Friends, literacy and language development should be supported as early as infancy! In today’s episode, we are going to dive deeper into the importance of literacy and language development in infancy to toddlerhood and chat about how these skills can impact later reading success.
So often, I think we think of reading as something that we don’t have to concern ourselves about until a child starts school. While that is technically true, we don’t expect toddlers to be able to sit down and read the words on pages… it’s not that simple. Multiple skills that have to be in place before reading can be taught effectively.
We have the opportunity right now to make a difference in the lives of the toddlers we are treating. By understanding the why and how behind the concept of reading- we can set our toddlers up for later success while also encouraging their language development and communication.
The science of reading uses evidence-based research to explain how children learn to read, write, and spell. This evidence-based research comes from diverse sources including education, linguistics, psychology, and neuroscience.
We set toddlers up for reading by building their spoken language by talking to them, helping them learn about print and books, introducing them to different sounds in spoken language, and providing them opportunities to books being read aloud.
Everything you should already be doing.
Links mentioned in today's episode:
Phonemic Awareness vs Phonological Awareness Episode