Developing pre-literacy skills

Before a child begins to learn to read, certain skills need to be developed. These skills are: 

• Narrative skills – be able to tell stories, knowing the order of events, and predicting what could happen next 
• Phonological Awareness – knowing the sounds of words 
• Letter Knowledge – recognizing letters and their sounds 
• Print Awareness – knowledge of print, noticing letters out in the world, knowing how a book works (turning pages, words go left to right) 
• Vocabulary – knowing words and what they mean 
• Print Motivation – being interested in books and reading

This may sound intimidating, but you are probably already doing several things that help develop these skills. An easy way to break it down is by incorporating these five practices: 

• Talk – develops narrative skills, vocabulary, and phonological awareness    
  • Activity: Talk through the steps of daily activities, like cooking and cleaning 
  • Activity: At mealtimes, create a story together. You start with once upon a time there was a... then let your child pick what comes next. Keep taking turns. 
  • Check out this book list for more ideas  
• Sing – develops phonological awareness and vocabulary    
  • Activity: Use songs to motivate during activities (for example, sing a clean-up song) 
  • Activity: Clap along to songs and rhymes so your child can learn about rhythm 
  • Check out this book list for more ideas 
• Read – develops all 6 skills    
  • Activity: Have books always in reach. Keep some in the car, in the main rooms of the house, and in the diaper bag. Let kids pick what books they want to read – even if it is the same book over and over again! (Here are some suggestions that won’t drive you crazy) 
  • Activity: Read with expression. Make up different voices and sounds. Make it fun! 
  • Check out this book list for more ideas 
• Write – develops letter knowledge and narrative skills    
  • Activity: Coloring and scribbling are the first step to writing. Let your child make whatever art they want to and ask them to tell you about it 
  • Activity: Make letters with playdough or draw them in a sandbox. Talk about the letter and what sounds it makes. 
  • Check out this book list for more ideas 
• Play – develops vocabulary and narrative skills    
  • Activity: Incorporate letters into play. If your child is pretending to cook, write a recipe or a menu. They may not be able to read it, but it shows that print it all around us. 
  • Activity: Act out a favorite book.  
  • Check out this book list for more ideas 

Take a look at this chart to see more of how the skills and practices support each other – it also offers ideas and activities (this includes background knowledge as a combination of print motivation and narrative skills). 

We also have a booklet with all this information and more! 

For more early literacy information, check out KCPL’s Early Literacy page. 

Happy reading! 

Written by Lisa Clark, Youth Collection Librarian