November Early Literacy Tip

Print Awareness  

Print awareness (also called concepts of print) is the understanding that print carries meaning, that books contain letters and words. Print awareness also includes an understanding of what books are used for and how a book “works” — how to turn pages, how to find the top and bottom of a page, and how to identify the title and the front and back covers. (readingrockets.org) 

Help your child develop print awareness by reading to them regularly. Additionally, you can run your finger under a sentence as you read it, point out the title and author of the book, relate the words on the page to what is happening in the pictures, and let your child turn the pages.  

While out and about in the world, point out letters and words everywhere. This includes cereal boxes, road signs on car trips, restaurant menus…really anything that has words. While on a grocery trip, pick a singular letter to focus on. Ask your child to find the letter A as many times as they can. Next time, pick a new letter!