Early Literacy

Promoting Early Literacy

Early literacy development is a vital part of children’s overall development. It’s the foundation for doing well at school, socialising with others, problem-solving, making decisions, developing independence, managing money and working

There are some key points to consider when we think about early literacy; 

• Literacy is the foundation for reading, writing, communicating and socialising

• Early literacy is learning about sounds, words and language

• We can support and encourage early literacy development by communicating with children, reading, and playing with rhyme

• Children develop and learn best through everyday, fun activities like singing, talking and games

 

Early Literacy and the EYFS

What the EYFS says about literacy, 'It is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading'

It also comments that, 'Language comprehension (necessary for both reading and writing) starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them, and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together

Skilled word reading, taught later, involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words.

Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing)

There are three areas linked to literacy in the EYFS, these are 

Reading comprehension - you can watch a video here for more information 

Exploring word - more information can be found by wathing this video here

Writing - please watch the video for more information 

For more infomration on embedding early literacty in your setting please see the link below

Literacy - Help for early years providers - GOV.UK (education.gov.uk)

 

*NEW FOR 2024*

New for October 2024

Early Words Together 3-4 Years Programme 

Currently delviering in Southwark - for more details about the Early Words Programme(s) please click on the link, which will take you directly to the Natinonal Literacy Trust website Early Words Together | National Literacy Trust

Added for July 2024 

PACEY has an interesting page on Literacry which can be found by clicking on the link Literacy in the early years | PACEY

They have shared a great resource on their website for using the story - A Very Hungry Caterpillar to extend learning - details as below or click here

A firm favourite

Do you love The Very Hungry Caterpillar? Download from Pacey their free early years resource pack for lots of fun ideas to help extend children's learning 

April update: Opportunities for training 

Making it REAL training (ncb.org.uk)

Early years: resources and tools for early language development and parental engagement | National Literacy Trust

Preparing for Early Literacy 

See below for a very useful and informative poster on preparing for early literacy

Preparing_Literacy_Poster.pdf (d2tic4wvo1iusb.cloudfront.net)

have developed a short video of 5 top tips for encouraging early literacy. Click on the link to watch the video Literacy in the early years | PACEY

Promoting and preparing for literacy 

In our early years settings there are some points we can consider to build and stregthen literacy skils, these are commonly know as strands;

• books, books, books (reading books, sharing books)

• early writing (mark making opportunities) 

• environmental print (signs, logos)

• and oral language (phonological awareness; syllables, rhyme, poems, practice and try out new words) 

We can also support the above strands by;

• providing and offering as many opportunities as possible to make literacy part of everyday practice within the curriculum we offer to chidlren

• we need to ensure we offer praise and acknowledging chidlren's successes and recognising their unique achievements

• key to all these things is having quality interactons with children, that buld on thier interests and fascinations 

• and be a role model for using and literacy, sharing a love of books, singing songs and saying rhymes, giving children asmany possibilities to practice their words and introdcue eciting new words everyday to help build their vocabualry 

•  

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) 

The Education Endowment Foundation have developed an interesting guidance entitled: 'PREPARING FOR LITERACY: Improving communication, language and literacy in the early years', Please click here to access the guidance 

The guidance focuses on the teaching of communication, language and literacy to children between the ages of three and five and highlights aspcets such as;

1. prioritising the development of language and communication

2. develop children's early reading, using a balanced approach 

3. Support parents to understand how to help their children learn

As well as using high quality support strategies to target children who may be struggling and embedding opportunities to develop self-regualtion, which is all about how children manage their own behaviour and aspects of their learning 

New for July 2022

Writing in Reception

The Department for Education (DfE) brings you a teacher's perspective of making final judgements against the new writing Early Learning Goal for the new Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP).

