Literacy at St Luke's Preschool

Reading, language development and comprehension are lifelong skills and as such, skills that are important to foster from an early age.  As children progress towards commencing kindergarten they begin to display interest in reading as well as learning about letters, words and their meaning.  Whilst this is the foundation of reading, developing strong literacy skills is more than just memorising sight words, learning the letter names and sounds (phonics) and reading sentences fluently.  

Literacy skills also includes a child’s ability to comprehend what has occurred in each sentence when they have it read to them or their understanding in what is occurring in each picture.  Through engaging in wide range of literacy experiences, children begin to develop their skills of making predictions of what may occur, understand the sequence of events, share their own ideas and knowledge as well as refine their skills of verbally describing the detail they see in the images.

St Luke’s Preschool believes that the first five years of a child’s life provides the foundation for their future learning and as such ensures that a rich literacy environment is provided daily.  It is important to note that literacy isn’t taught only through books rather through a wide range of resources including; felt board stories, story teller stones, sequencing activities, engaging with alphabet puzzles and games such as letter bingo as well as creating their own stories through drawing, writing, music and movement, puppets, painting and drama to name a few.  By providing children with opportunities to explore and re-explore these resources they continue to grow and develop their expressive and receptive language skills, their ability to problem solve and their creative thinking.  

Whilst literacy is often viewed as only books and physical resources, it is important to remember that in a digital age children can extend on their literacy skills through engaging in active apps, games and websites such as ‘Reading Eggs’, ‘Cosmic Kids Yoga’ and ‘Super Why’.  These are just some of the programs that actively teach children language and literacy concepts whilst they move, listen to stories and follow directions. 

If you would like further information on how to support your child’s literacy and language development, please feel free to talk to one of the team at St Luke’s Preschool.