Six Early Literacy Skills Your Preschooler Needs To Know Before Kindergarten

Preschoolers are like sponges so it is imperative that they develop these literacy skills to prepare them for a lifetime of learning at the top of the class.

Early literacy is about helping your child get ready to read. Experts say there are six early literacy skills that every preschooler should know in order to help the reading process.

Print Motivation-Preschoolers should have a joy of books and reading together. This is easy to accomplish by exposing them early to the library, storytime and picture books. You can start fostering this as early as infancy.

Print Awareness-Preschoolers should know that print on a page has meaning and is read in a certain direction. Big picture books and pointers are a great way to model this as well as using your finger to point to the words while reading.

Vocabulary-It is important for preschoolers to begin building their vocabulary by knowing the names of things. This starts as a baby and should be continued. While shopping in the store, point out items. On trips, point out buildings and trains. Play I-Spy, kids love that and it teaches them vocabulary.

Letter Knowledge-There is a reason as parents we sing the ABC song until we are blue in the face. Preschoolers should learn that different letters have different names and that sounds go with letters. There are so many great toys available today that teaches this concept. You can also show them this every time you eat dinner- Oh, Apple sauce starts with A- or a.

Narrative Skills-This is probably a preschoolers favorite. They love to tell stories. It is essential for preschoolers to develop the skill of understanding, describing and telling stories. As busy as you are, it is essential to listen to your child and have them even tell you about their day!

Phonological Awareness-I know it is a big word, but it just means the awareness of sounds in words. Preschoolers should hear and play with smaller sounds in words.

What difference does all of this make? You should shape your preschoolers experiences around these six early learning skills. If you are a mom, plan out your day so that each of these areas are addressed. If you are a teacher, make sure every one of these areas  are stressed to your preschoolers throughout the day.