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Literacy
Literacy is the foundation for creating a well-educated and responsible
citizen. It is essential that each child arrive in kindergarten
able to take advantage of the materials, activities and interactions
in classrooms that  nourish literacy. The ways in which children
learn to read and write are similar to how they develop language.
Just as children seem to be compelled to learn language, children
become excited about using pictures and letters to communicate.
The printed word, whether it is in a storybook or in the environment,
is the bridge that allows children to connect themselves to distant
places, to quality children’s literature and to new ideas.
Through natural exposure to books and print, and through conversations
that prompt children to discuss the people and important events
in their lives, children discover that written words are another
way to share ideas. A child who enters school experiencing the joy
of a storybook, developing awareness of letters of the alphabet
and demonstrating the ability to write a few letters, is a child
well prepared to learn to read and write.
Children develop skills in writing and reading while exploring
print in books and in the environment.
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1. Play
Children engage in play as a means to develop early reading and writing skills. |
- Use symbols and forms of early writing to create more
complex play.
- Use writing tools and materials in all areas of the learning environment.
- Create play ideas that come from favorite stories, poems
and songs.
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2. Early Writing
Children demonstrate an interest and ability to use symbols to represent words and ideas. |
- Begin to print letters in own name.
- Understand that writing carries a message.
- Experiment with a variety of writing tools and materials.
- Use scribbles, shapes, letter-like symbols and letters to
write or represent words or ideas.
- Begin to dictate ideas, sentences and stories.
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3. Early Reading
Children demonstrate an interest in:
A. Phonemic and Phonological Awareness
Learning letters and the combination of letter sounds with letter symbols. |
- Show increasing ability to discriminate and identify the
sounds of language.
- Demonstrate growing awareness of the beginning sounds
of words.
- Show growing ability to hear and discriminate separate
syllables in words.
- Begin to associate sounds with written words.
- Recognize and generate rhymes.
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B. Book Knowledge and Appreciation
Understanding and appreciating that books and other forms of print have a purpose. |
- Attempt to read or tell a story and guess what happens next.
- Listen to and talk about a variety of types of literature.
- Handle and care for books in a respectful manner.
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C. Comprehension
Understanding that spoken and written words have meaning.
Understanding that spoken and written words have meaning. |
- Retell parts of a story with prompts.
- Connect information to familiar experiences when being
read a story.
- Demonstrate understanding of the meaning of a story.
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D. Print Awareness and Concepts
Recognizing the association between spoken and written words by following print as it is read aloud. |
- Explore and investigate books and other forms of print.
- Understand that print carries a message.
- Show an increasing awareness of how books are organized.
- Recognize some letters and words captured in books and
in the environment.
- Recognize own name in print.
- Show an increasing ability to recognize individual words
in sentences.
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E. Alphabet Knowledge
Recognize that symbols are associated with letters of the alphabet and that they form words. |
- Know the names of some letters and words.
- Identify some letters in print.
- Know the names of most letters in own name.
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