Ayrie is starting to understand that words are made of letters and that when we read to him, we are reading words.  He’ll bring a book to me and say “Please read to me.  I don’t know what the words mean.”  To my great surprise, it has to do with us reading to him a lot, but also to the show ‘Word World’ on PBS.

After reading this study, I have to say thanks for the help, Word World and Sesame Street!

The National Institute for Literacy has released findings from the National Early Literacy Panel’s (NELP) report, “Developing Early Literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel, A Scientific Synthesis of Early Literacy Development and Implications for Intervention”. According to the NELP report, skills such as alphabet knowledge, understanding the sounds associated with letters, vocabulary, and the ability to write letters and remember information are the best predictors of literacy.  The National Early Literacy Panel was convened in 2002 by the National Institute for Literacy with the support of the National Center for Family Literacy and the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services.