Literacy is an important learning skill that affects us all in everyday life.  To be able to recognize letters, to read, sound out letters and words opens a world of learning and exploration that can take us many places in our life.

Literary has become the focus of young children's learning.  Reading to children as young as infants, (even in the womb) helps build good readers.  Helping to develop a love of reading in young children creates good readers and children that comprehend and understand what they are reading.   Without this knowledge, little can be achieved.

Literacy is understanding that letters make sounds and sounds put together form words and several words together form sentences to tell a story and or give directions. Children can learn to read, recognize letters, numbers and sounds of letters by doing many different learning activities that are fun, creative and interesting.

Creating print-rich environments thru labeling creates interest in children.  A child learns a chair is a chair and then associates the chair with the written word.  They develop a clearer understanding of letters sounds and words.  Words are descriptive and describe the environment of which we all live.

In the next few pages, I will try to provide families, educators and children ideas and printables that can be used now; print and play activities most in color that promote excitement and some in black and white to allow the adult to color using colored pencils, crayons or markers.

Extending activities after introducing a new book and reading it to children, increases their understanding and knowledge of the story.  Many bright colors in computer generated, printed activities draw children in.

Some of those extensions are finger-plays, songs, flannel board activities, pocket chart activities, memory matches, handmade board games, tic-tac-toe, bingo games, dominos, story boards and file folder games. A book read to children becomes an entire coordinated learning adventure. 

Children's interests, such as dinosaurs, worms, pirates, cars, trucks, airplanes, dolls further can be a beginning to a whole new adventure in learning by adding many of the learning items listed above.  Voila, they are learning, have no idea they are and they are having fun while doing it.

Many of the learning techniques can be used for learning colors, shapes, number, upper and lower case alphabet, phonics, beginning sounds, ending sounds, rhyming words, word opposites, words that are the same but spelled differently.  Wow, so many ideas, stretchable only by the individual, parent, homeschooler, child care provider, center staff, head start teachers, preschool teachers, 1st and 2nd grade teachers imagination and creativity.

Well, off we go on our way to some fun, learning activities.  I hope your children, in whatever setting you are teaching/working/playing with enjoy them as much as the children in our child care center.