Language and Literacy for Kindergarten Readiness
You blinked and here you are – preparing your child for kindergarten. The transition to kindergarten is a huge leap that lays an important foundation for lifelong learning. Strong speech and language skills lead to successful reading, writing, and social skills that will help your child thrive in their new learning environment.
Why Language and Literacy Matter:
Foundation for Academic Success: Language allows children to express thoughts while reading allows them to expand knowledge. Children entering kindergarten who were provided with a language-rich environment at home are better able to comprehend directions, communicate their ideas, and learn new information
Social Skill Development and Building Confidence: When children have the language skills to express themselves clearly and comprehend language, they are better able to participate in group activities, advocate for their needs, navigate social situations, and build relationships. Successfully communicating a message or learning something new also nurtures a sense of accomplishment and builds self-esteem.
Preparing Your Child’s Language Skills for Kindergarten:
Read Together: Read aloud together daily. Choose books that engage your child, with captivating illustrations, an interesting story, and new vocabulary. Discuss the sequence of the story, what is happening in the pictures, and encourage your child to predict what will happen next. Look for spontaneous reading opportunities throughout the day, like reading signs or the words on food packaging. Every bit of reading counts!
Visit the Library: Let your child select books that interest them. Discuss book concepts like cover, title, author, illustrator, and how the text reads from the top of the page to the bottom, left to right, and left page to right page. Let your child turn the pages and point to where to start reading.
Talk Together: Get your child’s attention before you speak, and pay attention when they are speaking to you. Ask open-ended questions (e.g., “What do you think will happen next?” instead of “Is the dog big or small?”).
Sing and Play: Nursery rhymes and repetitive songs are a fun way to develop a child’s phonological awareness, or their ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words. Act out stories while playing, using dolls, animals or action figures, having the characters talk to each other. Play simple board games to help your child learn to follow rules and talk about the game.
Play Word Games (age 4):
I Spy: Spot something nearby, describe it to your child and have them guess the item. You can also play by describing the beginning sound. For example, “I spy something that starts with the sound “sss.”
Listen and Match: Say a few words, where two of the three words start with the same sound. Emphasize the first sound of each word, and ask your child to identify which two words start with the same sound.
Blending Sounds: Say individual sounds slowly and ask the child to blend them together to make a word. Start with three letter words, like cat, hat, net, or sit.
Guess the Animal: Choose an animal like “cat” and think of a rhyming word like “bat.” Tell your child “I rhyme with bat. I am a… (cat)”
Think “Big”: A great way to build a child’s vocabulary is to use words in conversation that are “bigger” than you typically would use when speaking to your child. For example, saying the mountain is “enormous” instead of “big” or asking if you can have their “assistance” instead of their “help.”
Write Together: Provide your child with a variety of writing instruments to explore and scribble with. Offer tactile experiences like writing letters in sand or shaving cream. Focus on fine motor activities that will strengthen skills for holding a pencil, like using a spray bottle to water plants, grabbing items with tongs, or playing with playdough. Completing simple activities together like writing a schedule for the day, a grocery list, or a scavenger hunt list with words and pictures can also help develop pre-writing skills.
Socialize: Organize playdates and group activities to provide opportunities for your child to interact with their peers. If you do not know many other families with children, attend free community events at parks or libraries. Role-playing scenarios at home before attending group activities can help with practicing social skills.
Language Milestones to Watch For:
2-3 Years: Uses simple sentences, says their name and the names of familiar objects, uses some plurals like “dogs”, asks “why” or “how”, and follows simple directions. Correctly produces the sounds p, b, m, h, w, d and n in words.
3-4 Years: Uses longer sentences, tells simple stories, understands more complex instructions and location words like “under” and “over.” Compares things like “bigger” and “smaller”, recognizes signs or logos. Pretends to write and can write some letters.
4-5 Years: Can retell familiar stories and correctly uses words like “yesterday” and “tomorrow”, follows simple rules to play games, blends word parts like oat + meal = oatmeal, identifies some rhyming words like hat/cat, recognizes the names of 10 or more letters and can write their name. Speech in understandable in conversation.
What if My Child Seems Behind?
If you have concerns about your child’s language development, do not hesitate to seek help from a trusted professional. Your child’s preschool teacher, pediatrician, or family doctor can be great resources who can recommend appropriate interventions, which may include speech therapy or if under three, early intervention programs. Early intervention can significantly improve a child’s language and literacy skills, so you are encouraged to share your concerns or questions as soon as you have them.
Preparing your child for kindergarten can feel like a lot of pressure; however, you are most likely providing a wonderfully rich language environment without even realizing it! By focusing on the tips above, you will equip your child with the tools they need to thrive in their first year of school and beyond. Stay consistent and supportive, and seek help when needed. Enjoy the journey!
