Loving Literacy Preschool Groups

Syllables are units of sounds that make up a word. Being able to hear different parts of syllables in words is an important early literacy skill because it supports later decoding abilities and spelling. In preschool syllables are learned through games and play in a fun, active and engaging way.

A child's vocabulary skills play a critical role in reading comprehension. Vocabulary skills begin to develop in oral language as infants and then these oral language skills support understanding of later print meaning. Children learn the meaning of words through everyday, diverse experiences with a supportive adult conversation partner. Games, play and dialogic book reading in the preschool years are some of the best ways to help children develop vocabulary which highly benefits reading comprehension at school age.

Letter knowledge is the ability to recognise and name uppercase and lowercase letters in print and know that there are sounds associated with each letter. Alphabet knowledge is a key early literacy skill and lays the groundwork for future reading success. Supporting letter knowledge in preschool is about helping children recognize letters, know their names, and connect them to sounds in a fun, meaningful way. This can be accomplished by exposing kids to letters in the environment and hands on activities, like letter tracing, magnetic letters or alphabet blocks in engaging ways.

Rhyming involves the ability to switch the beginning sound(s) of a word while leaving the final syllables the same. Rhyming is an important phonemic awareness skill because it can draw children's attention to different sounds in words and how they can be manipulated. In the early years children learn about rhyming through active participation in songs and nursery rhymes. 

Print awareness is the understanding that print is organised in a particular way. For example, knowing that print is read from left to right and top to bottom and that the letters and spaces on a page in a book carry meaning. The ability to understand how print works does not emerge magically and unaided. This understanding comes from exposure to books and engagement with a supportive adult pointing out features of print that surrounds children's daily lives.

Narrative language is the ability to use all parts of oral language (vocabulary, grammar, pragmatics) to tell a story. Narrative skills are a complex and important part of communication and begin to develop in the toddler and preschool years. Narrative skills and literacy are closely connected and children with poor narrative skills can also have difficulty with later understanding of texts and expressing their own ideas in writing. Story retell and creating stories through dress up and play is one of the best ways to help narrative langauge skills flourish in preschool.