Early Literacy & Early Numeracy

The development of Early Literacy and Numeracy begins at birth. Families

and caregivers start children on the road by interacting with children and
talking about the world around them. A rich play environment encourages
the development of literacy and numeracy skills. It is important for
caregivers and teachers to focus not only on how we talk to children and
read to them, but also having in-depth discussions about what is read and
the mathematical relationships in the world around them.

Early literacy
Literacy is comprised of skills in the areas of reading, writing, speaking,
and listening. Emergent literacy refers to the set of skills which infants,
toddlers and pre-schoolers should develop so that they may enter
kindergarten ready to learn to read. The emergence of literacy begins in
infancy when caring adults engage children in verbal interactions and shared
book experiences. It continues into toddler-hood when adults and children
explore favorite nursery rhymes and songs and adults talk to children on a
daily basis about their play activities and routines. During the preschool
years (3 to 5 year olds), adults continue to support language skills by talking
with children about current and past events, and helping them to think about
favorite stories that are read to them. As adults read to children, the children
develop alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness and emergent writing
skills.

Typical emergent literacy skills

Children have a list of early literacy skills that should be focused upon.

 explore or show interest in books by picking them up, mouthing them,

carrying them or flipping through pages

 focus on the book or the reader when hearing stories read to him/her

 gaze at or point to pictures in books

 respond to or engage in songs, rhyming games or finger plays

 They will also grasp and/or manipulate a variety of objects in his/her
environment.
In addition, toddlers will:

 point to, label and/or talk about objects, event or people within books

 enjoy and repeat songs, rhymes, or finger plays

 answer simple questions related to books

They will also scribble spontaneously, usually using a fist grip.

Typically developing Pre-schoolers (children 3 to 5) will:

 express an interest and enjoyment in listening to books and attempt to

read familiar books

 display book handling knowledge

 show an awareness of environmental print such as pointing to familiar

words or letters

 identify some alphabet letters by their shapes, especially those in his

or her name

 recognize the printed form of his or her name in a variety of contexts

 show increasing comprehension of a story through retelling the story

and/or recognizing story elements such as the plot or characters

 demonstrates awareness that language is made up of words, parts of

words, and sounds in words

They will also attempt to communicate with others using scribbles, shapes,
pictures and/or letters in writing; experiment with a variety of writing tools;
use expressive language to share intended meaning of drawings and
writings; and start to demonstrate an interest in learning to write letters,
especially the letters in his/her name.
https://www.centralriversaea.org/curriculum/early-literacy-early-numeracy/