Some parents get worried when it comes to their child learning how to read. But did you know there are some foundational literacy skills every child needs to know before they ever read their first word? For example, your child needs to know all about books: what they are, how to hold them, how to turn pages. This is why reading to your child at home and giving them tons of opportunities to hear and look at books is so important, even if they aren’t reading yet! Keep scrolling to learn more about what early literacy skills your child should know before they start reading and all about how our online preschool program can help and support in all areas of literacy.

Concepts of Print

Early exposure to books helps children develop what is called concepts of print. Concepts of print include:

How to hold a book
Parts of a book (cover, pages, title, etc.)
How to take care of books
Which way of the book is up
That the print in the books is what we read and that it has meaning
That print goes left to right, top to bottom
How to move from one line to the next (called “return sweep”)
The difference between letters, words, and sentences

How to Teach Concepts of Print

One of the very best things you can do to help your child develop concepts of print is to read to them. That’s all! Read, read, read every single day! Show them how to hold a book, how to treat it nicely. Practice pointing to the first word on the page, use your finger to show them the direction the text goes when you read. Practice looking at the pictures and describing what is happening. Ask them if the pictures match the words you read. All of these things (that most people do pretty naturally while reading to a child) are great learning opportunities for your child.

How our Online Preschool Can Help!

All of these great things that happen when you read to children is one reason why we’ve included SO MANY storytime videos and poems in our online preschool program. We really believe that reading with children is the best way to develop and teach these critical early literacy skills! One easy way to support your child’s learning is to put on one of our storytime videos from our virtual preschool program while you are cooking dinner or working on homework with your older children or waiting in line at the grocery store. Your child will love the engaging videos, and you’ll love that they’re learning.

My Preschool Place Online Can Help!

As you can see, there are so many ways to support your child in learning early literacy skills. Although it can seem a little overwhelming, we are here to help. Did you know we have an extensive online preschool program that covers all of these areas and more? Our program features video lessons that cover literacy, math, art, cooking, poetry, and science.

Click the button below to check out our online preschool program, including some free sample video lessons!

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