Literacy skills start long before a child learns the ABCs. From day one, children are developing communication skills that will allow them to both comprehend and convey words and ideas.
Literacy skills start long before a child learns the ABCs. From day one, children are developing communication skills that will allow them to both comprehend and convey words and ideas. Babies’ first interactions form important language building blocks as they begin to point at objects or follow your gaze to determine what is important. As they grow, children learn to use the tools of language to communicate ideas in increasingly clear and powerful ways.
You can promote communication skills early on by helping children make connections between what they hear and what they see. When you point to illustrations in a book or touch on words as you read them aloud, you are helping your child recognize that pictures convey ideas and those marks on the page represent a particular spoken word or phrase. Playing rhyming games and singing songs highlights the sounds of language, and children eventually learn to map those sounds to letters. By providing a home that is full of print, using new and interesting words for familiar concepts, telling stories and reading books that spark conversation, you can contribute to your child’s ability to communicate in the world.
Try these pretend play activities to build your child’s communication skills: