Boosting Your Child’s Print Awareness Skills–Quick Tips

While phonological awareness skills address how words sound, print awareness addresses how words look. Both are important pre-kindergarten skills. Here are some fundamental print awareness skills your children should master before they start kindergarten:

1. Identify the front and back of the book
2. Identify the top and bottom of the page
3. Look at the book while turning the pages from left to right
4. Identify the title on the front cover
5. Identify titles of favorite books
6. Distinguish between pictures and print on a page
7. Know where the story begins in the book
8. Identify letters that occur in her own name
9. Print the first letter of her name
10. Recite the alphabet
11. Point to the first and last letter in a word
12. Differentiate uppercase from lowercase letters
13. Use terms such as letter, word, alphabet
14. Respond to common environmental signs (e.g., stop, restroom signs)

In terms of print awareness, make sure your child understands these terms and can identify their corresponding symbols: uppercase letter, lowercase letter, book, cover, page, sentence, comma, period, question mark.

Your children are at a great advantage if they can walk into the first day of kindergarten with these skills mastered!

For more ideas, go to amazon.com for my book Love Talk Read to Help Your Child Succeed.