recognize the letters within their name or hear sounds within words that are similar.

 

Writing

 

The skills for pre-kindergarten skills in Ohio under the domain of writing are: 

 

• Writing Process

 

The writing process as a pre-kindergartener focuses on skills like beginning to write letters (or trying to portray what could be a letter), they begin to use a 3-finger grasp when using writing utensils, and they’ll begin to identify letters or sounds of letters within words.

When children write using the sounds they hear within words it may look like “jrem” for the word dream. This is referred to by educators as invented spelling. It’s their way of using the sounds they do know to attempt to write and spell words. 

 

• Writing Application and Composition

 

The writing application and composition domain is looking to see if children are beginning to use writing to relay information to others. This might look like writing a card to a friend, writing a story, or writing to teach someone about their interests. 

 

Why is Early Literacy for Preschool Important? 

 

So now that you have a better understanding of what early literacy skills are, we can talk about why early literacy is important. Early literacy helps support the skills that children will need to become strong readers and writers in the future. 

 

The stronger a child’s early literacy skills are, the easier it will be for them to learn to read, write (stories, and more!) and spell. 

 

What Are Some Early Literacy Activities for Preschool? 

 

So you may be thinking, well how do I teach these early literacy skills? You might even be wondering if you should wait until your child starts preschool. 

 

The answer is that teaching these early literacy skills is surprisingly easier than you may think for most children. You should start as soon as you find out you are pregnant! It also doesn’t take as much work or resources as it may seem. 

 

I remember being a mom for the first time knowing that early literacy is important. But, I was thinking there was no way I could find the space, time, or resources to do all of the “Pinterest” crafts and activities at home with my kids. I am busy being a full-time working mom, making dinner, running errands, and a million other things! 

 

Therefore, I found ways I could incorporate early literacy activities for preschool in our everyday life. I exposed them to print, narrated their day, and let them ask questions. 

 

Singing

 

Some of the songs we started singing to our children started before they were even born! I often sang Jesus Loves Me, Hush Little Baby, and the ABCs to my children. We would sing at bedtime, during bathtime, and while changing their diapers. 

 

Looking at and Reading Books 

 

I’m not sure if it’s the educator in me or just because I know it’s important but books have always been important to our days. I help make reading a priority by putting them in books and bins around our home. I make it a point for my children to see and interact with books. 

Providing books for early literacy activities for preschool is important but it’s not the only way to create a home that is rich with early literacy options!

 

Check out the link below by clicking on the picture to find great book recommendations! 

 

Narrating Your Day

 

After I read Brain Rules for Babies, I immediately understood the need for my children (starting at infancy) to be talked to directly. It wasn’t enough for them to hear me talking. Instead, they needed me to talk directly to them. 

 

I started this by telling them who, what, when, where, and why we were doing things. As they got older I told them what they were doing, “you are pushing a truck”. Then I added describing words like “big truck” or “dump truck”. 

 

Using Correct Grammar and Language 

 

As your children begin to talk, it’s important that you help support their language and grammar. Children will say things in funny ways. I’ll admit sometimes it’s adorable! As much as we want to let them speak in their cute ways it’s best if we help correct it. 

 

I do this by modeling the correct way and at times asking them to repeat it back to me the correct way. 

 

Let me know what your favorite early literacy activities for preschool are in the comments below. I can’t wait to hear from you!

Remember, you’ve got this and it’s easier than you think 🙂

Love, Ashley E