Read about how this school have adapted their approach to assessing writing following the reforms and how they use the new writing ELG to assess their children’s writing to support transition to year 1

Blog: Writing in Reception | From pregnancy to children aged 5 (foundationyears.org.uk)

New for September!

https://www.eif.org.uk/resource/early-years-library

eyl-literacy-full-series.pdf

The Art of Story Telling 

What is a story sack

A story sack is a collection of items in a bag or container that can be used to support and extend the telling of a story

Why are they so useful?

Story sacks have the power to ignite children’s imaginations. They can make stories more accessible to everyone, including children for whom English is not their first language, and children with additional needs or disabilities

You could create a library of story sacks in your setting which can be used with small and large groups or could be sent home to support parents and carers

Using story sacks in your early years setting will:

• Encourage interactions and communication
• Enhance children’s vocabulary and language
• Support children with their own storytelling and role play

 

Please see the links below for guides on creating story sacks and some examples to use to build your story sack library!

Story_sack_Guide.pdf (literacytrust.org.uk)

My_Pet_Star_story_sack_guide.pdf (literacytrust.org.uk)

The_Three_Litle_Pigs_story_sack_guide.pdf (literacytrust.org.uk)

Were_Going_on_a_Bear_Hunt_story_sack_guide.pdf (literacytrust.org.uk)

 

New for December 2022

Supporting early years children to tell stories | National Literacy Trust

Everyone Ready for School | National Literacy Trust

 

Update: April 2023

The National Literacy Trust - have a number of resources to help and support settings to develop children's early literacy skills. Please click the link to access NLT website and you can browse the site for ideas on develping practice and depeening knowldege on activities and experiences to extend this provision in your setting Resources and tools for early language development and parental engagement | National Literacy Trust

Update: June 2023

I have put togeter a list of 20 picture books that support the EYFS curriculum, most of these books have strong links to the Prime Areas of te EYFS, but also support the holistic development of under fives 

1. The Boy with flowers in his hair - Jarvis
2. Hey You - Dapo Adeola
3. Lost and Found - Oliver Jeffers
4. Little Bear - Richard Jones  
5. The Lion Inside - Rachel Bright
6. I want my hat back - Jan Klassen
7. Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak
8. Not Now Bernard - David McKee
9. My Pet Star - Corrinne Averiss
10. Copycat Bear - Ellie Sandall
11. Dragon Post - Emma Yarlett
12. The Storm Whale - Benji Davies
13. The Girl Who loved Bugs - Lily Murray
14. The Dress with Pockets - Lily Murray
15. Hair Love - Matthew Cherry
16. Julian is a Mermaid - Jessica Love
17. My cat likes to hide in boxes - Eve Sutton
18. You Matter - Christian Robinson
19. Where have you been little cat - Richard Jones
20. What do you see when you look at a tree - Emma Carlisle

 

Please also take time to browse The Book Trust website. The Book Trust is a children's reading charity dedicated to getting children reading. You can access the website here

The Book Trust runs many campaigns and programmes to support story telling, reading and sharing books which you can find out more about here

 

Update for August 2023

A scheme that is currently run in Southwark to support books and reading is the Dolly Parton Imagination Library

                                                                                                                              

If you have a child in your setting who was born in 2016, 2017, 2018 or 2019, and they live in Southwark, you can make bedtime book time with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. The child will receive a book in the post every month until their fifth birthday, absolutely free

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a free book scheme which launched in 1995. Southwark Council has joined forces with local company DialAFlight and the Dollywood Foundation to bring the scheme to our borough

Only children with a current Southwark address can register. The system should recognise their postcode and offer address options to choose from to proceed; but if it doesn't and the child and family live in Southwark, you can email their details to Childrenscentre@ivydale.southwark.sch.uk.

Please share details of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library with your families and either help them to register or advice them how to do this themselves. You can contact Childrenscentre@ivydale.southwark.sch.uk for help and guidance 

Alternatively you can find more information and register by clicking on the link United Kingdom - Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

For more localised information click on the link London - Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

For common FAQs click on this link Dolly Parton | Southwark Children A (pprncfc.com)

 

New for September 

Early Years Library | Early Intervention Foundation (eif.org.uk)