Literacy is an essential skill that children need to succeed in their everyday lives. As a parent or carer, and your child’s first teacher, you have the opportunity to make a significant contribution to supporting your child’s learning — from the time they are an infant through to adulthood.
When your child starts school, it is critical for you to continue to play an active role in helping to develop your child’s literacy so they can achieve the best possible outcomes.
Your vital role as a parent or carer
You might not realise it, but you are already contributing to your child’s understanding of literacy from an early age. For example, having books in the home and reading these with your child; taking your child on trips to the grocery store; reading the signs and labels on products; and having your child help you prepare meals by reading out the recipe and instructions can familiarise them with reading and writing.
Ensuring that your child feels confident talking to you and their teacher about school work will enhance their opportunity to thrive in the 21st century.
What literacy skills will your child learn at school?
In the first years of school, children learn through hands-on activities. Your child’s teacher will identify what they already know and can do, and will extend their knowledge and skills through new and challenging situations.
An important aim of the Preparatory Year is to build on your child’s previous experiences with new and different learning opportunities at school. Teachers help children to connect their home language with spoken and written English used in the classroom and other environments.
Children will learn how to speak in different situations, for example, in play, telling a story, or telling what happened on a picnic or on visits to friends or a library. They will learn to understand that printed words have meaning and together words can describe ideas and events and tell a story.
In Prep classrooms, children see a lot of written language and pictures to help them learn about labels, sentences, directions and routines. Materials for writing, painting and drawing are available to encourage children to use their literacy skills.
In Years 1 to 3, children use language in increasingly complex and unfamiliar situations. They learn to use the language necessary for different purposes such as reading and writing stories, lists, recipes and reports, and understanding charts and diagrams.
Children will speak and write about real-life and imagined events and experiences and learn ways to improve their written work through drafting and editing. If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s progress please contact your child’s teacher.
Activities to do with your child
Here are some simple yet effective activities you can do with your child to help them apply the literacy skills they learn at school:
• keep blank paper and pencils handy at home for writing activities
• read with and to your child every day
• have your child collect and sort the mail — who are the letters for and who are they from?
• create a collage using junk mail, old magazines or your child’s drawings with a particular focus — this could include pictures of things beginning with an ‘s’ sound or all pictures showing a particular colour
• make a scrapbook — this could be about a holiday or special event, and have your child write captions for the photos and pictures
• make your kitchen a ‘cooking’ zone and a ‘reading’ zone — use fridge magnets to make new words and short sentences, or have your child write the weekly shopping list and read names on packages
• play word games and do crosswords to help develop spelling and vocabulary
• keep a dictionary in an easily accessible place — show your child how it can be used for a variety of purposes and accessed while word processing on a computer
• make the writing of letters, notes, cards or emails a daily family activity — you can write notes to your child and encourage them to write notes back to you.
When your child starts school, it is critical for you to continue to play an active role in helping to develop your child’s literacy so they can achieve the best possible outcomes.
Your vital role as a parent or carer
You might not realise it, but you are already contributing to your child’s understanding of literacy from an early age. For example, having books in the home and reading these with your child; taking your child on trips to the grocery store; reading the signs and labels on products; and having your child help you prepare meals by reading out the recipe and instructions can familiarise them with reading and writing.
Ensuring that your child feels confident talking to you and their teacher about school work will enhance their opportunity to thrive in the 21st century.
What literacy skills will your child learn at school?
In the first years of school, children learn through hands-on activities. Your child’s teacher will identify what they already know and can do, and will extend their knowledge and skills through new and challenging situations.
An important aim of the Preparatory Year is to build on your child’s previous experiences with new and different learning opportunities at school. Teachers help children to connect their home language with spoken and written English used in the classroom and other environments.
Children will learn how to speak in different situations, for example, in play, telling a story, or telling what happened on a picnic or on visits to friends or a library. They will learn to understand that printed words have meaning and together words can describe ideas and events and tell a story.
In Prep classrooms, children see a lot of written language and pictures to help them learn about labels, sentences, directions and routines. Materials for writing, painting and drawing are available to encourage children to use their literacy skills.
In Years 1 to 3, children use language in increasingly complex and unfamiliar situations. They learn to use the language necessary for different purposes such as reading and writing stories, lists, recipes and reports, and understanding charts and diagrams.
Children will speak and write about real-life and imagined events and experiences and learn ways to improve their written work through drafting and editing. If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s progress please contact your child’s teacher.
Activities to do with your child
Here are some simple yet effective activities you can do with your child to help them apply the literacy skills they learn at school:
• keep blank paper and pencils handy at home for writing activities
• read with and to your child every day
• have your child collect and sort the mail — who are the letters for and who are they from?
• create a collage using junk mail, old magazines or your child’s drawings with a particular focus — this could include pictures of things beginning with an ‘s’ sound or all pictures showing a particular colour
• make a scrapbook — this could be about a holiday or special event, and have your child write captions for the photos and pictures
• make your kitchen a ‘cooking’ zone and a ‘reading’ zone — use fridge magnets to make new words and short sentences, or have your child write the weekly shopping list and read names on packages
• play word games and do crosswords to help develop spelling and vocabulary
• keep a dictionary in an easily accessible place — show your child how it can be used for a variety of purposes and accessed while word processing on a computer
• make the writing of letters, notes, cards or emails a daily family activity — you can write notes to your child and encourage them to write notes back to you.
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