Tuesday 17 December 2013

Parents preparing preschoolers for literacy learning at school

It was a joy in late November to co-present a seminar for parents of preschoolers in Kogarah Library, Sydney.  Sonia Bestulic from Talking Head Speech Pathology and myself gathered together a group of excited and interested mums and dads to find out how to prepare children for school literacy learning.


We looked at what school literacy lessons look like.  



Guided reading was described and we compared guided reading books to children's picture books. Sonia detailed the importance of children having strong language skills, both receptive and expressive language.  There were many practical strategies, games and ideas suggested for helping children develop a solid language base.

Reading aloud quality children's picture books AND talking and listening before, during and after, is the simplest,most efficient and best of all, most enjoyable way of preparing children for school reading, writing and spelling.

Here is the summary slide for parents which, I think, says it all.

TO SUM UP
You, as parents, can start your child on the road to quality literacy learning by:
žReading aloud to them using carefully chosen beautiful children’s picture books.
žTalking about letters, words, sentences and language.
žIncreasing their vocabulary by talking to them about what they are learning, listening to and watching.

žCueing your child into the sounds, rhythms and rhymes of language in books.

It was such a wonderful night of sharing and learning and such a privilege to work with Sonia.
Can't wait to see all our beautiful shiny new Kindy students at the beginning of the school year in 2014.

Boy Smiling First Day Back to School, Child with Backpack Royalty Free Stock Photo

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