By the end of preprimary (typically around ages 5 to 6), children should have developed several foundational literacy skills that will set the stage for their continued learning in primary school. These skills encompass not just reading and writing, but also listening, speaking, and early comprehension abilities. Here’s an overview of the key literacy skills children should have by the end of preprimary:
1. Phonological Awareness
- Understanding Sounds in Words: Children should be able to recognise and manipulate the sounds in spoken words, including identifying rhyming words, syllables, and individual phonemes (the smallest units of sound).
- Examples:
- Recognising that “cat” and “hat” rhyme.
- Blending sounds to form simple words (e.g., /c/ /a/ /t/ = “cat”).
- Segmenting sounds in words (e.g., recognizing that “dog” has three sounds: /d/ /o/ /g/).
2. Phonics
- Letter-Sound Correspondence: Children should understand that letters represent sounds and be able to match letters to their corresponding sounds.
- Examples:
- Recognising that the letter “b” represents the sound /b/.
- Identifying that “c” can make the /k/ sound in “cat”.
3. Vocabulary Development
- Understanding and Using Words: By the end of preprimary, children should have a basic understanding of vocabulary, including common everyday words, as well as some more complex words related to their experiences and environment.
- Examples:
- Understanding and using a wide range of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and prepositions (e.g., “big,” “run,” “under”).
- Being able to describe familiar objects, people, and actions in simple terms. For example “cat” – long tail , whiskers, meows, has hair on its body etc
4. Print Awareness
- Understanding How Print Works: Children should develop an awareness of how written language works, including the concepts of letters, words, and sentences.
- Examples:
- Recognising that print carries meaning (e.g., knowing that words on a page represent a story or idea).
- Understanding that text is read from left to right, top to bottom.
- Identifying the front and back of a book, and understanding the purpose of punctuation marks.
5. Reading Comprehension
- Basic Understanding of Stories: Children should be able to comprehend simple stories and answer basic questions about them, such as identifying main characters, events, and settings.
- Examples:
- Retelling a story in their own words.
- Identifying the main character in a picture book.
- Answering questions like “What happened first?” or “How did the character feel?”
6. Fluency with Simple Texts
- Recognising High Frequency Words: Children should begin recognising common high frequency words (e.g., “the,” “and,” “it”).
- Examples:
- Reading simple sentences or phrases (e.g., “I see a dog”).
- Learning to read a simple decodable readers consisting of 2, 3 and 4 letter words.
7. Writing Skills
- Drawing and Scribbling as Pre-Writing: At the beginning of preprimary, children may start by drawing pictures and scribbling as a form of early writing. By the end of preprimary, children should begin writing letters and simple words.
- Examples:
- Writing their name legibly.
- Attempting to write simple words using letters that may not be entirely accurate but are phonetically plausible.
- Writing or dictating simple sentences (e.g., “I see the cat.”).
- Writing letters with correct formation.
8. Listening and Speaking Skills
- Listening to and Understanding Stories: Children should be able to listen to stories and follow along, understanding the sequence of events and basic elements of the story.
- Examples:
- Following simple instructions (e.g., “Please pick up the toy and put it on the shelf”).
- Answering questions about stories they have been read.
- Speaking Clearly: Children should be able to express themselves verbally in complete sentences, using appropriate vocabulary for their age. They should be 100% intelligible to the unfamiliar listener.
- Examples:
- Talking about their favourite part of a story or describing an experience in detail.
- Using full sentences to describe what they see or how they feel.
9. Understanding Text Features
- Recognising Basic Text Features: By the end of preprimary, children should have an understanding of some basic text features like titles, illustrations, and words.
- Examples:
- Pointing to a picture and identifying it as part of the story.
- Understanding that the title of a book gives a clue about what the book is about.
- Looking at illustrations to help understand the story.
10. Engagement with Books and Reading Materials
- Interest in Books: Children should develop a strong interest in books and enjoy engaging with stories, either by listening to others read or reading simple texts on their own.
- Examples:
- Picking up books to “read” independently or with a caregiver.
- Asking to be read to regularly.
Overall Goal:
The goal is to ensure that by the end of preprimary, children have a strong foundation in phonemic awareness, basic letter-sound correspondence, and early reading and writing skills, while also developing listening, speaking, and comprehension skills that prepare them for more formal reading and writing instruction in primary school.
Providing engaging and interactive literacy experiences during preprimary sets the stage for success in later years and fosters a lifelong love of reading and learning!