Early Literacy Skills: Essential for Kids' Growth and Adult Empowerment

Introduction

At different stages of growth, it is essential to equip children with early literacy skills relevant to their reading readiness level - the world continues moving towards more in-depth technological era needs liberate adults. There are five essential literacy skills that children need as they grow up: phonemic awareness, conversance with print, active vocabulary, spelling, and comprehension reading (Bainbridge, 2009). Phonemic awareness helps children to create words using sound patterns of a language; this skill is usually learned by listening to regular communication among people. Conversance with print is achieved to introducing children to books at an early age; for instance, storybooks are the most common print materials children are exposed to during their growth. Learning active vocabulary helps children to identify and understand the words they can use when writing, and when speaking. Learning the correct spelling helps in identifying letters, which are the building blocks of words, and how they are used to construct different words. Finally, mastering the art of comprehensive reading helps in understanding an article, and also enables one to relate with the context studied.

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In the modern day, literacy can either refer to the ability to read and write or digital literacy - the ability to use information technology systems to pass or obtain information; however, they both hold an equal significance in day to day life. According to Stevenson University (2017), both the ability to read and write and digital literacy are essential when it comes to communication, whether verbal or non-verbal. Also, literacy is key to career development since virtually every professional career requires reading and writing skills, in addition to excellent communication schools. Strong literacy is acquired in stages; this paper describes the various strategies that can be employed to help readers at their respective levels.

According to Wolf (2008), reading stages can be grouped into five: emerging pre-readers, novice readers, decoding readers, fluent readers, and expert readers. Each of these readers, especially the first three groups, might need help depending on their reading skills, to make them move to the next level of reading readiness. The box list below shows some of the strategies that can be used to help students in a class with different reading readiness levels.

By being self-motivated to read new books, magazines, and other print material, learners can improve their literacy skills without much effort. Students should find their topics of interest and indulge in regular reading, to ensure that they become better readers; therefore, these readers should be exposed to more books and articles (print awareness).

The sound awareness strategy helps learners to recognize different sounds used to make up words in the English language, and how the words are pronounced. Sound awareness is critical because students cannot learn how to create meaningful sentences without the first understanding of word structure.

Availing print media to students should be accompanied by helping them to use them, for instance, by teaching them how to read big words, and explaining the meaning where necessary. Therefore, for a student to learn quality reading skills, a relationship with the teacher is just as vital as the provided reading material.

Skills with letters are essential when understanding how syllables are made in English, and the various sounds letters make, either in groups or singly. Therefore, it is vital that students understand how letters are joined to form words and their spelling, to understand how the words make up a sentence.

Finally, students should be able to listen carefully to how their teachers read different words and if possible repeat after them, to master the art of pronunciation and general reading. Practice makes perfect; therefore, the reading skills of students are bound to improve if they practice reading on their own, and pronouncing words as they should be pronounced.

Comprehension Strategies

With the use of effective comprehension strategies, both language learners and readers can significantly increase their comprehension ability to the desired level. Some of the strategies that can be applied include applying knowledge one already has, predicting patterns, identifying key points and paraphrasing them, questioning, making deductions, and visualizing ("Strategies for Reading Comprehension: Reading Naturally, Inc.," n.d.). Applying the knowledge one already possesses helps in understanding the events in the text; for instance, if a character in a storybook carries an umbrella, then the reader can expect rain. The general importance of applying prior knowledge is it helps the reader to relate the world described in the text to the real world and also helps the reader to get new knowledge.

Predicting patterns with a text helps the reader to identify events that lead to other events, and to spot the correlation between various instances; therefore, the reader always knows what to expect. Therefore, the readers can link the information they already have to the information in the text, and their expectations, which can lead to understanding and retention of concepts.

Identifying key points helps in identifying the theme of a story, or any writing; paraphrasing, where the learner or reader takes the main ideas and writes them in his or her own words, helps in understanding and retaining the ideas. Therefore, the learner gets to know the flow of the text and the key message it is communicating; the leaners and readers will probably recall what they understand. This method can not only be used when reading articles but also when revising for exams since it aims to make readers understand concepts put in their language.

Questioning raises curiosity and makes the learners want to refer to the text to get the desired answers; these questions can be self-made or structured by the teacher for the student. Before leaners get all the answers to their questions, they will have comprehended the important concepts they need to grasp within then text. If the learners make deductions from general knowledge to make sense parts of the text that are not clear; chances are they will apprehend parts that are clear too. Therefore, this strategy is essential in the learning process because just like the other strategies stated, making inferences increases the understanding one has on a topic.

Visualizing refers to creating mental images; if readers use this strategy, they are likely to recall their concepts and ideas related to the images they create. To promote visualizing when reading, learners should choose their reading materials, while teachers should use a language that promotes imaginative thinking ("Brain Movies: When Readers Can Picture It, They Understand It," 2014).

Cases Where Literacy Skills Can Be Applied

The literacy strategies stated above can be employed in general reading for research or pleasure, and writing since they make a reader not only fluent at reading but also a master in memorizing points. Literacy skills make people good communicators; therefore, they improve daily communications through verbal communication, or in writing. In this case, literacy skills improve social skills; therefore, they play a significant role in the emotional well-being of people. Also, when reading using the strategies stated, students have the opportunity to extend their vocabulary and understand different word structures.

Comprehensive reading strategies can be used during exam revision; for instance, questioning, which is the primary tool used in examinations, can help in exploring the possible areas that an exam can cover. Identifying key points and paraphrasing can also be used in be getting a clear understanding of new concepts and also in getting a rough understanding of a topic. Therefore, it is arguably true that literacy skills lead to student empowerment and development academically ("How Literacy Skills Impact Student Development," n.d.). Also, it is essential to note that these skills can be used outside classes, for instance in playing word games, or when using computing devices that require keying in data.

Conclusion

According to Plan International UK, literacy helps individuals to conquer poverty, improve the community around them, and also leads to economic growth and gender equality. Moreover, literacy promotes health education, which in turn reduces health issues such as the transmission of STIs, and reduces infant mortality rates. Therefore, general literacy, starting from necessary reading skills to complex writing projects is essential for the development of the world and every student deserves to be helped to become a better reader.

References

Bainbridge, C. (2009, January 19). Top 5 Skills Your Child Needs to Learn for Reading and Writing. Retrieved from https://www.verywellfamily.com/literacy-skills-1449194

Brain Movies: When Readers Can Picture It, They Understand It. (2014, May 20). Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/brain-movies-visualize-reading-comprehension-donna-wilson

How Literacy Skills Impact Student Development. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/how-literacy-skills-impact-student-development.html

Strategies for Reading Comprehension:: Read Naturally, Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.readnaturally.com/research/5-components-of-reading/comprehension

The importance of education. (2017, March 31). Retrieved from https://plan-uk.org/blogs/the-importance-of-education-how-literacy-improves-lives

The Importance of Literacy in the 21st Century. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.stevenson.edu/online/blog-news-events/importance-of-literacy