For Parents, Families and Professionals

Reading together to build early literacy

Early literacy is what children know about reading before they can actually read.

A child’s brain develops at an incredible rate during the first three years of life. A child’s early experiences with language contribute to healthy brain development and lay the foundation for learning to read when a child enters school. Parents are indeed a child’s first and most important teachers.

“Parent involvement is linked to children’s school readiness. Research shows that greater parent involvement in children’s learning positively affects the child’s school performance, including higher academic achievement (McNeal, 1999; Scribner, Young, & Pedroza, 1999; Sui-Chu & Willms, 1996; Trusty, 1998; Yan & Lin, 2002) and greater social and emotional development (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997; Fantuzzo & McWayne, 2002). Simple interactions, such as reading to young children, may lead to greater reading knowledge and skills (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). And, children with richer home literacy environments demonstrate higher levels of reading knowledge and skills at kindergarten entry (Nord, Linnon, Liu, & Chandler, 2000). Parent involvement outside of home, such as participation in extracurricular activities (e.g. concerts, sports, scouts), relates to their reading, general knowledge, and mathematics knowledge and skills (Reaney, Denton, & West, 2002).”

- Parent Involvement and Early Literacy, Harvard Family Research Project

Researchers agree that children are more likely to become good readers if they start school with six skills for early literacy:

• Narrative Skills - Children have the ability to describe things around them and tell stories
• Vocabulary - Understanding what different words mean. Children have the ability to understand and use a variety of words.
  
• Print Awareness - Children have learned that the black and white marks on a page represent spoken words. Ability to follow words on a page.
• Letter Knowledge - Children are able to name the letters of the alphabet.
• Print Motivation - Children have been exposed to a wide variety of literacy experiences and have learned to love books and stories.
• Phonological Awareness - Ability to hear small sounds making up words.

Helpful Early Literacy Website Resources for Parents, Families and Professionals

Parents/Family Resources:

Babies and Books ( http://www.midhudson.org/virtual/babies)
Describes behaviors for newborns to age 3 and what activities are good at each developmental stage. You will find suggested books for each stage of development.

Birth to Six: Early Literacy (http://www.hclib.org/birthto6/earlylit)
Early reading tips and information. You will find reading tips in 12 languages.

Growing Up Reading (http://www.growupreading.org)
Describes development of reading and language skills from birth to first grade. You will find book and activity suggestions for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, to first graders.

Reading is Fundamental: Babies, Toddlers & Preschoolers (http://www.rif.org/parents/resources)
Suggests types of books for each stage of development and tips for reading with your child.

PBS Parents Guide to Reading & Language (http://www.pbs.org/parents)
Learn how children become readers and writers and how you can help them develop by talking, reading, and writing together every day.

Read me a Story - Reading Checkup Guide (http://www.aap.org/family)
Advice for parents about helping children develop reading skills, from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Hamilton County Department of Education (http://www.hcde.org)
Parents and family access to the local public education information about administration, teachers, curriculum, school information and school policy/procedures. Become involved with your child’s education through the HCDE’s Department of Family Engagement!

Begin with Books - Center for Early Literacy
(http://www.beginningwithbooks.org)

TCAP Assessment - Practice Resources (http://www.internet4classroom.com/TCAP)
Extensive list of sites that have questions and information to prepare for standardized tests.

The Parent’s Guide to the Information Superhighway: Rules & Tools for the Family Online: (http://www.childrenspartnership.org)

Family Education (http://www.familyeducation.com)

Parent Soup (http://www.pta.org)

Teachers & Curriculum Resources:

Blue Web’n: a library of blue ribbon learning sites (http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired)

Busy Teachers’ Website K-12 (http://www.ceismc.gatech.edu/busyt )

Sites for Teachers (http://www.sitesforteachers.com)

PBS Teacher Source (http://www.pbs.org/teachersource)

Teachers Helping Teachers (http://www.pacificnet.net/%7Emandel)

Education World (http://www.education-world.com)

Children Now (http://www.childrennow.org)

Kennedy Center Arts Edge Curriculum Resources
(http://www.artsedgve.kennedy-center.org)