In this blog post, we had the honour of receiving insights and knowledge on Literacy in early childhood from the Director of one of our CBOs in the Eastern Cape, Dr. E.E.S. Sangweni.
Literacy and it's importance in life
Literacy is the ability to read, write, listen, and create texts in order to communicate effectively with others and make sense of the world. Literacy is vital for overall development: It is the foundation for doing well at school, for socializing with other people, for working, for problem- solving, for making decisions and for developing independence.
Pre-school literacy
Pre-school literacy is the foundation for reading, writing, communication and socializing. Before children begin to read and write, they need to develop the building blocks for literacy, that is, the ability to speak, to listen, to understand, to watch and to draw. Therefore, the aim of developing early literacy is to improve children’s skills, knowledge and understanding.
What is Literacy Development?
Literacy development is the process of learning words, sounds and language. This process is very complex, but it begins in a child’s first year of life. At this Pre-literacy Stage, a child begins to hear, distinguish and use the sound structures of a language. They also begin to store in their memory, the basic units of meaning in a language. This process happens automatically and naturally, since it is an innate language- acquisition ability in all human beings.
In the following years, children learn to manipulate and combine these basic units of meaning into meaningful language units by applying words and grammar, and are able to retrieve and produce words that express ideas and can speak written words.
Stages of Literacy Development
The process of developing literacy happens over many years, which linguists have divided into the following five (5) stages:
- Emergent Literacy Stage: From birth to 5 or 6 years, children can sing the ABC.
- Alphabetic Literacy Stage: The novice reader, from 5 years to 8 years, can see the relationship between letters and sounds.
- Words and Patterns Stage: From 7 to 9 years, they can read silently without vocalizing.
- Intermediate Reading Stage: From 9 to 15 years, they can read to acquire ideas and to gain knowledge.
- Advanced Reading Stage: From 15 years to adulthood, they can comprehend long texts such as books.
Emergent Literacy Stage
This article will only focus on the pre-school stage which is called the Emergent Literacy Stage. This is usually in the first five years of life, when a child is first introduced to books, songs, stories and the tools of writing such as paper, crayons and pencils.
At this stage, children learn language, reading and writing skills at the same time. They learn through the experiences and interactions they have with other people. Infants and toddlers learn new words and begin to use them to communicate and respond. Pre-schoolers learn to use a wider range of words, in different situations; they learn to categorise words and to understand relationships between them. From about the age of 3 to 4 years children can identify familiar signs and labels, take part in rhyming and games, can identify some letters and link them to
sounds.
Thus, the role of caregivers, parents and older children is crucial at this stage - to introduce new words that relate to different topics and situations, to toddlers and pre-schoolers. The goal of early literacy efforts at this stage IS NOT to teach children to read at a very early age, but to prepare them for the next stages of literacy development.
The Role of the Caregiver
It is important for caregivers and parents to develop early literacy among children; through fun, playful, and joyful activities in which they themselves also show interest and enjoyment. These activities, such as the following, should aim to develop knowledge of letters and of sounds.
Talking to infants and children as much as possible. Talking could be about anything, including feelings. It is also important to allow children to talk about what interests them. Creating conversation opportunities in Circle Time, mealtimes, play time. This activity teaches children new words, gives them examples of speech and offers opportunities for them to practice their own speech.
Reading age-appropriate books aloud to children as often as possible, while using different voices and facial expressions. Letting the children handle books, helping them identify and interact with pictures in the books, to imitate or act out actions in the pictures, re-telling the stories in their own words and describing what they are thinking about the story. Story telling sparks the imagination in children, it teaches sounds, words and grammar. It also teaches children to concentrate, focus and helps them learn social and communication skills. Singing songs, reciting nursery rhymes and listening to audio books with them. These are all enjoyable activities which teach sounds and fluency in reading and speaking – always emphasizing the sounds and different parts of words. Singing helps develop confidence, listening skills, identifying small sounds in words and building vocabulary. A song’s rhyme also teaches similarities between words as well as patterns in language.
Drawing develops motor skills, encourages creative thinking and cognitive understanding of difficult ideas, and builds attention span. Game Playing teaches language and reading skills while playing, role playing, and imagining new experiences while enjoying a favorite activity.
Effects of these Learning Activities and Experiences
The focus in doing the above activities is developing children’s oral language skills, the knowledge of the alphabet, the knowledge of sounds, the meaning of words and stories. These activities help form connections in the brain which are used for language, thinking and understanding throughout life.