There are lots of things that you can do with your child throughout your day that help promote literacy. The 5 main practices are listed here and there are also further tips and links on this page. 

Talk     

Talking with your child is one of the best ways to teach new words and concepts. Talk as you go through daily routines (explain things and ask questions, always giving them the chance to respond.)

Sing

Singing slows down language so children can hear sounds and syllables. It is an enjoyable and easy way to learn language.

Read

Reading to your child is the single most important way to help get them ready to read. Listening to books read aloud passes along numerous skills

Write

Writing helps children learn that written words stand for spoken language. Scribbling and making marks is the start of the skills needed to make shapes and letters

Play

Play helps children put thoughts into words and think symbolically.  It is a safe way to experiment with new concepts. 

Tip Sheet from Aistear Síolta (Aistear is the Early Years Curriculum)

Helping your Young Child to Read and Write

Resources from the NCCA (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment)

Enjoying Books with your Baby

Enjoying Books with your Toddler

Enjoying Books with Young Children (2.5 to 6 years)

Everyday Ideas for Literacy ( from HSE Meath Speech and Language Therapy)

Alliteration: Draw attention to repeated sounds in your child’s school reader. Make up your own silly sentences or stories with repeated sounds.

Syllables: Take note of tricky long words in your child’s reader and help them clap out the syllables. How many claps until the word is finished? e.g. gigantic gi-gan-tic

Rhyming: Draw attention to rhymes in books and swap them with your own. The sillier the better. Pick a word and see how many rhymes your child can come up with.

Isolating or changing sounds:Use any room available. Ask your child to: E.g. 1- find something that starts/ends with ‘b’

E.g. 2- find something that sounds like ‘boat’ but change the ‘b’ to ‘c’. (Sound not letter!)

Keep it Multisensory: Use as many senses as possible when reviewing sounds. What does it sound like? look like? feel like? (to say).

Do the actions, sing the songs, draw the sounds in sand etc.

Stages of Children's Reading Development

Stages of Development: The Pre-Reader ( 1-4 years)