6 Prerequisites to Reading and Writing

In the name of early literacy, today’s educators try to get kids reading as soon as possible. But in their rush, they often forget about the building blocks of reading.

This may come as a surprise, but

Today’s post describes the 6 skills your child needs to learn to read. We’ll also show you how to help them develop these skills. Even if they’re already reading, the items on this list can help them as they continue to grow.

The skills are:

Now let’s dig a little deeper into each of these skills.

1.     Motivation. Learning to read is hard! It requires focus. Time. Effort. And many kids don’t even get why it’s important!

If your child doesn’t want to read, they won’t. Your job as a parent is to get them excited about reading. Read with them every day -- they’re never too young! And they’ll love cuddling up and listening to your voice.

Click here for more tips on motivating your child to read.

2.     Phonemic awareness -- the ability to hear and manipulate words. For example, what is the first sound in the word ship? If you remove the R from rat, what do you have left?

If your child can’t hear differences between words, how can they learn to read and spell them? Studies show that practicing speech tasks with your child improves their test scores. Click here to learn more.

3.     Ability to follow a narrative. Comprehension is crucial to reading. It gives the words meaning! It’s what makes reading fun.

But it takes practice. Luckily, there are many ways you can help your child with this. Ask them great questions about the books you read together. Ask them to describe and explain things. Have them tell you stories. Encourage them to use sequence words, like first, next and last.

4.     Precision eye movements. The reading eye is fast and precise. And the brain has to do contour analysis, object identification, motion processing and visual attention.

Most kids don’t develop these abilities until about four. Even then, their visual systems are still maturing. For example, can you see the Dalmatian in this picture?

Four-year-olds can’t. Even if you point to the dog.

There isn’t much you can do to hasten brain development. Be supportive. Be patient. It will come.

Some children have vision problems, such as nearsightedness, that prevent them from reading. If you think your child may have a visual acuity problem, talk to their doctor.

5.     Vocabulary. Reading is about words. If a child doesn’t have a strong vocabulary, the reading is meaningless. They won’t be motivated. They won’t have good comprehension. And reading will be more about memorization than understanding.

There’s not much you need to do to help with this. Kids’ brains are built for learning words. Just talk to them. Tell them stories. Point out signs and labels and read what they say. They’ll absorb it like a sponge.

6.     Print awareness. It’s shocking how many kids don’t understand that letters and written words convey a message. Don’t let yours be one of them!

Start with doodles. Ask your child to draw you a map. Have them create a symbol that represents an idea. For example, “Draw me a picture that represents listening.” “Can you draw a symbol that means helping with chores?”

You should also point out the text in books. As you read to them, ask questions like, “Can you point to where I should start reading?” and, “How many words are on this page?” Click here to learn more.

These skills form the foundation your child needs to manipulate letters and words. They show them the relationship between words and content.  Only then does language have meaning. 

Parents: What skills does your child have that help them with their reading? What skills would you add to this list?