Literacy in action

We can support our tamariki in many ways. Here are some examples of how children are supported within our environment.

Capital letters

Capital letters should only be used for the start of your child's name. Tell them we use a capital letter for our names because names are important (They like to know they are important enough for a capital letter!) It is very confusing for children if you write their whole name in capitals because that is NOT how it is written in real life.

James not JAMES

Get your child into good habits early!

Rhymes

Nursery Rhymes and stories with rhyming words are a great way to introduce children to the idea of word families. Knowing about word families is helpful when children begin to write and read.

I use to love playing rhyming eye spy with my children on car trips.

e.g. I spy with my little eye something rhyming with flea...
Bee?
Key?
Me?
Tree?
Yes it is Tree.

We would also do a round robin where we all had to say a rhyming word when it was our turn. We would go until someone couldn't think of one or said one that didn't make sense. Young children are surprisingly good at this.

Children love feeling smarter by correcting adults and they love being tricked. I use this method with children on occasions to get sure responses!

e.g. Jack and Jill went up the ladder ("No...No...it's hill!" will come the screamed response...Trust me...works without fail!)
To fetch a pail of ....lemonade
Jack fell down and broke his cr....nose (" No...silly. It's crown. He broke his crown!")

You get the idea I'm sure. It is fun. the children are developing a sense of humour through the nonsense aspect and they love trying to invent their own crazy versions of the rhymes to make you laugh (thus promoting their imagination and sense of fun/humour)

Listen to me!

One of the greatest things we can do for our children is to take time to listen to their stories. By listening we strengthen our relationships and knowledge of our children. We also send a message to our children that they are respected and their contributions are valued.

When we truly listen we have opportunities to question our children so that they begin to tell us about things in more detail. We can support their vocabulary acquisition by providing them with words if they get stuck with the word to use. We can support their growing understanding of the ways words are used and what words mean. We can also provide other ways of expressing the same ideas.

e.g. Child- Dog runned and bited ball.
Parent- Oh did the dog run and bite the ball?
Child-Yah

Note how the parent repeats back what the child has told her modelling the correct way to use the words in past tense. By doing this she has sent a positive message back to the child that their story has been understood.

Parent- Was the dog being naughty?
Child- (Stares)
Parent- Was the dog a naughty, bad dog?
Child- Bad dog.
Parent- So he was a naughty dog. Bad boy! You are a naughty dog.

This example shows how we can help young children understand meanings of words and extend their range of words with similar meanings.

Talk to your children as often as you can and let them practice talking in a range of different settings. Children with a good oral vocabulary (who know and understand a range of words and know how to speak in different situations ) have an advantage when it comes to learning to read and write in formal settings.