4.2: The Power of Early Literacy
- Page ID
- 216654
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Reading a storybook with a child provides a window to new experiences. It boosts brain development and provides an opportunity for children and caregivers to bond while cultivating early literacy. Early literacy can be broadly defined as one’s knowledge, skills, and disposition that precede learning to read and write in the primary grades (Roskos, 2003). Caregivers might be surprised at how easy it is to develop early literacy skills in young children.
The importance of family involvement in a child’s development of early literacy skills has been well documented in the literature (Dail & Payne, 2010, Kirby & Hogan, 2008). One simple way to begin developing these skills is through storybooks. Reading to a child is one of the most important things a caregiver can do to build many important early literacy skills that support a child’s academic success. The interactive experience between a caregiver and child when reading supports literacy development such as oral language development, letter recognition, letter sounds, and later reading and writing skills.
All children benefit from being read to. For children whose home language is not English, reading storybooks in their home language as well as in English can be beneficial in numerous ways. Doing so helps the child maintain familial ties, culture, and community while also developing English language fluency.
There are multiple misconceptions surrounding bi/multilingual language development in children. It is important to note that exposing young children to more than one language does not cause delays in language development, confuse the child, or lead to future academic problems. In fact, research has found multiple neurological and academic benefits of bilingualism that span all life stages (Mehmedbegovic, 2017).
The U.S. Department of Education (August, et al., 2009) reports that early literacy instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension all have clear benefits for students who are bilingual – no matter what primary language is spoken in the home. Consequently, educators and families need to understand that it is not the language used, but the types of literacy rich activities, such as storybook reading, which make the difference.
There is a need for early literacy teacher preparation programs to help teacher candidates understand the influence that families have in a child’s early literacy development. This includes increasing candidates’ understanding of the funds of knowledge students, their families, and their communities possess. Additionally, knowledge of universal screeners, evidence-based literacy instruction, and effective interventions also impact a child’s early literacy success. Literacy preparation programs must address these areas and provide teacher candidates with the opportunity for purposeful practice to ensure proficiency in high quality literacy instruction.
References
August, D., Shanahan, T., & Escamilla, K. (2009). English language learners: Developing literacy in second-language learners—Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth. Journal of literacy research, 41(4), 432-452.
Dail, A. R., & Payne, R. L. (2010). Recasting the role of family involvement in early literacy development: A response to the NELP report. Educational Researcher, 39(4), 330-333.
Kirby, J. R., & Hogan, B. (2008). Family literacy environment and early literacy development. Exceptionality Education International, 18(3).
Mehmedbegovic D. (2017) Engaging with linguistic diversity in global cities: Arguing for “language Hierarchy Free” policy and practice in education. Open Linguist 3(1):540–553. https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2017-0027
Roskos, K. A., Christie, J. F., & Richgels, D. J. (2003). The essentials of early literacy instruction. Young Children, 58(2), 5260.