How to Teach Literacy to Infants and Toddlers

It is amazing what kids pick up.  I always hoped my kiddos would pick up on the good stuff and not the bad stuff in their environment (and I really hoped they could tell the difference somehow!).  Here are some tips to help your little ones learn about literacy starting way before they will learn to read.

• Play with your baby and use some games and nursery rhymes.
• Talk with and respond to a child when dressing, feeding, playing and resting.
• Use a variety of techniques, methods, and routines that encourage literacy, like songs, fingerplays, stories, books, conversations and art activities.
• Speak to and with children often and expose them to a variety of vocabulary words.
• Supply objects and articles for individual and group interactions.
• Repeat exposures to stimulating environments so children become familiar with graphic forms and written symbols.
• Write and read in the presence of children and supply large crayons and paper for toddlers to scribble, scrawl, or mark.
• Read to children.  Learning to read easily is positively correlated with being read to frequently.  Read to infants and toddlers in one-on-one pairings or in very small groups.  This helps them develop eye focus and listening skills, and it stimulates imagination, language skills, and sensory awareness.  When talking and reading, use simple language and eye contact and respond to their cues and vocalizations.  Promote reading techniques that encourage physical closeness, positive involvement, and enjoyable times together, and provide appropriate books for adults to read to children. 
• Recognize that children learn at different rates and many factors impact this process.