Pre-Reading Skills
The stepping stones that lead to a child's reading success!
Love Books (Print Motivation)
Print Motivation is simply a child's interest in and enjoyment of books. Children who are enthusiastic about books will want to learn to read and are more likely to become lifelong readers.
Use Books (Print Awareness)
Print Awareness is being able to notice print everywhere, on signs, in books, around town; knowing how to handle a book, turn pages, and follow the words on a page. Knowing "how books work" is an important discovery! (more)
See Letters (Letter Knowledge)
Letter Knowledge is knowing that letters are different from each other, knowing their names and sounds, and recognizing letters everywhere. Knowing all about letters of the alphabet lays the groundwork for successful reading later on.
Tell Stories (Narrative Skills)
Narrative Skills include being able to describe things or events, and being able to tell stories. Narrative Skills are important because they help children with comprehension and understanding what they read. Comprehension is important because if kids don't understand what they're reading, they lose interest and motivation.
Play with Sounds (Phonological Awareness)
Phonological Awareness sounds complicated, but it's just being able to play with the sounds in words--being able to tell if two words rhyme, or being able to say the syllables of a word separately, or what sound a word starts with. Phonological Awareness is important because it helps children "take words apart" to sound them out when they're reading.
New Words (Vocabulary)
Vocabulary is knowing the names of things. A big vocabulary is important to beginning readers because it's much easier to sound out and understand words that you already know.
