The groundwork for childhood literacy begins at birth. Parents, caregivers & other adults need to be mindful of the significance and importance of their communicative model: eye contact, body language, over all feedback. Our world of distracted and multi-tasking adults along with children plugged into gadgets does NOT foster the type of interaction and stimulation children need in their early years to foster their communication skills. Children need face-to face social interaction to learn language
Children’s brains are only 25% developed at birth. Most of a baby’s 100 billion brain cells aren’t yet connected in networks. Those cells become connected when babies have Stimulating experiences: reading singing, talking, and playing. The crucial connections that determine how clever, creative, and imaginative a child will be are already laid down by the time that child turns one. At age 3, the brain is 80 percent of its adult size and conversations before the age of 3 are directly linked to IQ development. Brain development is directly dependent upon the quality and quantity of experiences available in the early years. An encouraging environment, rich in language and conversation sets the stage for early childhood literacy. The single most important activity to support and encourage childhood literacy is reading aloud and talking to children about the story. Literacy opens doors—lets make sure those doors are open for all children
