by Debra Wechter

I see literacy for young children as creating a solid foundation for a lifetime of future reading and writing, but more importantly, creating a love of language and books and a curiosity about communication with others.

Literacy activities for young children include helping them to understand that the written word has meaning. My job is to help them to use the appropriate words to express what they are thinking and feeling, and to develop a sense of sentence structure so that their words make sense to others and their communication is understood.

Literacy is far more than learning how to read…it is learning how to communicate. Once the foundation for communication is in place, beginning reading and writing is the natural next step. The important thing to focus on is that each child develops on his or her own timetable and needs to be taught language skills when he or she is ready to learn them. Then it is a natural process and not a group of unpleasant tasks that are always hard work.

I have yet to meet a preschooler who was not, on some level, interested in storybooks, and writing (if only their own name), and in communicating with their friends and teachers. My job as a teacher of young children is to nurture the very natural process of beginning literacy so they are ready for what lies ahead.