Literacy is often thought of as reading and writing and therefore not considered important in the early years.  However, literacy is more than just reading and writing ability, it is the ability to read, speak, write and listen. It is never too early to think about literacy with your child!Literacy development begins at birth (emergent literacy) and continues through the preschool years.  It is possible to provide literacy opportunities at home using some of the below suggestions .   During infant and toddler years  It is important to: ·       Talk to children with simple language and frequent eye contact.  We should always respond to their attempts at communicating. ·         Singing, playing and finger-plays (songs like “incy wincy spider”) with infants and toddlers is important to develop their language skills ·         Providing crayons, paint and papers for infants and toddlers to e...

Bed Time Stories As long as I can remember, I have loved to read. As an adult, I still read every single day. I will read everything and anything, and I really enjoy sitting down with a book and a cup of tea, and just relax. It even helps me sleep at night. This love of reading stemmed from my mother. When I was a child every night she would read my brother and I bedtime stories. I looked forward to going to bed and listening to her read the stories each night to me. Her story telling was (and still is) so captivating and exciting, many people have said that she should write stories herself. She made each book seem like it was the most exciting, magical, thrilling story ever. I had a shelf in my room full of teddy bears and dolls and different toys. My mother used these toys as the characters in each story. I particularly loved The Tale of Peter Rabbit and my mother used the rabbits to narrate the story. It was so much fun. I loved my bedtime stories. Why are b...