Early Language and Literacy for Preschool

Plain Answer

What parents need to know.

Early literacy grows through oral language, dialogic reading, vocabulary, story retelling, sound awareness and meaningful mark-making.

Children need many warm turns of talk: noticing, naming, answering, wondering and explaining. Passive word exposure is not enough.

A strong read-aloud lets children predict, point, name, ask, retell and connect the story to life.

Drawing, marks, labels, name play and storytelling help children understand that print carries ideas.

Make It Visible

Parents usually need fewer abstract terms and more things they can actually notice.

At NAS

Story circles, picture talk, songs, rhymes, sound play, pretend play and retelling props make language visible every day.

At home

Read the same book more than once. Let your child finish a line, name a picture or tell you what changed.

Watch for

More vocabulary, longer sentences, clearer requests, story memory, pretend dialogue and interest in print.

Give the child time to think and answer. The pause is where language grows.

If the child says "big dog run," you can answer, "Yes, the big dog is running fast."

Strong home-language talk supports thinking and can strengthen later English learning.

Parent FAQ

Short answers help families compare advice, ask better questions and see what NAS means in practice.

Talk during real routines, read together, name feelings and actions, repeat favourite books and expand your child's sentence warmly.

Letter play can be joyful, but it should sit beside stories, sound games, drawing, conversation and meaningful print, not replace them.

No. Children can grow with more than one language. Home language is an asset when adults use it warmly and consistently.

Evidence Base Used