Music and Early Literacy

 

While I think it is great to take time to read with your child everyday, I very much understand the reality of life with babies and toddlers and sometimes you just do not want to pick up a book. That's okay! (We've all been there!) However, there are many other ways to promote early literacy without actually reading and music or singing songs throughout the day can actually do wonders for your child. Here are some tips on how to include music into your daily routine.

Phonological Awareness

In song, each syllable of the word has its own note. This helps children hear the

smaller sounds that make up words. When picking music to help with Phonological

Awareness, try songs that are slightly slower so your child can sing and hear every

note. Also, songs that include animal noises or other sound effects are great for this

skill. Some great songs for Phonological Awareness include nursery rhymes and

popular children’s songs such as Old MacDonald and If You’re Happy and You

Know It. If you can’t understand every word perfectly, pick a different song.

Vocabulary

For younger children, any kind of “naming song” where you are singing a long list of animals, foods, or any other objects will work. For older children, provide pictures

and text that go along with the unfamiliar words in a song.

Narrative Skills

Repeat, repeat, repeat. That’s the key to a song that strengthens Narrative Skills. Makeup songs that go through a sequence of events (This is the way we brush our teeth, wash our face, comb our hair, before we go to bed.)

Letter Knowledge

Be very careful how you select alphabet songs. Most recorded songs blur L, M, N, O,

and P. Try slower versions, or songs that highlight one letter at a time. Have your

child listen for one particular letter (start with the first letter of their name). When

they hear it, have them wave their hands up or down.

Print Awareness and Print Motivation

Pick music that goes with a book. Read it and then sing it! Nursery rhymes are great

for this, or adapted songs like “The Wheels on the Bus.” You can also sing the song

and then read something like The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort. You can sing

along to I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont and then play “It Ain’t

Gonna Rain No More.” Some books even contain parts of songs within the text, like

Punk Farm by Jarrett J. Krosoczka or the Pete the Cat books by Eric Litwin. Even non-readers can learn sight words as you point to words in books and sing together.

Adapted from www.ohreadytoread.org/music_in_early_lit_storytime.pdf

Favorite Board Books These Days...

Here are my favorite board books that have been recently published. Both you and your youngest reader are going to love them!

    

Spot Goes Shopping - Eric Hill

Who doesn’t love Spot the puppy? He is on an adventure with his mother to the grocery store and what fun it is to watch them shop! The different groceries are easily discernable and the text lends itself to really expand a child’s vocabulary about different things bought in a supermarket. A great example is when Spot’s mother holds orange juice and asks Spot if he would like to buy it and he holds oranges and says “Can we make our own?” The oranges are next to lemons and grapes and when I read this to my three year old I asked him what would be made if Spot held the grapes and my son deduced it would make grape juice and the lemons would make lemon juice. The only thing better than the bright pictures and Spot’s enthusiasm is the opportunity this book creates for a child and their parent to create a shopping list of their own and go on their own shopping expedition!

Who's My Baby - Sassy

I am always on the lookout for great board books for babies and toddlers. My criteria is that the book must be engaging for both the child and the reader, educational and worth reading over and over again. Who’s My Baby is exactly this kind of book. It has vibrant pictures, large, sturdy lift the flaps and a mirror in the back for the child to get excited to see themselves. The book has few words but gives the reader the opportunity to say things like “These are cats, their babies are called kittens”. It is a great book to teach the names of animals and their young and you will always find the cutest baby at the end!

Baby's ABC - Sassy 

With sturdy pages, vibrant illustrations and excellent depictions of words, this is a really fun way to learn the alphabet. I love that the book shows both the capital and lowercase letter on each page and it is an easy engaging board book to jumpstart baby's vocabulary!