Reply to Pre-literacy for two-year-old: what’s next?

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[quote=Anonymous]OP, there is also a writing progression that is part of literacy. I would complement what you are doing with letters and phonics by encouraging the gross and fine motor skills that lead to writing, and also starting to help him recognize how shapes correspond to letters and parts of letters. Some ideas:

- If you have a chalkboard or white board in his room, occasionally draw a letter on the board and then talk him through how you do it (like W -- down, up, down, up). Let him trace the letter with his finger. Offer to help him draw the letter if you want, but don't push this (his motor skills likely are not there yet, so be very gentle the actual writing -- you don't want to frustrate him by asking him to do something he physically is not ready to do).

- Encourage not only shape recognition, but also shape drawing. Does he draw straight-ish lines? Circle-ish shapes? This will help a lot with writing later. I would also suggest introducing different utensils for art time -- fat crayons and skinny crayons, colored pencils, markers, paint brushes. Providing variety and just letting him experiment will build dexterity and familiarity, as well as hand strength and fine motor skills.

- Also, embrace his tactile senses! We were gifted some sand-paper letter flashcards (it's a glossy flashcard where the letter is a raised sandpaper texture) when our DD was 2. I originally thought she was too young for them, but she loved the tactile feeling of the letters and would instinctively trace them with her finger. As she learned her letters, she would enjoy getting these cards out, saying the name of the letter, and tracing it with her finger. This was great preparation for PK when she started writing letters.

If you want to get organized, you can try to structure these activities around specific letters on a weekly basis. Start with his favorite letters, or with the letters in his name. Don't drill. But you can start on Monday by writing the letter on the chalkboard ("what letter is this? that's right, it's an "A"! What sound does it make? What words start with that sound?"). Then as the week goes one, bring this letter up on walks or during other play. During art time, give him a print out of the letter to trace and decorate. Etc. It's okay if he does well with some letters than others. If he gets bored or doesn't respond to letter prompts, drop it and leave it alone for a while.

None of this is imperative, but if your child is interested and motivated, it can be a wonderful way to structure playtime and to reinforce what he is or will learn in PK. I know people roll their eyes about this, but my DD needed this kind of structure and progress in her play starting at about 2.5. She was curious about words and letters and wanted to learn more. I had to up my game a bit to meet her needs. Ignore the haters -- people feel threatened by this but it's not about getting your child to read earlier. It's about responding to his interests and needs without pushing. He may start to read early or he may not. But no reason to deprive him of pre-literacy skills because other people get stressed about their own child's literacy skills. It's genuinely not a competition.[/quote]

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