This presentation is designed for UBC's LIBR529: Services for Family and Early Literacy in the Preschool Years. It reinforces the things parents can do at home with their young children to foster school readiness skills (and to advertise storytimes!)

1. Early Literacy and School Readiness LIBR529 Presentation Tina Sherlock November 6 th , 2007

2. We once believed learning how to read was a natural process like learning how to walk. Nabeel H

3. We now know that learning to read is a social process that begins right from birth. Chiceaux

4. Young children will not simply “figure out” literacy if left to their own devices. Xylum Tube

5. Adults play a critical role by providing rich literacy experiences and by interacting with them in those experiences. gisarah

6. The foundations of literacy are learned in the families. vessenes

7. What are some things we can do as parents?

8. 1. Find time to read with your child.

10. The warm and safe feeling that children get from sharing books with adults at an early age will likely follow them throughout their lives.

11. 2. Children who enjoy books will want to learn how to read.

12. 2. Talk with your child Chaoss

13. Have regular conversations, talk about your feelings and your child’s feelings and ask exploratory questions.

14. Oral language is the foundation of reading!

15. 3. Provide opportunities for storytelling

17. Playing with stories and storytelling helps children understand the structure of stories.

18. 4. Help foster an awareness of print

20. An awareness of print helps children feel comfortable with books and understand that print is useful

21. 5. Encourage letter and word recognition cybertoad

23. Understanding that print follows certain conventions helps with school readiness

24. 6. Rhyme and sing with your child often Voxphoto

26. Children learn best by doing things, and they love singing and rhyming with you!

27. (no matter what you sound like) Marc G Smith

28. The ability to distinguish the different sounds that make up words is a strong predictor of how well children will learn to read.

29. Does this sound like a lot of work?

30. Take comfort that these are things that we already do naturally as parents

31. Want to see some of this in action?

32. Participate in your library’s storytime! Joe Thorn

33. During storytime, librarians model interactive storytelling…

34. … favourite stories and rhymes are repeated weekly…

35. … puppets and props are used to make stories and language fun…

36. … and all this is done in a rich environment that fosters early literacy.

37. Remember… the earlier a child is exposed to language and literacy activities, the greater the child’s chances for future literacy and academic success.

38. What are you waiting for?