Everyday Steps to Reading and Writing

Did you know that children begin their path to reading as babies when they hear and respond to the sound of a human voice? Literacy, the ability to comprehend and communicate through reading and writing, begins with understanding the sounds in language. Listening, talking, reading, and writing are all parts of early literacy learning—and they’re all connected.

It’s important for young children to hear and understand spoken language, become aware of the different language sounds, and start learning about print—letters and words. Preschoolers need writing to help them learn about reading and reading to help them learn about writing, but they need to talk and listen before learning about both!


Young children learn about literacy through everyday things at home. It’s especially important for families to encourage a love of reading and to demonstrate the power of writing to communicate ideas. When you guide your child’s hands and eyes to words on a page, she learns that marks have meaning. When you listen as she “reads” her scribbles, you give meaning to her own marks.

How else can you encourage your child to love reading, writing, and oral language so much that she begs for a bedtime story? The following strategies are a great start.

Ways to encourage literacy

In any home, there are countless ways to encourage a child’s love of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Here are 10 simple ideas for highlighting literacy in your everyday routine.

Talk and listen
Engage your child in meaningful, thought-provoking conversation. While you listen and respond to what he has to say,
Introduce new words, perhaps colander or automobile. Expand on what he says, offering more description and using more mature language (Your child: “It runned out.” You: “Your marker ran out of ink!”) Challenge him to imagine, remember, and think about things he sees and hears around him.Ask him to tell you about the best thing that happened that day

Read aloud together

Perhaps the most important thing you can do to help your child build reading and writing skills is to read aloud with her. To make the most of this time together,
Read aloud with her at least once every day
Read favorites again and again
Talk with her about the story before, during, and after reading
Ask her teacher what kinds of books and authors she likes best at school
Ask a librarian to suggest some diverse and age-appropriate children’s books, poetry collections, and songs
Share a variety of literature (stories, poems, and informational books) over time
Suggest activities that go with the books you read (“In this book, Yoko brought sushi to school for lunch. Would you like to make a special food for lunch?”)

Explore the sounds of language


Children love to play with sounds and words. Invite them to play with sounds and words and to think about spoken language itself. Make up games. Using stories, poems, and songs, or your own imagination, play with the following:
rhymes—Words that end with the same sound (“See you later, alligator.” “Hey, what other words sound like splat?” [mat, flat, cat])
alliteration—Words that begin with the same sound (“The red car raced to the restaurant.”)
sound matching—Matching specific sounds (“Listen to the word duck. Duck starts with the /d/ sound. What other words start with the same sound as duck?”)
sound/letter connections―Exploring letters found in meaningful words such as children’s names (“Look, Jennifer and Jamal’s names both start with J.”)

Offer alphabet activities

Over time, playing with items like the following can help your child recognize the letters of the alphabet:
ABC books
magnetic letters
alphabet blocks and puzzles
alphabet charts

Support budding readers and writers as they test their new skills

Your child needs time and space to explore books and print on his own or with friends. You can
Create a cozy book nook somewhere in your home and stock it with lots of good books
Reread favorite books, especially ones that invite your child to chime in (predictable books)
Fill your home with meaningful print, such as a daily schedule, helper charts, labels to identify things, and reminders (“Pump the soap one time”)
Encourage print in play (for example, provide or help your child create menus for a pretend restaurant)

Offer books throughout your home and even outdoors

Be sure to provide a wide variety of styles and topics:
information books, like Byron Barton’s Airport, which introduce new vocabulary and concepts
books, songs, and poems with strong rhymes, such as Raffi’s Down by the Bay
stories with strong narrative plots, such as Mercer Mayer’s There’s an Alligator under My Bed
books in your home language and in English
books that reflect your culture and life experiences
classics and new literature
books with beautiful, inspiring illustrations

Support budding writers with lots of materials

Children need easy access to materials so they can build their early writing skills through scribble writing, groupings of random letters, and their own unique spelling of words. Offer your child
a writing basket stocked with pens, pencils, markers, paper, envelopes, and book-making materials
demonstrations of writing (for example, write down your child’s description of her drawing)
opportunities for meaningful writing (labels or explanations for artwork, block constructions, and other creations)
writing materials to use in play (for example, pencils and notepads to write prescriptions, take orders, or make grocery lists)

Explain how books and print work

While introducing and reading books or other texts, help your child learn how print works:
Point to words as you read them
Note the differences between pictures and print
Show how books in English are read from left to right, top to bottom
Talk about the different parts of books, like the cover and the title page
Encourage him to join in with repeated lines when reading his favorite stories

Build a home book collection

When children have books at home they are more likely to read for fun and to learn new things. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to develop a home library for your child. For example,
Yard sales are terrific places to find very inexpensive children’s books—sometimes for as little as 25 cents each
Secondhand stores offer children’s books, often organized in a special section
Relatives and friends often ask what to get a child as a birthday or holiday gift, so suggest a book. They might also be eager to pass on books their children have outgrown
Libraries are places to borrow books, but many also sell used books; on your next visit, ask a librarian if the library has used children’s books for sale or will have in the future
Used-book stores usually have a section for children’s books
Online sellers offer used or new copies of children’s books (Go to a site such as Amazon.com or Half.com and search for a book title. You will be linked to sellers who typically charge much less than the cover price. Also try Craigslist and local Listservs where families list books and other things their children have outgrown.)

Early childhood programs and elementary schools often have book fairs to sell used or new books; call your local school and ask if a sale is planned

This article is adapted from K.A. Roskos, J.F. Christie, and D.J. Richgels, “The Essentials of Early Literacy Instruction,” Young Children 58 (March 2003): 52–60.