Books and other print materials can help children explore and better understand the people, places, and things that they encounter in everyday life. They can also help children learn about the world beyond their own. Books and print materials provide an amazing opportunity for children to be introduced to new and interesting words. When they encounter these words in stories or other texts, the words have meaning and become part of their vocabularies.
Helping children engage with print and learn as much as possible about its forms and functions in the years prior to formal schooling will ease their transition from early to formal literacy. Classrooms should include print in the children’s home languages even if the teachers cannot read them. This is not only welcoming and reassuring for children and families, but it also demonstrates that the caregivers and teachers understand the importance of home languages. It also increases children’s understanding of the relationship between print and language. Children’s book printing
Book Knowledge and Print Concepts meet Phonological Awareness:
As parents and caregivers talk to children and read with them, the children begin to understand the sound structure of a language. This, combined with the understanding that print is speech written down and conveys meaning, is the pathway to acquiring reading and writing skills.