You will need: To notice the letters, words and symbols that surround us To look for writing everywhere – streetnames, on trucks, on buildings etc

 

You can:

• Point out letters, words and symbols from the environment to your child
• Praise your child when they notice letters, words and symbols for themselves
• Name the letters and sounds in some of the symbols – e.g. start with M for McDonalds or the first letter of your child’s name

 

You can also:

• Have magnetic letters on the fridge
• Make letters, words and symbols out of clay, play dough, stones, blocks, shells etc
• Make simple word labels for things in the home such as ‘door’
• Teach your child all the letters in their name
• Put your child’s name on their bed, clothes and/or bedroom door
• Teach your child the letters in the names of other family members
• Go on a word hunt – choose a letter (start with those in the child’s name) and find words in the house (in magazines, books, newspapers etc or in the wider environment) that start with this letter

 

Did you know:

Learning the sound of a letter is as important as learning the name of the letter. When a child reads and writes they need to know the sound a letter makes as well as what the letter looks like.

 

What your child is learning:

• The names and sounds of letters
• That letters are used to make words and create symbols
• That symbols can be “read” by others
• That thoughts, experiences, and ideas can be represented through words, pictures, print, numbers, sounds, shapes, models and photographs