Age-appropriate listening and language skills are required for any child to succeed at school. At school, more advanced developmental skills, namely literacy and numeracy skills, are developed. A parent can already start to introduce basic literacy and numeracy concepts to a child as of birth. Parents do not always realize that preparing the child beforehand to learn each of these skills, is vital. Before children go to school, they need to acquire certain skills that will help them to read and write. This is the joint responsibility of the parents and the child’s educational team, such as the teacher of the deaf/hard of hearing, early intervention provider, speech-language therapist, and/or preschool teacher.

Emergent literacy: Before teaching reading and writing skills, a child needs to know the processes and concepts involved in reading and writing. Emergent literacy skills discussed in this lesson include literacy socialization, phonological awareness, as well as printed word and alphabet knowledge. Reading is the process through which meaning is attached to written symbols and letters. It is about comprehending and actively responding to the content.

Writing is the use of symbols to communicate thoughts and ideas. It is a way to represent language in a visual and tactile form. The development of the different components of emergent literacy, reading and writing is discussed in this lesson.

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