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How does nursery school build a child’s reading skills?
July 31, 2024
Education
Preschool
How does nursery school build a child’s reading skills?
Reading is a vital skill and habit that lasts a lifetime, best honed at a young age. Studies show that a strong early foundation in reading provides children with an advantage throughout their education, leading to higher overall achievements.
Discover how nursery school can be the starting point for your child to develop a love for reading.
Language-rich environment
In nursery, children are exposed to a language-rich environment through various activities, such as nursery rhymes and read-aloud sessions. These sessions expose children to language structures and vocabulary in a fun and engaging way.
Other aspects of nursery school that help provide a language-rich environment include:
- Role-playing and pretend play
- Music and singing
- Outdoor exploration
- Reading corners
- Reading sessions
- Social interaction with teachers and other children
Reading aloud
Other than being a wonderful way to introduce books and different types of literature to children in early stages, reading aloud helps hone various reading skills such as:
- Vocabulary development — Reading aloud exposes your child to new vocabulary, allowing them to understand new words in context and improving their comprehension.
- Print awareness — Exercises like reading hones print awareness in children, teaching them to read conventionally from left to right. They can also practise proper pronunciation and follow punctuation marks by reading aloud.
- Comprehension skills—Reading aloud helps children develop essential comprehension skills. Narratives and stories provide an interactive learning experience that allows children to analyse and interpret texts, ultimately improving their comprehension skills.
- Fluency—Frequent reading-aloud sessions can help familiarise your child with certain words and allow them to develop their cadence, intonation, and articulation. This, in turn, improves their fluency.
Phonological awareness activities
Phonological awareness refers to recognising that spoken words are made up of individual sound parts or syllables. Nursery activities like rhyming sessions and songs provide a fun avenue for children to explore phonemic sounds and help children understand their significance.
Letter recognition
Reading alphabet books, letter tracing, and alphabet songs and rhymes in nursery sets a strong foundation for letter recognition in children, which is a foundational skill for reading. This translates to better word recognition, spelling, and writing skills.
Parental involvement
Nursery school activities are a wonderful way for parents to be more involved in their children’s lives during their formative years. This starts with open communication between the teacher and parents, which is crucial in the child’s literacy development.
Parents can build healthy reading habits at home by reinforcing skills that the child learns in school, such as reading books together. Reading books with your child also encourages parent-child bonding, promoting positive associations with reading and learning.
Benefits of early reading
Reading is a fundamental skill that can inform multiple aspects of your child’s life:
- Improves vocabulary and language — Early reading exposes your child to new vocabulary, improving their language skills.
- Training discipline – Reading regularly helps develop your child’s attention span and ability to concentrate. Sometimes, reading also requires active listening, which helps children develop the discipline to listen to narratives actively.
- Helps in brain development — Early reading trains language development and enhances memory and analytical thinking through sequences and details in stories.
- Enhances critical thinking — Often, during reading sessions in nursery school, teachers offer prompts for children to think about and interpret text. This enhances critical thinking and exercises the children’s ability to comprehend and interpret stories.
- Eases transition to school—Early reading helps build familiarity, exposure, and confidence in children. With foundational literacy skills, it will be easier for children to transition to school, where these skills are transferable to more academic settings.
Looking for a nursery school in Singapore?
Reading is a fundamental skill for children, and nursery provides the perfect environment to explore and develop a love for reading. My First Skool Singapore is dedicated to providing holistic care for your child and a stimulating environment for them to thrive.
